Do you think your own game is boring?

[Rob]

I had a game idea that I wanted to make for a long time and it was the first game that I actually completed.

When I compare the gameplay to what was in my head, it's a hollow shell. It's repetitive and it's missing a load of features that would of made it more fun. I had a few months of painful bugs (that I managed to fix, although apparently there are plenty more that people found!) and I just powered through so I could just finished it.

I honestly think that the game is boring.

I get emails or reviews on the game from time to time and some people actually seem to enjoy playing it - at least for long enough to decide it's worth their time connecting with me.

I just wondered if anyone else has experienced this (you think your game is boring but a few random people like it).

I guess if enough people play then at least a few will like it. My game doesnt exactly have many downloads though lol...

Disclaimer: this post was created whilst on the lavatory so content may vary in quality.

 

[Cloaked Games]

The developer usually finds their own game relatively boring. You spend way more time playing it than the average player, and you get no enjoyment out of what should be a surprise since you know exactly how everything works. I feel this especially in my current project since it has a lot of puzzles, which I don't even get to solve myself.

However, this is not to say that your game couldn't have been better. Those features you're imagining probably would have made the game better if you had managed it, and you might've enjoyed it a bit more yourself, even if you still enjoyed it less than the average person. But, don't let that regret keep you from moving on. At this point, you've published a game and you should just look forward to making the next published game even better.

 

[Siolfor the Jackal]

Yeah, man. I think partly because of how much time we sink into working on the systems and testing them, it becomes easy to get to used to it and bored of playing the same sections over and over.
But other people can't see your vision in your head as clearly as you do, and will often come in with no expectations in that way. So they get to experience your game as a whole instead of piecemeal like we do.

 

[Bluetail7]

I'm frustrated trying to give the best experience with the demo, but I am afraid that my game is boring with the lack of enemies and environment. Perhaps, the gameplay will make up for it, but that's not my vision. I want people to play it already, but I know it's not ready.

This autocritique is causing a lot of delays. I might be blind to see a fun game: while other people see it good already.

tldr: sometimes developers push themselves too hard to notice the effort put in the game. if it's playable already, let people give feedback. if it's good: it will stand on it's own as a game, otherwise, it would be a beta/prototype: that requires constant updates.

I believe the first goal for a good game is the audience.
The second is your vision.
The third: is the final product.

 

[Taddio]

Unless it's a multiplayer thing, I almost never play my stuff outside of testing and coding.
I never listen to my records, and I never really watch my paintings even tough they're on the walls everywhere at my place.

Art is a b*tch. You put your heart and soul into it, you bleed for it while nobody cares and do their own thing.
And once you release it, you're burned out, sick of what you were working on, and you have to do P.R with all the people that never gave a **** in the first place.
I'm not complaining, that's just often how it works. Part of the job, I guess.
Worst thing is when people tell you how good it is, and you know in the back of your head that you did fall short of that almost unreacheable level of quality we often expect for ourselves.
You have to accept the fact that you are not CREATING art for the same reasons they are CONSUMING it. Learn the lessons that are to be learned and carry them on to the next thing.
It's the only thing you can do, since once let it loose in the wild, your art doesn't belong to you anymore, it's just...free...

 

[mamacato]

I dabble in art and game making is my latest endeavour. I like my stuff a lot. My music, my one painting, my cat game, my jokes. All are treasures to me.

 

[Sam (Deleted User)]

My games are boring not just to me, but most people. There, I said it...

 

[O.Stogden]

My games are boring not just to me, but most people. There, I said it...

But its April 1st so you can play this off as a joke later!

But seriously, my games are the worst...

 

[Sam (Deleted User)]

But its April 1st so you can play this off as a joke later!

But seriously, my games are the worst...

Nah I can top anything that you did with my level of awfulness. I made man boobs are candy corn hd.

Edit: I realise that could be read two different ways. I meant my games are probably worse, not better. I haven't seen your games so for all I know you might be joking yourself. All I know is I wasn't joking about my stuff.

 

[Khao]

Not boring, but shockingly easy. It's always pretty damn hard to resist temptation of raising the difficulty, but I've learned some time ago to always, always push difficulty down, even if you're purposefully making the game difficult.

My game is a competitive multiplayer game. It's structured a lot like a fighting game, and you can play against AI-controlled characters. The game is meant to be pretty easy to play, mechanics are simple, and every button has a very clear, specific purpose, and when I'm testing the game, even the hardest difficulty setting feels like a breeze.

To my surprise, most people had trouble beating the "Normal" difficulty, while "Hard" was pretty much impossible to them. I'm now pushing for the AI to be a bit easier. I used to have "Easy," "Normal," and "Hard" settings. I renamed those three to "Normal," "Hard" and "Very Hard," respectively, and added extra "Easy" and "Very Easy" settings that are waaaaaaaaay more forgiving. I don't even understand how people could ever lose to those last two, but people who're not that great at games mechanically speaking seem to have fun with them, haha.

I don't find the game in general to be boring though. Every now and then, I play a few matches with some other people who are helping with development and we have a blast!

 

[PlayerOne]

I don't know if it's boring so much that if it's "enough" or "explained well." As I'm trying to make a balanced game and the amount of variations I've made to project is insane. Frankly is "enough" for me "enough" for the players to have fun? Does that makes sense?

Honestly, I just need to finish the first chapter to get a feel for what I'm building and continue from there.

 

[Toque]

I see this all the time. In my mind it’s great. But the game plays out honestly just not that fun

Fun is an allusive thing to actually get right.

 

[sitebender]

Nope. I try to bring intensity to my games and I don't think people want that. Many people seem to want a lot of downtime and a game that you can sink hours into rather than a lone hour.

I call it the "walk away for an hour, come back are you still safe?"

With my games I try for no safe zones and to let enemies be as smart as possible to make you move. To me that's fun and enjoyable. I can replay one of my 4+ year old games and still enjoy it after the first minute.

 

[Toque]

Nope. I try to bring intensity to my games and I don't think people want that. Many people seem to want a lot of downtime and a game that you can sink hours into rather than a lone hour.

I call it the "walk away for an hour, come back are you still safe?"

With my games I try for no safe zones and to let enemies be as smart as possible to make you move. To me that's fun and enjoyable. I can replay one of my 4+ year old games and still enjoy it after the first minute.

Lots of people like short intense games. Millions of mobile games are like this.

If people have 30 seconds of fun that’s success.

 

[steveyg90]

I created a game like down well, I got so bored of keep playing it, although released on Steam I also don't think other people have enjoyed playing it as sales have been very bad.

Coding a game for months at a time, I guess it is natural to become bored with it and wanting to move onto something new, but taking this approach, your game would never be finished.
One of the hardest parts of game development is completing your game.

 

[r7465]

I found Fat Ninja to be pretty entertaining, but the REAL problem was that I felt like the game was impossible to understand in a single glance.

 

[Fern]

I've enjoyed playing all my own games in the past. I'll even revisit them sometimes months later and play for an hour or two, just to remind myself of how far I've come. But I'm never as disappointed when I look back.

Though it's worth saying that my latest game is the one I have the most fun with and the one I'd be willing to play through a few more times with the right friends.

 

[Mool]

I played one of my games (Dual Multiplayer) a lot at work with my friends. There it was a lot of fun for everybody. The other games are fun too, but there 90% of playtime is test/fix time.

But yeah many games fail, because its hard to get motivated if you dont believe in it (think its funny/good)

 

[Guest]

My game's awesome. Now if only someone would finish it.

 

[RichHopefulComposer]

I love both my games, lol. I can run around one spot for hours if I'm not careful. :')

I agree with Khao though; I'm always surprised how much other people struggle when I let them play. Difficulty is always five times higher than I expected, hahah.

 

[Niels]

I've enjoyed playing all my own games in the past. I'll even revisit them sometimes months later and play for an hour or two, just to remind myself of how far I've come. But I'm never as disappointed when I look back.

Though it's worth saying that my latest game is the one I have the most fun with and the one I'd be willing to play through a few more times with the right friends.

I sometimes replay the projects I abandoned because I thought they were boring and to my surprise they are a lot more fun than I thought.

 

[SilentxxBunny]

Not at all. In my opinion: I've created the funnest mobile HTML5 games on the internet (but you know what they say about opinions.)



At least I've got zero thousand fans who agree with me...

 

[John Andrews]

Honestly, I don't find my current game boring, though some maps I'm developing feel like they lack something that makes them exciting, and that fact makes me kind of scared, what if it's boring for other people? But for now, the demo has done kinda ok, so I'll try and keep making things in a way that I can enjoy and not get bored, and hopefully others that try it are also not bored But what can I know

 

[Sanctifier]

I quite enjoy playing my own games. Sometimes I do get eventually bored when I'm stuck on a problem for quite a while, however the enjoyment always comes back when I add new features.

I love that whole feeling of looking at a game, and, when I find that there is something wrong with it, instead of hoping that the developers fix things, I can now fix it myself. Plus I get to decide exactly what features get added.

 

[Yal]

I tend to have a 50-50 ratio between programming and test playing on a good day. So I suppose either I program way too little, or I'm enjoying my games too much.

 

[Lord KJWilliams]

I had a game idea that I wanted to make for a long time and it was the first game that I actually completed.

When I compare the gameplay to what was in my head, it's a hollow shell. It's repetitive and it's missing a load of features that would of made it more fun. I had a few months of painful bugs (that I managed to fix, although apparently there are plenty more that people found!) and I just powered through so I could just finished it.

I honestly think that the game is boring.

If you want to make a game that is worth while to build, let it be a game that you take the time to plan out and learn how its going to work. If you plan out the details, you would have those, "...load of features that would of made it more fun" , as you said. You know what you want in your game better than anyone does. Brainstorm again. Its not a rush job - so take your time. Don't make your game development become boring. Change the way you think about it. Let it be challenging in the process - so that you want it ( and finally accomplish it ). That's the only motivating reason that you have in this situation here.

 

[YanBG]

Ofcourse it's boring i know what happens in the story, not only that but i can change stuff so there is no challenge either. But it's still better than a regular job

 

[Kezarus]

Well... random generation and crazy AI do wonders not make the game repetitive. I am playing mine for 2 years and its is still fun to gather a party, train everyone, try to not get my ass kicked from some encounters, try new strategies. This if for the Endless RPG.

My other game, Overkill, was so over the top frenetic and fast-paced that today I can't play it, lost all my young-age reflexes! XD It's fun, but too god damn hard! My brother still plays it. I made the game for him anyways... =]