The Joystiq Indie Pitch: The Fish Dies in the End

How did you get started?
I always wanted to develop games and a few months ago, after finishing my Computer Science degree and with years of programming experience in unrelated fields I thought that I finally had enough ability and knowledge to make a game. Being an iPhone gamer enthusiast and having recently bought a MacBook, the choice of making an iPhone game was relatively straightforward.

Why be independent rather than try to work for someone else?
Being able to do my own thing is the main draw of independent gaming development for me. It's easier than ever to be an indie developer these days. Digital distribution allows any developer to just release a game for a potential huge audience and in the case of App Store, Apple makes things even easier by taking care of all the bureaucracy involving contracts and country-specific laws and all that stuff. I'm not a business guy so I'm able to focus just on the development side which is perfect.

What's your game called, and what's it about?
The game is called The Fish Dies in the End and it's about a cute little fish navigating undersea as he tries to avoid a plethora of obstacles and enemies to survive as long as possible. The enemies are randomized at every game, so that the player experience is never exactly the same. It's a score-based game so leaderboards are provided via Game Center. Since everyone loves achievements, they're also included!

Do you feel like you're making the game you always wanted to play?
I do! I believe that this game is perfectly suited to a mobile device and ideal for short bursts of play. When I finally submitted the game to Apple I had already played it thousands of times during development and wanted to take a little break from it until the release. To my own surprise, I still kept finding myself playing the game whenever I had time. I can only hope that the same will happen to anyone who buys the game.

How long did it take you to create?
From the initial design to release it took me about three months. I had to learn Objective-C initially which made the first few weeks of the project slower than I expected. Around that time, I was lucky to discover the fantastic "cocos2d for iPhone" framework which made the development process much easier and smooth and allowed me to finish the game in a timely manner.

What are you proudest of about your game?
The main design goal for The Fish Dies in the End was to create a game with simple controls that could be played by people with very little gaming experience but also offered a compelling challenge for the more experienced players. I'm really proud of the fact that in the final game the controls are as simple as originally intended without compromising the quality of the gameplay.

How do you manage the marketing and PR aspects of your game as an independent developer?
Being an indie developer with next to no marketing budget, getting publicity for the game is pretty hard at times. For me, the most important thing is communicating with the players. Because of that, I try to open a variety of communication channels, talking to them at every opportunity that I have. Anyone can talk to me, be it on Twitter (@gutenbergn / @thefishdies), e-mail or my website (gutenbergn.com) and I always hear and take into account what players say about the game. Forums are also a very good way of engaging with players and I use it frequently. Aside from that, I'm always contacting indie-friendly websites like Joystiq showing the merits of my game and hoping for some promotion.

What's next?
I don't feel like I'm finished with The Fish Dies in the End yet. In fact, I expect this initial release to be only the beginning of the road. There are updates planned that will add more content to the game so that it will remain fresh for more time. I obviously have ideas for more games in the future and I love the fact that the mobile scene allows for a faster development schedule so I have the feeling that this will not be my only released game this year.

If you'd like to have your own shot at converting our readers into fans, email justin aat joystiq dawt com, subject line "The Joystiq Indie Pitch." Still haven't had enough? Check out the Pitch archives.