As you might already know I’m using Blender 3D for creating the artwork of my games. It’s a free 3D modeling tool with a lot of features and possibilities. A few weeks ago I received a request from Packt Publishing to review a new book that teaches you how to work with Blender 3D. It’s called ‘Blender 3D 2.49 Incredible Machines‘, written by author Allan Brito. Since I’m going to model some machines myself, I thought it might be interesting to see what this book has to offer. Read more…

Do you remember playing with toy cranes, dump trucks or wheel loaders when you were a kid? I certainly remember having great time with those! Recently I bought some CATTERPILAR toys for my son to play with (dump truck, excavator and crane), and it just amazes me how much appeal it got.

Strangely enough there aren’t many computer games which let you control these heavy equipment machines. There are some realistic simulations, but nothing really fun.

Therefore Koonsolo is going to release a series of games where you control bulldozers, excavators, dump trucks, wheel loaders, cranes and other heavy machinery. We will call it our ‘Big Machine Games‘. Don’t expect realistic simulations, because it’s going to be fun, entertaining, and something completely unique, just like any other Koonsolo game. It’s the perfect excuse to relive the fun you had as a kid, but this time packaged in a challenging game.

And as a matter of fact, we’re already working on the first game in the Big Machine Games linup. It’s our Big Bulldozer Game, a fun and challenging puzzle game.

Mystic Mine now has an online version, which also includes online highscores! So you think you’re one of the best Mystic Miners out there? Prove it in the highscore tables! Click here to play it.

It’s official, Mystic Mine has entered the Indepenent Games Festival competition. In the past some weird artistic games have won, so let’s hope this time the jury loves M.C.Escher, and has a soft spot for fun, innovative gameplay (with an old-school feel).

Wish me luck!

During the development of your game, you should already do some marketing. This way you line up some customers to buy your game once its released. But marketing means revealing parts of your game. And when developing an innovative game, your primary fear might be that someone is going to steal your idea, and… (Tune from Jaws here) daaa dum daaa dum daaa dum… bring out a cloned game sooner than you! AAAARRRRGGGG!
Well… I got news for you: nobody is going to steal your idea.

Take a look at Braid or Tower of Goo for example. Both are innovative games, both revealed their concept long before their release. And you know what? Nobody stole their idea.
Next to these two masterpieces, I’m shamelessly going to use my own game Mystic Mine as an example. To be honest I was indeed scared that someone would steel the idea of those impossible “Escher”-levels. But you know what? Nobody did! And if you think of it, this makes perfect sense. Why would you clone a game that hasn’t yet proven itself in the market? And if it’s already popular before release, people are waiting for the original game, not the clone. Besides, are you sure you will put the game faster on the market? It just doesn’t makes sense to clone a game that hasn’t been released yet. And your fellow indie game developers, they all have their own game ideas to develop.

So market the hell out of your game while working on it, and don’t worry about someone steeling your idea or concept. Now go do it! What are you waiting for?

When I released my indie game Mystic Mine, I had no idea if the Linux version was going to sell. But 7 months later, I must say the results are quite surprising.

Recently I got interviewed by Linux Gaming News about my indie game Mystic Mine, and one of the questions was how many Linux copies I sold. I looked into it and saw that I sell the most copies for Mac OS X, then for Linux, and the least for Windows. I didn’t make much of it, because as an indie game developer it’s easier to get noticed on Mac OS X or Linux than on Windows. And selling games is all about exposure. But after people started to ask questions on this, I looked further into it, and what I discovered really surprised me. Read more…

Our game Mystic Mine has gotten some improvements, and we are making the update freely available. Here are the most important changes:

• The multiplayer game now tracks the overall scores for all played levels. This means that you can organize a tournament with your friends, and at the end see who won the most games.
• Mystic Mine is now running faster, so slower machines are now better supported.
• The first levels of adventure mode are now even more fun.

If you bought the game and want to receive the latest version, just mail me at koen@koonsolo.com and I will reactivate your download. And for those who don’t have the full game yet,  play the new demo and have fun!

As a kid I saw the animation movie Fire & Ice, and absolutely loved it. Back then I didn’t know the creator was successfully competing with a big corporation like Disney. You should definitely check out this video with the creator of that animation movie, Ralph Bakshi, on how to compete as a small studio.

Indie and casual game developers can sell their games through various portals. Unfortunately these portals offer very low royalty rates (about 25% to 35%). Some ‘developer friendly’ portals offer 40%. Remark that this percentage is not calculated on the game’s price, but on the ‘net revenue”, which means that when a game is sold, first some payment processing fees and other costs are deducted, and you will get the % of what’s left. And you know what, it doesn’t stop there. Portals make sure they stay in control by forcing following policies: Read more…