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Owlchemy Labs shares its formula to successful indie development
Alex Schwartz founded Owlchemy Labs in 2010, and since launch he's built a team of six and has developed a steady stream of indie games across multiple platforms, including Snuggle Truck and the recent release Jack Lumber. He's still in business, with more games on the way. The secret to Schwartz's success is simple: Don't expect your original IPs to make any money.Owlchemy funds itself by doing contract work that generates concrete revenue in between its original projects. A lot of indie studios attempt this system, but many of them fall into a common trap, Schwartz tells Joystiq at GDC."Be aware of contract work. You wake up in the morning and turn on your computer and you have two folders: One is the contract job and one is your original work. Which one are you going to open?" Schwartz asks. "It's always going to be the contract work because upfront gratification, instant money and having a client to appease always comes first."In order for the contract-original IP rhythm to work, it needs to be steady and studios have to make time for their own projects. Owlchemy has an A-B system: contract, original IP, contract, original IP, rinse and repeat. The two projects never mix and the team stays on the same page until it's completed. Owlchemy is now on its fifth rotation through this cycle.Diversifying platforms is also key, Schwartz says. Not porting games to Steam, iOS, Android and any other relevant platforms is "leaving money on the table," he says. Owlchemy develops its games in Unity to make this process smoother, and tailors each one to its unique platform. For example, Snuggle Truck is free-to-play on iOS, but costs $5 on Steam (on sale now for $2). Leading by example, Schwartz has a meeting with Sony tomorrow.
Humble Android Bundle 2 adds bonus Snuggle Truck
If you bought the Humble Canabalt Bundle -- sorry, Humble Android Bundle #2 -- you're eligible for an extra bonus game. Snuggle Truck, the game that isn't at all about immigration, is making its Android debut as part of the bundle. Everyone past or future who buys the bundle gets the game for Android, Mac, Windows, and Linux.The Humble Bundle folks also told us that Android users can download Smuggle Truck, the original concept of the cuddly game. That version, deemed unacceptable for the iOS App Store, will be released as a mobile game for the first time on Android.The organizers of the bundle also gave us a Humble brag: the Android Bundle #2 has been downloaded over 80,000 times to date, for over $525,000 in sales.
Snuggle Truck downloaded 1.3 million times in 9 days after going free
Owlchemy Labs' Snuggle Truck dropped its price to free on the iOS app store last week, and has been downloaded 1.3 million times in the past nine days. In a developer post discussing the success, we see the move earned the app serious goodwill in iTunes reviews, resulting in over 4,000 new levels made using the in-game editor. China has downloaded the game nearly a quarter-million times since the switch. We asked Owlchemy founder Alex Schwartz if the company had earned more revenue in the past nine days than it did with Snuggle Truck as a $2 app. "Even though less than one percent of our players are buying anything [using the in-app store]," he said, "we have been able to make more revenue over the past nine days than we totaled the previous month. "Making more money is great for us as a company, as it enables us to continue making games, but the pride factor of having over a million new players playing a creation you've put blood, sweat and tears into certainly rivals the positives of making money." Schwartz told us the most popular in-app purchase item has been the zoo truck skin for $0.99. Owlchemy is looking to bring more customization to the game, including some DLC that isn't exactly in-game based. "Our friends at Dejobaan Games joked about creating an in-app purchase that awards the buyer with 'a no-expenses-paid trip to Boston and the unique opportunity to buy the developers dinner,'" Schwartz said. "I'm curious what would happen if we put that in our next title. NO REALLY. What would happen? Maybe we need to make this happen in order to find out?"
Snuggle Truck now free on iOS App Store
Indie studio Owlchemy Labs' Snuggle Truck, the eleventh-hour artistic reinterpretation of Smuggle Truck for the App Store, is now free for iOS devices. Launched in late April, with a robust level editor added a few months later, the free version includes the full game in exchange for some easily-dismissed ads every few levels. If the ads drive you absolutely truckin' crazy, the game can be purchased -- making it ad-free -- for $5 (there's also a $10 option for hardcore Owlchemy supporters). For those who found the original $1.99 price too steep to pick up this charming title, there's no excuse to not get on the snuggle truck for gratis.%Gallery-122407%
Smuggle Truck now Snuggle Truck on iOS after Apple rejection, PC/Mac version includes both
Content trumped context after Smuggle Truck was rejected by Apple for distribution on the company's iOS App Store, but Owlchemy Labs reworked some art to launch Snuggle Truck for iPhone and iPad. "The changes made to the game consist only of minor art changes and some swapped sound effects. Gameplay remains exactly the same," Owlchemy's Alex Schwartz told Joystiq. "Essentially, instead of smuggling immigrants over the border, you're now bringing animals from the wilderness into the comfort of a zoo, where they are provided plenty of food, water, shelter, and state of the art health care." Schwartz explained that Snuggle Truck was the developer's way of still bringing "the fun and silliness" of its original game to the iOS platform. Due to contractual reasons, he couldn't tell us the details of Apple's rejection. Mac and PC players don't have to compromise, as they'll be able to switch between Smuggle Truck and its cuddlier counterpart with the press of a button (as shown in the video after the break). Snuggle Truck is available now on the App Store for iPhone ($2) and iPad ($3). Smuggle Truck (with Snuggle Truck) is $5 from SmuggleTruck.com. %Gallery-122406% %Gallery-122407%
The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Smuggle Truck
Being a giant, beloved video game site has its downsides. For example, we sometimes neglect to give independent developers our coverage love (or loverage, if you will) as we get caught up in AAA, AAAA or the rare quintuple-A titles. To remedy that, we're giving indies the chance to create their own loverage and sell you, the fans, on their studios and products. This week we talk with Alex Schwartz, founder of Owlchemy Labs about his driving game, Smuggle Truck. What's your game about? We're working on a game called Smuggle Truck. It's an over the top physics-based driving game for iOS, Mac and PC, which was created to poke fun at the woefully inadequate legal immigration system in place in the United States. You can choose to wait 19 years for your visa in the "Legal Immigration Mode," or you can take the truck and try to deliver all passengers safely over the border. The main gameplay involves stunt driving, tilting, rocketing, catching babies, and collecting medals to unlock future levels. Who's the greatest smuggler of all time? It's gotta be Han Solo, right? Han Solo is high up in my list, but the greatest smuggler(s) of all time would go to the Greek delivery crew who dropped off the Trojan Horse. Pushing the Trojan Horse; that's a win in my book.
Indies react: PAX East as a showcase for small studios
Like so many PAX shows before it, this year's PAX East showcased a ton of indie games -- the gaming equivalent of a Williamsburg dubstep show, if you will. In our experience at this year's event, larger industry players like EA and Bethesda showed off their titles with hired hands and private theater viewings, choosing to exhibit older demos rather than new content. The indies and smaller studios, on the other hand, were out in force. Beyond bringing playable versions of their games to the show -- even Fez was playable, for the first time in several years of development -- the indie studios brought themselves. They continued the tradition of directly engaging with attendees and, often, solicited game-testing feedback on the fly. "I approached PAX East as a three-day playtest session. I learned so much about what works and what doesn't just from standing in the back and observing how people played the game," Fez co-developer Phil Fish told Joystiq. "It's also an amazing morale boost to be told by so many people that your game is great."
Smuggle Truck adds 'Legal Immigration' mode
Owlchemy Labs' Smuggle Truck has added a "Legal Immigration" mode in response to critic's knee-jerk reactions to the satirical game. Developer Alex Schwartz showed us a placeholder screen at PAX East, but told us that Owlchemy had an actual screen they would be adding shortly, he sent us the new screen (pictured above) today. The Legal Immigration mode can be accessed through the game's main menu and is a screen with a 20 year countdown. Why 20 years? "Well that's the greater than 10 years it takes for someone to obtain a green card," Schwartz guesstimated. "Plus the multiple occurrences of 'lost paperwork' that are bound to happen during the process." Owlchemy has a FAQ on its site about the game's themes and the studio's decision to produce a title on the topic of illegal immigration. Smuggle Truck will be submitted shortly to Apple and is expected to be available on the iOS App Store in April.
Super Ramen Bros. dev returns with Smuggle Truck
Owlchemy Labs -- the development team that made iPhone game Super Ramen Brothers in 24 hours -- is back with Smuggle Truck, a physics-based driving game for iOS and browsers. The objective of the game is to smuggle illegal aliens and real aliens across an unspecified border, leaping chasms, catching birthing babies as they pop up from the back of the truck, and generally seeing to it that the precious "cargo" stays safe along the way to freedom. Smuggle Truck will be available in March, but Owlchemy thinks it would be a hoot to host a level creation contest in February with the release of the game's web-based editor app. It's also noteworthy that the game's art is being created by Bill Tiller, who was the lead background artist for LucasArts' classic adventure game Curse of Monkey Island, among other titles. Check out a pair of videos of the border jumping gameplay after the break.
