I’ve also taken a stab at a game like this; it’s a challenging strategic roguelite leaning on input randomness. I made four prototypes for exploring the concept and mechanics, but it just doesn’t feel fun no matter how I spin it. In case you’re interested, the latest prototype is available here:
In principle I’d love to work on a project like this, but despite a good personal fit I can’t justify the costs until I find a concept that really clicks. For now I’ve given up and pivoted to an incremental game instead, exploring a design somewhat reminiscent of Universal Paperclips.
Previously I also wrote a postmortem about a much more involved EA game project that flopped. I still stand behind what I wrote, but can’t help making new concepts every now and then :)
Yeah, getting something to be both meaningful and fun at the same time is hard. I took a quick look at your prototype. It could have some potential, but at the same time, it’s not the only game out there with a similar idea. I recently came across The Choice Before Us, which is in a similar vein.
Given how fast things are moving in terms of AI developments, I’m not sure it’s realistic to try to make a game that’s polished enough to go viral before things change enough that the game is essentially obsolete.
Also, games are hard. Creative work seems very lottery-like in terms of success. Maybe you can argue from a risk neutral EV perspective that it’s worth it, but that doesn’t pay the bills.
Yea along those lines I used Claude to take a stab at a simplistic game that attempts to consider the political pressures as well, http://aidevtycoon.com/
I’ve also taken a stab at a game like this; it’s a challenging strategic roguelite leaning on input randomness. I made four prototypes for exploring the concept and mechanics, but it just doesn’t feel fun no matter how I spin it. In case you’re interested, the latest prototype is available here:
https://studioesagames.com/tfd/
In principle I’d love to work on a project like this, but despite a good personal fit I can’t justify the costs until I find a concept that really clicks. For now I’ve given up and pivoted to an incremental game instead, exploring a design somewhat reminiscent of Universal Paperclips.
Previously I also wrote a postmortem about a much more involved EA game project that flopped. I still stand behind what I wrote, but can’t help making new concepts every now and then :)
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/qwSRzAaQdquERuv27/how-my-view-on-using-games-for-ea-has-changed
Yeah, getting something to be both meaningful and fun at the same time is hard. I took a quick look at your prototype. It could have some potential, but at the same time, it’s not the only game out there with a similar idea. I recently came across The Choice Before Us, which is in a similar vein.
Given how fast things are moving in terms of AI developments, I’m not sure it’s realistic to try to make a game that’s polished enough to go viral before things change enough that the game is essentially obsolete.
Also, games are hard. Creative work seems very lottery-like in terms of success. Maybe you can argue from a risk neutral EV perspective that it’s worth it, but that doesn’t pay the bills.
Yea along those lines I used Claude to take a stab at a simplistic game that attempts to consider the political pressures as well, http://aidevtycoon.com/