作者：Ben Serviss

我们不可能去指责《Icarus Proudbottom Teaches Typing》的虚假广告。乍一看这个游戏名称，你会觉得它在认真地模仿早已过时的教育游戏如《Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing》、《Number Munchers》和可能甚至《The Logical Journey of the Zoombinis》。

正是。它就是在玩笑似地模仿那些游戏，但用真正的喜剧和优秀的玩法，明智地回避了“游戏幽默”的插科打诨和陈词滥调。所以，它很快就受到Kotaku、Rock、Paper、Shotgun、Giant Bomb、Destructoid、Indie Statik的MTV等网站媒体的好评。这款游戏已经使Dan Vecchitto 和Jaclyn Lalli二人组成的HolyWow工作室第一次成为媒体的宠儿。

icarus-loading(from gamasutra)

（《Icarus Proudbottom Teaches Typing》的加载画面之一。）

然而，有一个小问题。《Teaches Typing》其实只花了一个月时间就捣鼓出来了。当时他们其实正在进行另一个野心更大的项目《Icarus Proudbottom Starship Captain》，而前者只是这个大项目休假时的放松之作。

《Starship Captain》不是打字游戏。它与《Teaches Typing》不是同一个类型的游戏，并且，它距离发布还早得很。

面对这些制约条件，Holy Wow如何利用《Teaches Typing》获得的好名声为《Starship Captain》培养受众？有没有什么办法能使他们已经获得的人气转化为经济上的成功？特别是对于Holy Wow这样的独立开发工作室来说？

注：与Dan Vecchitto和Jaclyn Lalli二人交谈后，我把他们一些经验浓缩成以下穿插着几点建议的本文。虽然有些建议似乎是显而易见的，但有时候正是这些最简单的事实让我们惹上麻烦。

虽然Vecchitto和Lalli已经做了很多年的游戏，但他们早期的名气主要来自参加游戏制作节——准确地说，是“Something Awful Gamedev Challenge”。他们第一次参赛的主题是“You can’t stop XXX”，当时二人的作品《Icarus Proudbottom》成为后来他们第一款游戏《Icarus Proudbottom in The Curse of the Chocolate Fountain》的灵感来源。

icarus-chocolate-fountain(from gamasutra)

（《Icarus Proudbottom in the Curse of the Chocolate Fountain》）

在那款游戏中，无助的主角被他身后的无法控制的“巧克力”推着前进。二人打算把它做成Xbox Live独立游戏，但在许多地方违反了微软的内容审查系统，所以努力也就无果了。Lalli解释道：“（微软的审查要求是）没有低级笑料、没有法西斯主义和没有真人，我们这三条都撞上了。它基本上就是一个半小时长的低级笑话。”

三年以后，当2013年的年度挑战再临时，二人组正在努力地制作《Starship Captain》。当这年的主题——“Subversive Edutainment”（颠覆教育性娱乐）公布出来时，Vecchitto就一直盘算着如何根据这个主题颠覆经典的教学打字游戏。

于是，他们中断了之前的大项目，花了一个月时间做出《Teaches Typing》。在数周内，Something Awful论坛的成员就把这款游戏流传开了，很快就得到独立游戏鉴赏家们的关注，第一波媒体势头就这样成形了。

如果不是Something Awful这样有影响力的网络社区组织举办了这样的比赛，这么快受到媒体关注的可能性可能就会下降。

建议1：加入并且是有作为地加入有影响力的社区。

与此同时，Vecchitto承认他的编程功力在做第一款游戏时还是相当基础的，随着经验的积累，后来的游戏品质才跟上来。搞笑水平显然也提高了——从单调的《Chocolate Fountain》到玩笑现玩法完美结合的《Teaches Typing》，HolyWow已经形成自己的游戏风格。

对于这两款游戏，Vecchitto认为游戏品质的提升都是因为实践。Lalli补充道：“他总是做游戏。他大概是我知道的最有干劲的人了。”

建议2：如果你做游戏是因为你享受做游戏这个行为本身，那么你就要忍受投入必要的时间才能进步的事实。

处理商业

除了游戏开发的制作方面，这支团队很快意识到，培养玩家基础和吸引媒体关注《Starship Captain》的重要性。Lalli是一名网页设计师，还是一家发行公司的社交媒体公关人员，当她觉察游戏的第一波曝光率高潮来袭时，很快就进入“PR模式”。

即使《Teaches Typing》可以在15分钟内通关，二人也没有添加其他内容来留住玩家，她给《Teaches Typing》和《Starship Captain》都做了Facebook主页，希望能把前者的受众转化为后者的粉丝。

建议3：一旦你觉察到游戏势头，你就要尽快利用起来。

business-cat(from gamasutra)

《Teaches Typing》的一举成名，Vecchitto和Lalli不是第一次经历这样的事。几年以前，Lalli发表了一张Vecchitto的猫咪Emilio套着有小领带的领子的照片。慢慢的，这张照片在Something Awful论坛上走红，甚至流传到Reddit等其他网站上，甚至掀起一股所谓的“商业猫”文化。

尽管“商业猫”被证明没有赢利价值，但出其不意创造正面效应的经历毫无疑问为这支团队后来处理《Icarus Proudbottom》打下基础。

事实上，它已经奏效了——视觉华丽的格斗游戏《Guacamelee!》中出现了商业猫和其他网络文化形象，以此致敬Vecchitto和Lalli。而二人也将《Guacamelee!》资料片中的角色Jerry the Owl放在《Icarus Proudbottom》当中，作为回应。

建议4：即使某个机会不能直接创造经济效益，却可能产生其他好处。

dan-jackie-and-business-cat(from gamasutra)

（Vecchitto和Lalli以及他们的“商业猫”。）

不像回顾性文章，Holy Wow的故事仍然在延续。

《Teaches Typing》已经受到Fantastic Arcade的邀请，与其他知名独立游戏如《Kentucky Route Zero》和《Quadrilateral Cowboy》同台亮相。因为粉丝对这款游戏的热情，Vecchitto和Lalli还要在打字游戏的世界中继续冒险，他们已计划定期放出更新。

虽然与必然的成功还有很大一段距离，但Holy Wow已经显示出很大的潜力。二人的故事会继续受到其他开发者、有心的投资人和像我这样的打字游戏爱好者的关注。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

The Indie’s Guide to Harnessing Press Momentum with Icarus Proudbottom

by Ben Serviss

One of many loading screens for Icarus Proudbottom Teaches Typing.

It’s impossible to accuse Icarus Proudbottom Teaches Typing of false advertising. After glancing at the title, you’d expect to find a goofy take on the earnest but dated educational games of yore like Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, Number Munchers, and maybe even The Logical Journey of the Zoombinis.

And that’s exactly what it is. Teaches Typing is a lunatic 15-minute send-up of those games, but wisely avoids the obvious gags and clichéd attempts at “game humor” in favor of genuine comedy and borderline brilliant gameplay devices. Quickly racking up praise from Kotaku, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Giant Bomb, Destructoid, Indie Statik, and of course, MTV, the game has given Brooklyn-based Holy Wow Studios (aka Dan Vecchitto and Jaclyn Lalli) their first blast of meaningful game press.

Yet there’s one small problem. Teaches Typing was a month-long jam game that was essentially a vacation from their main project, the much more ambitious Icarus Proudbottom Starship Captain.

That game is not a typing game. It doesn’t share the former’s intricate subversion of its genre. And it’s still far, far out from release.

Facing these constraints, how could Holy Wow harness the goodwill from Teaches Typing to help drive the community for Starship Captain? Is there a way to parlay their already buzzworthy game into financial success? What’s an indie developer to do?

Note: After talking to the developers, I’ve condensed some of their decisions and experiences so far into indie development tips scattered through this article. While the advice may seem obvious, sometimes it is the simplest truths that we have the most trouble accepting.

Getting Good and Getting Noticed

While Vecchitto and Lalli have been making games for years, some of their earliest feedback and recognition came from participating in game jams – specifically, the yearly Something Awful Gamedev Challenge. The theme of the first challenge that the team entered – “You can’t stop [blank]” – helped coax Icarus Proudbottom into existence in his first game, Icarus Proudbottom in The Curse of the Chocolate Fountain.

In the game, the titular character is helplessly propelled across the screen by an uncontrollable stream of “chocolate” from his rear. The team had plans to bring it to Xbox Live Indie Games, but the game’s multiple violations of Microsoft’s content approval system stymied that effort. “[The rules were] no poop jokes, no Nazis and no real-life figures, and we had all three of those,” says Lalli. “It was pretty much a half hour-long poop joke.”

Three years later, the duo was hard at work on Starship Captain when it came time for 2013’s annual challenge. Vecchitto had been tossing around an idea for a twisted take on classic instructional typing games when this year’s theme was announced – “Subversive Edutainment” – and the combination was too good to pass up.

Pausing development on their bigger game, they took a month to create Teaches Typing. Within weeks, Something Awful forum members had circulated the game enough to get the attention of indie game tastemakers, kicking off the first wave of press.

Had it been a competition hosted by a less influential community than Something Awful, a cornerstone of internet culture, the odds of getting such swift press attention would have been reduced.

Tip 1: Join influential communities and make meaningful contributions.

At the same time, Vecchitto admits that his programming abilities were pretty basic for the first game, with subsequent games improving in quality as the team gained more experience. The humor had clearly developed as well – from the one-note Chocolate Fountain to the layered, gag-laden narrative of Teaches Typing that elegantly incorporates gameplay into the story in ways that approach Wolpaw-esque heights of the form.

In both cases, the quality of the game had increased simply due to practice. Speaking of Vecchitto, Lalli adds, “He’s always made games. He’s probably the most motivated person I know.”

Tip 2: If you make games because you enjoy the act itself, you stand a greater chance of putting in the time required to get good.

Getting Down to Business (Cat)

The actual craft of game development aside, the team quickly realized the importance of building a community and harnessing press attention to build buzz for Starship Captain. Lalli, a web designer and social media coordinator for a publishing company, immediately went into “PR mode” when she realized what was happening with the first waves of exposure for the game.

Even though Teaches Typing could be completed in 15 minutes and the team had no additional content to keep users engaged, she set up Facebook pages for both Teaches Typing and Starship Captain, with the hope of retaining fans of the first to possibly become fans of the latter.

Tip 3: Harness momentum for your game as soon as you see it.

Business Cat doing his thing.

The sudden popularity of Teaches Typing wasn’t the first time Vecchitto and Lalli had created something with mass appeal. A few years ago, Lalli posted a picture of Vecchitto’s cat Emilio wearing a miniature tie and collar. Slowly, the image made its way through the Something Awful forums before spilling out into Reddit and then the rest of the internet, where it became known as the meme Business Cat.

Although the meme proved to have an uncontrollable (and un-monetizable) life of its own, the experience of unwillingly creating something that provoked such a positive response has undoubtedly informed the team’s process when handling Icarus Proudbottom’s future.

In fact, it has borne fruit already – the visually striking Metroidvania brawler Guacamelee! featured Business Cat among other memes, and as a thank-you to Vecchitto and Lalli, the developers included a portrait of Icarus Proudbottom character Jerry the Owl in a Guacamelee! DLC pack.

Tip 4: Even if an opportunity doesn’t directly bring money, look for other mutual benefits that can come out of it.

Vecchitto, Lalli and the original Business Cat picture.
Watch This Space

Unlike the subjects of similar postmortem-style articles, Holy Wow’s story is very much still in progress.

Teaches Typing has been invited to Austin’s Fantastic Arcade, to be showcased alongside notable indies like Kentucky Route Zero and Quadrilateral Cowboy. Building on fan interest for the game, Vecchitto and Lalli have more typing misadventures in the works, with episodic updates planned to be released in regular installments.

Far from a guaranteed success, yet showing extreme promise, how Holy Wow’s story continues will be fascinating to watch for fellow developers, business-minded types, and – if you’re like me – fans who just want to type more words into the computer.(source:gamasutra)