Who is your target audience?

[BeyondCloister]

When you create a game who are you aiming it at?

Do you try to get as large an audience across the board as possible or are you just more interested in a niche group?

Or do you even just make a game that you would like to play yourself and if anyone else plays it and enjoys it then it is a bonus?

If you entered uDevGames 2004 which of the above did your entry fall into?
Did you try a different target group compared to what you would try in a game you had more time to develop?

To get things going, here are my thoughts.

Personally I create games that I would want to play. Having to constantly play something I did not enjoy during testing would just be like doing a 9 to 5 job. I'm not in it for the money but more for enjoyment as something to exercise my mind with and enjoy. Of course if at some point money does come in from it then that is a bonus. However knowing at least a single person has taken their precious free time and spent it on my game is a bigger reward than cash. That good feeling stays for life, the money is gone in a round of drinks.

[phydeaux]

I haven't made anything but free games so far, so those games have all been games designed so that I would find them fun. If any part of the gameplay is particularly bad for other people, I would try to do at least a little catering- if it's only fun for me, I don't see the point of making the game, either. I don't feel that my tastes are so particular that they only apply to me.

If you are trying to make a couple bucks, it's definitely a good idea to design games so that people will buy them. Most shareware games are almost exact clones of previous games for two reasons: 1) They are easy to program, and make, as they're already designed for you, and 2) there is a decent market for retro game experiences people want to remember. I can't really bring myself to write an exact clone of any retro game, because I feel more of a responsibility as an independent developer to try to innovate in some way, though I know this is rather difficult.

A lot of the poor reputation for independent games and shareware games is this inability to try new, original ideas. Again, a large reason for this problem is that it's very difficult to come up with new ideas, but the marketing factor is also there.

[Taxxodium]

For the only 2 games I've written, HeadBreaker and GridZone, my target audience were people that wanted to play a retro styled game. Both games are very old school board games.

Future game may be for a more specific audience.

[arekkusu]

A very small niche: Mac users with hardware less than four years old.

[ERaZer]

All the games I've started to write(yes, I haven't really released any games, I've completed a few and some of them are sort of released) they where not aimed at any specific audience, they where concieved by the idea that I thought they would be fun to play.

[Najdorf]

one of the coolest things of selling a game is that you get to know the email address of customers and some have their own domain, so I usually check out their site... and I found that my customers have extremely different typologies, ranging from the 8-year old boy to people working in the media! My last customer according to her site had worked for many cinema celebs :-)

[skyhawk]

Icarus: aimed at hardcore shmup fans
Microbian: Fighter: aimed at casual players

[JustinFic]

Typically my ideas are aimed at 18-35 males. And it absolutely must be a game I myself would love to play. I can't picture putting 100% of myself into working on it otherwise.

The type of game I'd like to eventually make is a "hardcore casual game." Right now, when I think "casual" I think of 6 billion clones of Collapse, Bejeweled, or whatever mild sedative happens to be popular at the moment on Yahoo games. I like how you can play them for as little as 5-10 minutes on a lunch break, but they're so... tame. They need elements from "hardcore" games like blood, guns, explosions, monsters that blow into gooey pieces when you shoot them, etc... I love these kinds of games, but I don't have the time to sink 4-5 hours a day playing them. And I know I don't just speak for myself :)

[Red Marble Game]

Men and women who are old enough to be out of their "OMG that's kewl, dude" phase, who have less time for gaming than that, and who are mainly looking for a quick diversion during work or relaxing before bed. I guess that's the Bejeweled clone audience, although there are a lot more interesting things happening in that genre than just the parade of clones.

[BinarySpike]

I've come up with kick tail idea's but are really hard to write with just one person.
(2D and 3D)
I make game's because it's cool to hit the down key and zoom the screen out.
then tell poeple that I did that I my game and they ask "HOW????!!!!!"
and I say "in an old version"
I really just program for my enjoyment and also to work my under-worked brain...
And I really pity those poeple that were pulled in with the MAC OS 9 craze that Apple lied about.
(because I *was* one of them)
so... I make all my games free WITH the source code.
and provide Mac os 9 support for those still un-lucky enough to not have the money to buy another computer.


D'ats Cool,
BinarySpike :cool:

[joephish]

I generally try to design a game which would be easy for me to make, but tries to innovate in some way AND is a game which I feel like people would want to play. I suppose I try to accomodate all of these things, but of course I have to make a compromise.

I feel like I have got many of those things right in Triaction (PIMP: http://www.aelius.com/products/triaction.phtml ). It's pretty, it isn't a clone of another game (it innovates in a few areas), it's great as a quick distraction, but there's one thing which I think stops it being a classic Mac game - its loading time is just a bit too long, killing the "quick distraction" aspect :-/ I think it is a huge flaw which kinda kills the game :-(

[funkboy]

I aim for people who don't have much time.

My target audience will get the idea in their head, "hey, let's play a game for a little bit," and will have to leave/quit the game at a moment's notice. Therefore, all my games keep constant track of the user and save often, or save on close/quit.

At least, this is the target audience I've decided is the best to target - because it targets people who don't have a whole bunch of time, which means they're probably busy doing other things like making money to spend on software. :)

[Fenris]

Well, I guess El Ballo isn't exactly falling into this target audience, but for my other games, I try capture the two untapped markets: women and 40+ gamers. It's not hard. I keep echoing Sheri Graner Ray's words: "Just don't actively close them out".

[BinarySpike]

I try capture the two untapped markets: women and 40+ gamers.

Uh, I know of two orginazations that are mostly women that make games for women.
AND, most of the game market is women... (even though men play more games)
(if somebody could come out with a game women and men like they would be filthy rich :D)

[skyhawk]

(if somebody could come out with a game women and men like they would be filthy rich :D)
like The Sims?

[Fenris]

Uh, I know of two orginazations that are mostly women that make games for women.
AND, most of the game market is women... (even though men play more games)
(if somebody could come out with a game women and men like they would be filthy rich
Yes, but the irony is that none of them are very successful. Like skyhawk said, though: the Sims. And the problem isn't making games for women, the problem is that most games made nowadays are actively shutting them out. If you have some christmas money left, pick up a book called "Gender Inclusive Design" and read it. :)

Besides, a market with two organizations targeting it, that is untapped in my eyes. ;)

[BeyondCloister]

Of the games I've released in the past, I've sold more to women then men so I guess I must of found that elusive game design.

[BinarySpike]

Besides, a market with two organizations targeting it, that is untapped in my eyes.

I agree, but still they do exist :)