Why publishing your first game is like being Cinderella.

Some thoughts on publishing your first game.

(or any other creative work)

Publishing your first game is like being Cinderella. You know you’re beautiful, you have your shiny dress and you have a dream. Sure, you know you have your flaws… something to improve here and there… but you mean no harm to anyone. You just want to go to the dance.

Yet, your stepsisters mess up your dress (and your feelings). All because they are bigger, have a better industry standing and, of course, they know better.

It’s nothing personal, you just happen to be the new kid who’s so easy to pick on. Again, it’s not because of who you are, it’s because nobody knows who you are. You don’t have a “Game Developer License” or any sort of credentials, you are just standing there with your pretty dress (a “stupid” game).

After your first harsh experience, the obvious thing to think might be something like: “Maybe I was wrong”, “Maybe they are right”, “Maybe I was blinded by my own illusion”, “Maybe this is not for me”.

The second thing you might think would be: “This is not fair!”, “Why do they hate me?”, “I gave everything in this game”, “They don’t know me!”.

Everything you are exposed to, any commentary about your game (including your own), good or bad, are just opinions. All of them are right and all of them are wrong. Someone will say it’s awesome, another person will say it sucks. It doesn’t matter who says what. Accept the critic for what it is and try to learn from it. Chances are, if you are honest with yourself, you will have a very good idea of what you did right, what you did wrong and what you could have done better. You are not asking for acceptance or permission, but people aren’t asking for your game either.

If you’re not careful you will end up taking everything too personal, and remember: Cinderella isn’t the only princess out there.

And chances are you and your dress aren’t pretty enough to impress the prince. At least for now.

I’m a musician and game developer.

I’m co-founder of Tochas Studios, where we recently published SodaCity, a brawler shoot ‘em up over the top action game.