Lessons learned as a pro writer (or any indie…)

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 8, 2018

This was a series of tweets by Alexander J. A. Cortes, unrolled into a single post. There is some fantastic advice here. It’s geared towards independent writers, but most of it applies equally well to art, game development, music, etc. The Lessons of Making $$ from Writing It’s a pretty solid list, all told. If […]

Filed Under: Indie Evangelism, Writing - Comments: Comments are off for this article

Indie Games: The Floor Hits a New Low

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 10, 2017

I went to the nickle arcade a couple of weeks ago with my family. We had a great time, playing a bunch of classic arcade games. Some of the more popular games required two, three, or even four nickles to play. Which is still a lot less than the $0.25 they were originally slotted for […]

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Quadrilateral Cowboy Wins IGF Grand Prize

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 3, 2017

I was looking forward to Quadrilateral Cowboy for a long time… a weird, retro-future cinematic cyberpunky adventure game with cube-headed people about hacking set in the 1980s. For a while, I was even afraid this project by Blendo Games was dead. It took four years to complete after its big splash in 2013. They finally […]

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Are CRPGs dead or dying?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 4, 2017

TLDR Version: Are you kidding me? We’re in the new golden age of computer role-playing games, my friends! There’s never been a better time to strap on a digital sword (or laser gun) and enjoy some dungeon-delving fun on your PC. You just have to know where to look. Full Version: I was one of […]

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Why Do We Bother?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on April 13, 2016

Sometimes, the whole authoring gig & indie game dev thing gets me down. The hours are long. I’m rarely current on any television shows. My list of unplayed games and unread books grows. I get stressed. There’s a crapload of work. We have deadlines to meet which are rarely convenient. I’m not getting rich or famous […]

Filed Under: General, Indie Evangelism - Comments: 2 Comments to Read

2016 IGF Awards

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 17, 2016

The 18th annual Independent Games Festival is happening this week, and the awards are in. Top honors went to Her Story, which won the Excellence in Narrative award as well as the Seumus McNally Grand Prize. Fan favorite Undertale won the audience award… not that it needs the cash, from what I have seen. 🙂 More […]

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Ultima V, Publisher Contract Dangers, and Why We Needed Indie

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 16, 2016

There were a whole lot of reasons why I was an evangelist for the indie revolution. Just making sure that game developers had a reasonable path to create and distribute their creations without having to go through the giant gatekeepers was a big one. Reducing the barriers to entry was huge. But there was another […]

Filed Under: Biz, Indie Evangelism, Retro - Comments: 2 Comments to Read

Consistent Quantity of Sufficient Quality, and the Long Tail

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 14, 2016

Across the board, entertainment industries are overwhelmingly hit-driven. Super high-quality and super innovation both have a chance of knocking things out of the park in a HUGE way. Combine with some luck (the right game at the right time at the right price) and / or excellent marketing (sometimes fan-driven), and the rewards are tremendous. […]

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Amaranth Games Retires From Game Development – For Now

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 1, 2016

Well, ya’ll know I’ve been a fan of Amanda Fitch and Amaranth Games since the release of the original Aveyond: Ren’s Quest (then just called Aveyond). It was one of the first commercial releases of an RPGMaker-based game, and even if was the first of the open floodgates, the series remained among the highest quality RPG […]

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Burn Your Ships vs. Don’t Quit Your Day Job

Posted by Rampant Coyote on February 25, 2016

When I was first discovering the “indie” side of game development and entrepreneurship… and I see the same in writing … I was confronted with two seemingly contradictory pieces of advice: BURN YOUR SHIPS! (BYS) In reference to conquistador Hernando Cortez, who burned his ships and his only avenue of escape. The only way back was […]

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Personal Relationships with the Audience

Posted by Rampant Coyote on February 17, 2016

I’ve recently noticed that about half of the video games I play and the books I read are written by people I am personally acquainted with. Maybe not close friends – in some cases they are just people I’m Facebook friends with, or who I’ve exchanged emails or forum posts with, or who I’ve chatted […]

Filed Under: Biz, Books, Geek Life, Indie Evangelism - Comments: Read the First Comment

What’s Clogging the Crap-Filters This Year?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on February 2, 2016

I picked up a game on Steam over the weekend that billed itself as a 3D roguelike. I won’t name the game. I try to avoid dumping on indie games here, even when they really deserve it. And man, this game deserves it. What makes the game terrible? It came across as a Game Jam […]

Filed Under: Biz, Indie Evangelism - Comments: 6 Comments to Read

Indie In Arcade Cabinets

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 13, 2016

The arcade is dead. Well, mostly.  There are a couple of them still around in my area, which I need to go to more frequently, because it’s FUN and I want to support them. But these delightful places that in some ways defined my youth are no longer a thing. A going concern. Like phone […]

Filed Under: Indie Evangelism, Retro - Comments: Read the First Comment

Why Would Anyone Buy Another RPG?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on December 29, 2015

With the bundles and two steam sales recently (Hey, did I mention Frayed Knights is on sale at Steam? Well, consider it mentioned again!), my game collection is threatening to get out of control again. I’m not sure when I’m going to play them all. I do try, at least. Last night I spent some […]

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Breaking the RPG Mold – “The Fanatic and His RPG”

Posted by Rampant Coyote on December 3, 2015

This is one of the best reviews / commentaries about a game I’ve read in a long while. The game in question is “Age of Decadence,” the long-awaited Magnum Opus from Iron Tower Studio. I haven’t played the full version yet, though it’s high on my list. I played a previous build and was impressed. I’ve […]

Filed Under: Indie Evangelism - Comments: 3 Comments to Read

The Value of “Exposure”

Posted by Rampant Coyote on November 9, 2015

Wil Wheaton’s recent blog post on the value of “exposure” has brought a matter to popular discussion which has already been making the rounds for a bit: the use of “exposure” as compensation. In this case, it’s probably one of the more egregious abuses recently: An extremely popular and highly-valued, presumably quite profitable site – trying […]

Filed Under: Biz, Indie Evangelism - Comments: Read the First Comment



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