• Fun On The Spot - Games

    Rob Mathewson is the Big Picture Guy for On The Spot Games. Read his musings on games and the game industry.

    Saturday, September 09, 2006

    How Can You Possibly Guarantee Fun?

    That's what my friend Mike Pinkowski asked after I told him my plans to offer guaranteed fun to our customers who purchase one of our new games for 2006. I've put in a ton of work and pushed our designers hard to come up with games that are easy to learn and fun to play again and again. I thought the best way to convey that was NOT to rely simply on word of mouth to filter out about what a blast these games are. I'm way too impatient for that.

    It's also has a lot to do with the nature of the game business. There are plenty of games on the shelves of retailers these days with familiar names and familiar play experiences. Although people are open to try new things, they're more likely to stick with "safe" choices unless they are given some compelling reason to risk something new. However, simply printing the word "Guarantee" and sending out some press releases are not sufficient. I felt I really needed to make some meaningful statement that conveyed what my expectations were for them and what I was willing to do to back them up.

    If I'm shopping for a game and somebody points out to me that an On The Spot Game is guaranteed fun, my first reaction would be "what the hell does that mean?" Thinking long and hard about this question, I surmised that if a game is truly fun, there is one outcome that will result; I'll want to play it again.

    Now the guarantee makes sense. "Aha. If I spend my hard earned money on this game, then it's not going to sit on a shelf." That is tangilble benefit that I believe any game buyer can sink there teeth into.

    And what if I'm wrong? What if you, Mr. Customer, for whatever reason don't have fun with this game? I could offer you your money back and we could both throw our hands up and say "oh, well." But that wouldn't be very satisfying for anybody, because you still haven't had any fun. That's where the Founder's Pledge comes in; "If You Don't Wanna Play Again, then Our Founder Gets It!" Which means, I'm willing to put my humility on the line for the sake of a few laughs for you. I've got several "trusted" associates compiling a list of fun "stunts" that would provide a few chuckles for those few who were not truly tickled by our games.

    So, with that, I throw myself at the mercy of my friends and customers. My friends will make the list stunts and ultimately the fun-deprived will choose my fate. I've heard one of the choices will be to enlist a fish monger from Pike Place Market to knock an apple off my head with a flying salmon.
    Sounds like fun. (Gulp.)

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