Ben Gillbanks is both a game developer and web designer. He is an independent game developer making simple, yet fun games and making them available through his well-designed website, Binary Sun. We find out from him what rewards and difficulties there are being an independent game developer.

Some of the games Ben has created:

• Bubble Blitz - A color-matching game that keeps you coming back for more.
• Rocket Boards - A 3D racing game on hoverboards, where you race against up to 7 opponents.
• Seth’s Puzzle Boxes - It may seem simple at first, but then it really puts those brain cells to use. Flip a ball around to reach the other ball.
• Super Gerball - A Super Monkeyball-like game where you guide a gerbil in a ball through mazes and danger.
• Bubble Bomb - Like Bubble Blitz but with bombs to make things messy.

What are some of the challenges that you, as an independent game developer, have to go through?

Apart from fighting the mega global corps like EA, the biggest problem is advertising/ marketing/ getting people to download your game. Theoretically if your game is good people will buy it, but if nobody knows about it then you won’t sell anything irrespective of the quality of the offering.

What are the rewards?

The obvious one would be the money, but thankfully i have a day job, or I’d be out of business pretty quickly. Something I do really like is the emails I get from people saying they enjoyed my game. The satisfaction of knowing that someone liked something I created.

What steps do you go through to sell your game, increase awareness about them, and so on?

Marketing a game is something I am spending a lot of time learning about at the moment. The first thing you should do when selling software of any type on the web is submit your game to download sites (download.com being the biggest).

As I mentioned the shareware games thing isn’t my main source of income. As such I am free to experiment with different marketing ideas and if they fail it doesn’t matter. Because of this I am trying different things such as the ‘free games for bloggers‘ initiative.

Do you find that having a very nice site design help sell your games?

It doesn’t hurt

I think all websites should look nice. They don’t have to have the most amazing, original design ever, but they should be clear and understandable. I think games sites can get away with brighter colours and busier designs, to match their intended audience (generally kids)

The same goes for games, lots of people talk about how ‘graphics don’t matter, it’s the gameplay that counts’, but that’s basically not true. The gameplay is incredibly important and in the long term is what matters, but when all you have to sell the game are a few screenshots in a magazine (or on a website) then graphics are very important. People won’t know how good the gameplay is if they don’t want to download the thing in the first place.

How has the promotion where you give bloggers your game(s) for free if they review it worked out for you so far? (See this post for details.)

The feedback I’ve had so far has been positive but it’s still in the early days yet. I’ve given away about a dozen games so far, which is less than I’d hoped for. I’m now trying to work out ways of advertising my advert

What’s the best part about creating the games you make?

The creative freedom and the lack of deadlines. I can make games as I please and when I like, and if I don’t do something it’s only me that loses out.

Do you find yourself trying to beat the high scores on the World Wide list in Dr. Germ?

Ha Haaa - there are some very good players out there. I doubt I’d beat them all.

I should probably point out that I didn’t create Dr. Germ, I’m just reselling it for another developer, however I have played it quite a bit, and I doubt I will beat all (any) of the people on the score board.

The games you’ve created — what motivated you to make them?

Boredom. The joy of creation. I don’t know. I just like making things, and programming games (programming of any kind) excercises the mind - which can’t be a bad thing.

What games do you find yourself playing these days? (Besides your own, of course.)

I like adventure games, and games that try to do something different. I’m a huge fan of Nintendo, in particular the Zelda series. I’m currently working my way through Shadow of the Colossus (just got to the last boss), and intend to give Black a go soon.

Do you plan on making more games? If so, could you tell us details about what you plan on making?

I have just started my next game. I’ve had enough of colour matching games (Bubble Blitz) and want to do something else in 3D, so I am doing a side scrolling shoot em up featuring the lead character from Rocket Boards.

What do you envision your games will be like in 5 years if you were still making them?

I’d like to still be making games in 5 years. I don’t know what they’ll be like though. I suspect they will either be more of the same, or a lot more abstract. As time moves on art requirements increase. People are expecting better and better graphics and as a solo developer you just can’t compete with companies like EA, or Ubisoft. This is why games like Grid Wars are good. They look amazing, despite incredibly simple graphics, and I suspect games like that will become more common amongst indie developers.