Any Port in a Storm: Part 2

...so there we were, guns blazing but desperately low on ammo. Lane looks over at me and I know immediately what he's thinking. We're going to have to blow the bridge early, even though only half the convoy's made it across. I quickly scan the red ruin of Professor McHardy and find the goo-entombed plunger not more than a few feet from me. I steel myself for the concussive retort as I put my full weight behind the—

Alright, that clearly had very little to do with taking contract work in order to remain financially viable. But it was a lot more interesting and I simply had to indulge myself.

And how does that have anything to do with contract work? How can that confession possibly be a relevant takeaway? Simple. It's very easy to get sidetracked by your daydreams and hold honest labor in contempt. (Believe me.)

I guarantee most contract work you get will be less interesting than the stuff you idly dream up over coffee. But here's the deal, it's real work that really pays. And that's a lot more than can be said for the giant list of half fleshed-out game concepts you have running through your head and/or Google doc archive.

Taking a step back, remember how in the previous post I talked about us launching three games in two months? The hubris of it amazes me now but like I said, we really needed the money. We launched Current and had plenty of things to be proud of, but one of those things was not a huge cash inflow. So we went back to the well.

But even in the time it took for us to get those three games kicked off and the appropriate teams assembled, the market changed on us. Two of the three games suddenly saw direct competitors launched within the span of weeks. I mean literally, games that were so similar to the games we were making, we weren't even sure we could release them without people immediately dismissing them as simple knock-offs. And these were games that were relatively unique in the App Store at the time we started. (I guess you'll just have to take my word for it.) There hadn't been anything else—yet—like them.

But two months and lots of dev later, two of the three games not only had competition, but it was clear we had bitten off more than we could chew in terms of the logistics and project management behind getting three games executed in two months. If we had put all of our eggs in that basket (or baskets, I suppose) we would've been boned. The jobs all started getting speed wobbles, there were hairline fractures spidering throughout our confidence, and the entire armada was foundering. Could you imagine if our entire future rested on this one throw of the dice?

Fortunately, we had also been making ourselves available for contract work and had a couple jobs lined up.

There's a great game Lane and I played right when we were starting out with TinkerHouse called Game Dev Story. (In fairness, Lane had played quite awhile before me. I have to make that clear or there will be a hell toupee.)

Now in Game Dev Story, it's imperative you take contract jobs initially to fund your original titles. There's no other way to make it in the beginning. And as it turns out, that's pretty close to reality. (As are a lot of things in Game Dev Story. If you're thinking about starting your own studio, you should give the game a try. It's cute and oddly informative.)

Whether you're hired to port a game from one platform to another, or making a utility app for someone from scratch, or anything else that falls in the range of hired gun, work-for-hire, don't feel bad about it! Making it in the app game purely through your own creations is still the golden ticket, but it's a long shot.

We tried to make our fortunes purely through indie game development. We saw firsthand how quickly the window closes for each new release and how unpredictable the app market can be. If you're looking to strike it rich out there, do yourself a favor. Don't be too proud to take paid work. You'll still be working for yourself. But part of working for yourself entails working. Or more importantly, really, getting paid for your work.

Even as I write this, we have two port jobs and two original apps commissioned. And we're very grateful for that work. It's keeping us in the black and funding our indie aspirations. And to be honest, if you can't find a creative challenge in work-for-hire, that's usually a paucity of imagination on your part, not the gig's.

So go out into the dark heart of midnight and quest for your fortune, bold adventurer. But don't be afraid to do some contract work along the way.

Hey, it keeps the porch light on.