Faith Forms | Christianity Shapes Game Development

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Are You Building Your Game on the Sand?

Jesus told the story of a man who built his house upon some sand (Mathew 7:24-27). We don't know much about him or the house—it could be that he dreamed of building it his entire life, or maybe he heard a word from the Lord. If we had seen him earlier in life, we may have seen him studying plans, sketching designs, scouting sites, and driving everyone around him crazy by talking about how great it would be.

Regardless of the details of the man, the beauty of the house, or how much effort and resources went into its construction, things turned out differently than he had planned. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.

Hopefully, this story was merely an illustration, and no one was injured when the house collapsed. Nevertheless, these types of failures can cause injuries to ourselves and those in proximity. Ask those who have worked on failed games or lived through a studio collapse.

No one sets out to fail; we all start building with the best intentions and confidence in our success. However, sometimes, things happen along the way that unknowingly sabotages our project—little things that go undetected or dismissed until we see them in hindsight and realize what happened.

Here are thirty characteristics of failed projects that I've experienced or witnessed throughout my career. Use it as a spot-check while building your game, and hopefully, you can help avoid disaster.

  1. Unrealistic timeline

  2. Unrealistic budget

  3. Building multiple games at the same time

  4. Relying on volunteer labor

  5. Hoping someone will build your game for you

  6. Misappropriating a promise of God

  7. Trying to build a AAA game

  8. Not having a marketing plan

  9. Leaving marketing to the last minute

  10. Betting your family's future on the success of the game

  11. Not having a backup strategy

  12. Not seeking advice

  13. Not validating your target audience

  14. Refusing to listen to feedback

  15. Unwilling to define goals

  16. Working in isolation

  17. Not trusting your teammates

  18. Not empowering your teammates

  19. No clear direction

  20. The design lives in a single person's head

  21. Unwilling to edit or cut ideas

  22. Prideful about investment/publishing deal

  23. Prideful about press coverage

  24. Prideful about past success

  25. Distracted by the shiny

  26. Working in your own strength

  27. Neglecting your family

  28. Neglecting your health

  29. Scaling too quickly

  30. Not spending enough time in pre-production