Pig Sail Studios

[pigsailstudios]

Marketing plan

As promised, we will introduce you to our target market advertising plan. We want to reach potential players through...

TikTok Engagement: Utilizing TikTok as a platform for captivating content creation and user engagement.

Conventions and Events: Participation in industry conventions and events to showcase our game and generate interest among attendees.

Social Media Presence: Leveraging the power of social media platforms like Twitter and YouTube to disseminate information and interact with our audience.

Streamer Collaborations: Establishing cooperative relationships with influential streamers and YouTubers to expand our game's visibility and reach.

Game Competitions: Active involvement in game competitions to connect with the gaming community and foster excitement around our product.

Austrian Gamer Endorsement: Enlisting Austria's top gamers to test and endorse our game at competitions, providing diverse gamers with the opportunity to experience it firsthand and fostering internal community engagement.

How we get people to buy our game:

Demo Version Offering: Providing a demo version allows prospective buyers to experience a test trial before making a purchase decision, thereby offering them a firsthand insight into the game's features and mechanics.

Interactive Website with Sound Design: Our website is meticulously designed to offer visitors a comprehensive and immersive experience, complete with sound design elements that enable users to fully immerse themselves in the game's atmosphere and feel like an integral part of the experience.

Engaging Social Media Presence: Leveraging various social media channels, we engage with our audience by sharing entertaining content such as memes and fostering interactive discussions within the community. This approach not only enhances brand awareness but also strengthens our connection with potential buyers.

Content Distribution Channels:

We want to use the following platforms to disseminate our content effectively:

Twitter

Website

Tumblr

Recommended Hashtags for Twitter and Tumblr:

#IndieDev #GameDev #Cloud #RainyWeather #CastleInTheClouds #CaptureOfTheDay #Snapshot #GameDesign #TheClearestOfTheClouds #ClimateChange #Sustainability #PigSailStudios

Rough Marketing Plan Overview:

General Activities:

Engage with the community.

Respond to inquiries and comments promptly.

Share regular updates via TikTok videos.

Weekly news and current progress updates on the website.

Month One:

10 Sneak Peeks

2 Game Screenshots

5 Short Reel Animations

Blog Posts on Tumblr

Month Two:

Website Release/Pre-Ordering with Various Packages (Premium, Regular, etc.)

One Cinematic Video

Official Video Trailer

Month Three:

Collaborative Testing Videos with Streamers

Two TikTok Ads

Month Four:

Release of Demo Version

Game Convention Testing

Month Five:

Concept Art Reveals

Gameplay GIFs to Encourage Engagement

Early Access for Influencers

Month Six:

Official Game Launch

Character Sheet Posts to Introduce Characters

Merchandise Advertising

And last but not least: Merchandise T-shirts: Our T-shirts feature vibrant designs inspired by the game's aesthetic and themes, providing fans with stylish apparel to showcase their enthusiasm for our game.

Instax Polaroid Film Border: Designed to complement Instax Polaroid cameras, our film borders add a touch of our game's charm to every snapshot, allowing fans to capture memories in a uniquely themed style.

Sail you soon :)

[pigsailstudios]

Marketing opportunities

We asked ourselves how can we inspire people to play our game? What does it take to peek their interest?

I mean, our lovely characters and unique way of storytelling are pretty convincing already. But we want MORE.

We wrote a little text that will be displayed in the game store:

"The Clearest of the Clouds" is a story-based stealth game for iPad and the Nintendo Switch. Play as a photography intern, snapping pictures to reveal the narrative. This cozy single-player game is all about capturing the right moment. But sometimes, the right moment doesn't help those hiding the truth.

Oh, wow. That was actually a final game title reveal!

For people who don't want to buy a game straight away we will offer a Free Demo version to get familiar with the gameplay and decide if you like it.

For the fans who love the game as much as we do, we offer some cool merchandise, like a reversible cloud pillow plushie, an eraser that reveals something (if you erase a lot with it) and a special-edition polaroid film design for Instax Mini Cameras.

We also figured out a marketing plan, but we will let you in on it the next time :)

[pigsailstudios]

Game mechanics (so far)

Every sailor needs to know some mechanics of the boat. Just like a player needs to know the mechanics of a game.

In our game, the player controls the young journalists in a 2D world. Sometimes the journalist needs to interact with a camera, taking pictures of certain events or interactions to uncover the secrets of the utopian world. The player also needs to talk to people and interact with objects in the background.

So we will need the options to walk left and right, jump, interact/collect.

Since our game will be available for Nintendo Switch and iPad, the mechanics will slighly be different from platform to platform. Michaela and Sebastian are working on the user interface design as you read this post (if you read it right after it is released, at least).

That is it for today. Happy sailing! :)

[pigsailstudios]

The only ways is up...

... because this is an elevator pitch.

*in the elevator*

Game Developer: Hi!

Pig Sails Studios: Follow a young journalist into a utopian world and help them uncover the unpleasant truth that lies underneath this perfection surrounding them. Save the ones who suffer to grant others a life without obstacles. Equipped with a camera you are the secret agent of the poor, fighting for justice one picture at a time.. (._.)

Game Developer: Uhh, cool. (^.^) I need to get out on this floor, bye.

Pig Sails Studios: Sail you soon!

[pigsailstudios]

You are special!!! (And our game is too)

Just you reading this post right now makes you special. Why? Because not a lot of people do that right now. So you can brag about reading one of the most niche blogs on the whole of tumblr!!

You wanna know what makes our game special as well? We did some soul-searching (worked on our game design concept) and found out what makes our game so unique:

Our game combines innovative storytelling with mesmerizing graphics and an emotionally charged atmosphere.

The ability for the player to seamlessly switch between contrasting worlds adds an interesting layer to the gameplay. Players can explore a playful and vibrant realm in the clouds, only to plunge into a deep and haunting underworld, offering a strong contrast that keeps the players engaged and emotionally invested.

Lovable characters contribute to the immersive narrative. Players form deep connections with these characters, enhancing the emotional impact of the story. Whether interacting with quirky cloud inhabitants or facing the challenges of the underworld, players will forge meaningful relationships that drive the narrative forward.

The art style is not only aesthetically pleasing but serves as a storytelling tool, enhancing the overall experience. The carefully crafted environments and character designs contribute to the game's unique identity, making it a visual ocean for players.

An original and emotionally resonant soundtrack complements the gameplay, creating a multisensory experience. The music adapts to the changing moods of the game, enhancing the atmosphere and immersing players in the unfolding story. The soundtrack becomes an important part of the overall emotional journey.

For publishers, our game represents a low-risk investment with the potential for high rewards. The visually stunning graphics, coupled with a compelling soundtrack and a unique dual-world and mood-switching mechanic, offer a fresh and innovative gaming experience. This, combined with a strong storytelling foundation, positions our game as a market standout with broad appeal.

Pig Sail Studios, over. :)

[pigsailstudios]

We need to know the world, before we can sail on it.

And oh pig, there is a lot to learn about, so we started to do a bit of research. We picked some games that show similarities to our game and found out the following things:

UNDERTALE

Undertale is a role-playing game that uses a top-down perspective. In the game, the player controls a child and completes objectives in order to progress through the story. Players explore an underground world filled with towns and caves, and are required to solve numerous puzzles.

Popularity: Undertale success started in 2015 when the game came out. With over 10.000 active players on steam, the game got a huge community. Even after 8 years, Undertale is played daily by 1.000 players on steam. A reason for this huge success is the great storytelling and music.

Unique features: Witty humour, occasional fourth wall breaks, dialogue options, a turn-based combat system in which the player controls the heart, avoiding attacks from enemies in between fighting, acting and sparing enemies.

ENDLING – THE EXTINCTION IS FOREVER

Extinction Is Forever is a 2D side-scrolling adventure game. You play as a mother fox attempting to survive with your cubs, while the world is slowly decaying and natural resources are destroyed. You and your cubs are the last of your species.

Popularity: Released in 2022, Endling collected positive reviews for its emotional storytelling and impressive artwork. Despite the success upon publication, the game faced a decrease in its player base after completion, resulting in a relatively small community. Nevertheless, Endling has earned recognition with multiple awards, not only for its storytelling and art work but also for the impact it has had on players.

Unique features: Emotional storytelling, wildlife story, survival theme, the player has to survive with 4 cubs by feeding them and finding a safe space.

LITTLE NIGHTMARES

Little Nightmares is a puzzle adventure game where the player takes control of a girl named Six. The player must escape the Maw, an enormous underwater vessel, all while evading massive and aggressive monsters. Due to her weakness and small stature, Six is unable to resist the enemies in any way.

Popularity: "Little Nightmares" gained popularity for its unique and atmospheric approach to horror and puzzle-platformer gameplay.

Unique Features: Stealth and survival elements, narrative exploration, expansion and DLC, puzzle platformer gameplay, atmospheric horror, environmental storytelling

The game has additional content in the form of downloadable content, expanding on the story and providing additional challenges. This approach allows for a deeper exploration of the game world and its lore.

INSIDE

Inside is a stealth game. The player has to hide, run and sometimes even control something in the background. The game is from the same development studio as its predecessor “Limbo”. The studio is called “Playdead” and is located in Denmark.

It follows the story of a boy in a dystopian world. The narrative is ambiguous and is open for interpretation with players, piecing together the plot as they progress through the game. The game explores themes of: conformity, control and the consequences of unchecked authority.

Popularity: The game gained considerable popularity and critical acclaim upon its release. It was praised for its atmospheric storytelling, unique visual style, and thought-provoking puzzles.

Unique features: Ambiguous narrative, minimalist storytelling, atmospheric design, puzzle platformer mechanics, thought-provoking themes, distinct visual style, no game over screens

Players navigate through a series of puzzles that often require critical thinking and creativity to solve tasks. It has no explicit dialogue or text, players interpret the story based on their experiences and observations.

What a great variety of games to learn from! With this new found knowledge we will soon start our own trip across the seven seas of game design.

Sail you soon!

[pigsailstudios]

Sit down, students. It's learning time!

In our game "The best of the worst”, the players will learn about inequalities in the supply chain. Whether it be food, clothing or technology. The underlying goal of our game is to spread awareness and maybe even transform the consuming habits of our players.

We plan to achieve this goal by crafting an engaging storyline, in combination with immersive gameplay and lots of interactive elements. For example: The game will have a 2D layout and the character runs from left to right, but sometimes there will be opportunities for the character to interact with elements in the background.

The learning experience will be facilitated through the completion of quests, an intuitive UI design, different dialogue options and interaction with various in-game objects.

Learning goals will be conveyed including (but not limited to) dialogue cues, color symbolism, sound design and the artistic style of the game.

Since the game will be set in two worlds, the transition between those two worlds will confront the player with unique challenges. The player will have to develop stealth skills to progress in the game. The fact that the character can also interact with the background sometimes but not always, will heighten the attentiveness to surroundings and sounds in the game.

The main "weapon" of the character is their camera. The reward system will include camera upgrades with new features, which will make the gameplay smoother (for example a better battery or a higher storage capacity of pictures / a longer film). Through the capturing of certain scenes, the player will uncover hidden storylines and plot twists over time.

The game will increase the difficulty because there will be more guards to hide from, they will walk faster and be more attentive to you as the story unfolds. Therefore the player has less time to capture the necessary pictures as the narrative progresses. They will also be introduced to traps installed by the guards as the story progresses.

Pig Sail Studios, over!

[pigsailstudios]

Whatever floats your boat...

Every game needs its players. Instead of saying "Whatever floats your boat." we were asking ourself "Whos boat are we floating?". Here are some of the person(a)s who we imagine would love to dive into our game:

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Indie Enthusiast Inara:

Age: 24 Identity: Non-binary Interests: Art, interior design, indie magazines, and honey beer (mead) Gaming Platform: Nintendo Switch (TV mode and handheld mode) Lifestyle: Inara is a creative spirit who appreciates cool graphic design, indie games, and captivating storytelling. They are likely to be found immersed in their Nintendo Switch, enjoying games on the TV mode during lazy afternoons and occasionally switching to handheld mode for on-the-go gaming. Inara attends yoga classes regularly and frequents the local coffee shop in the morning. They have a preference for mead and, just like their counterpart, may order food while indulging in gaming sessions. Inara's room is characterized by a lack of top light, creating an ambient atmosphere for their creative pursuits.

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Trendy Professional Taylor:

Age: 28 Gender: Female Profession: Corporate job Interests: Trendy nail art, locally made wine Gaming Platform: iPad Lifestyle: Taylor is a modern professional with a corporate job, finding solace in the trendy world of nail art and enjoying locally made wine. After a long day at work, Taylor relaxes on the sofa or in bed, playing games on her iPad. The gaming experience serves as a stylish escape, balancing the demands of her busy lifestyle. Much like Inara, Taylor is a part of the same yoga class and frequents the local coffee shop in the morning. Although both personas don't indulge in ordering food frequently, there are moments when they treat themselves while immersing in the gaming world.

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Thats it for now. :)

Sail you soon!

[pigsailstudios]

[pigsailstudios]

The best of the worst...

... is the working title of our game!

It takes place in an utopian world, a world in the clouds. The main character is a photography intern whos job it is to photograph politicians and other celebrities shaking hands and doing other boring stuff. However the innocence of this situation will soon be gone because the intern will discover something that changes everything.

The game will be designed in a very colourful way, it will appear the most to people in their late teens and early twenties. The story will state some critique on the current way things are handled in the real world surrounding you and me.

We will post photos of our mindmapping-sessions, maybe you can figure out more of our storyline yourself :D Sail you soon!

[pigsailstudios]

We like role-play! ;)

Today we have assigned the different roles to our crew members.

Melina is going to be the Game Producer. She already writes the blog so she might as well be our captain, right? She is a people-person and very goal-oriented in her daily approach. The biggest challenge for her will be to find a balance between being cool, yet strict enough with the team members.

Eve is going to be our Artist, obviously. Fae is working on our logo and header as we type this. Fae thinks the biggest challenge will be digitalizing faer work - Fae likes to work physically, and translating that digitally while keeping it professional can sometimes be a challenge. Fae is friends with the scanner, but it can be a temperamental mistress. There is also the issue that animating can become a much bigger task in this style, but with good time management, fae can turn it into a regular part of faer routine instead of a massive burden.

Sebastian is going to be the Game Analyst and Tester. He will ensure that the game runs smoothly for the user. His goals will be to develop a good understanding of how people play the game. He will analyze how the gamers interact with the game and be responsible to make the gameplay and User Interface easily understandable. He will test the games with potential gamers and provide us the feedback.

Michaela is going to be our Designer. She will design the assets and buttons of the game. The game should be visually pleasing and this will be her main responsibility. The most challenging task will be designing intuitive and user-friendly interfaces. Balancing complexity and simplicity in UI design is an ongoing challenge. The game should just be the right amount of challenging.

With this amount of expertise in our team, it will be smooth sailing from now on.

We're pigcited for what lies ahead of us. :)

See you soon.

[pigsailstudios]

Game Research

Every great sailor needs to prepare before he can start his journey. Each of us played some games and took a deep dive into the things that made those games enjoyable. The Urbz: Sims in the City

You can play this game for weeks. It's a Sandbox game with quests that can be completed at the player’s pace. Even if the player has won the game, the sandbox features are still available to them. The person played it on a Nintendo Gameboy Advanced Emulator, but it is also available on PS2, GameCube, Xbox and Nintendo DS.

Stray

Also a game that can be played for weeks. It's a single player game with one single storyline. The player is able to take their time and do side tasks. The game has some detailed cat interactions which are very cute. It has a very dystopian style and is available on many platforms, for example PS4 and PS5.

Codenames

It's a card-based party game where players form two teams and try to uncover the identities of their team's secret agents, represented by words on a grid, while avoiding the opposing team's agents and the dangerous assassin. One player from each team gives one-word clues to guide their teammates in selecting the correct words, adding an element of strategy and deduction to the game. An online version of this game is also available.

Don’t Starve (Together)

This one is a single-player survival game set in a quirky, challenging world. "Don't Starve Together" is its multiplayer counterpart where players collaborate or compete to survive in the same unforgiving environment. There are various ways to die in the game, like during daytime or because of animals and so on. You can play the game as long as you survive.

Aaaand that is it for todays blogpost. We hope you enjoyed this little tour of our findings and we hope to entertain you again soon!

Sail you soon!

[pigsailstudios]

Teamwork rules (and a team needs rules.)

No inspiration? No worries. We will have an "island day" (= a workshop day) to get our creative waves crashing again.

Communication is key. We can't just communicate in morse code. We need to bring up problems when they arise and ask the group for help if we need it.

While we are on the topic: We tell each other what we need. Direct communication, yay!

If we respond to someone’s request, we always explain why we are doing what we are doing, especially when we have to say no.

When we ask for something, we explain why we are making the request. This allows our team to come up with an alternative solution if the thing one is asking for isn’t possible.

If we need help or ideas in order to be successful, we ask for them.

We start each meeting with individuals sharing what they did this week.

We respect each others time and are productive if we are spending time together.

If somebody has no time to do their task, they let team members know.

Happy sailing! :)

[pigsailstudios]

We are Pig Sail Studios!

Hello guys, here are your captains speaking.

We are four students at FH Joanneum in Graz and this semester we are designing a concept for a game.

But WHO are we? First we have Sebastian (he/him), our Editorial Design genius. He loves a sleek, clean design and always wears a black cap. Michaela (she/her) is our multi-talent who complements the skills of our team with her various expertise, for example in 3D Design or UI Design.

Eve (Fae/faer) is the graphic mastermind behind our game designs. Faer style is unique and quirky and fae is our quote international student.

Melina (she/her) draws you in with her storytelling and is also the voice of the studio. In fact you are reading her words right now. Crazy, right?

On this blog we will keep you updated while we navigate the stormy seas of the game design process.

Lets set sail into this new adventure, shall we? :)