Long time no see!
When we released Loose Nozzles nearly two years ago, I had pretty humble expectations. I appreciated the work that Ian and I had done on the game – and was excited that I’d learned how to program an entire game almost entirely solo – but I was prepared for it to not get noticed in a very competitive industry. Honestly I was mostly relieved that the long development process was over.
The release of the game came with some surprises. We got more attention than I expected – being named game of the week by TouchArcade was a complete surprise – and we had more players than I’d conservatively predicted. It felt validating to be seen, and feel like what we were doing resonate with some people.
On the other hand, we saw (through the goodness of telemetry) that while a bunch of people TRIED the game, the vast majority dropped it almost immediately. For a while I wasn’t sure what to do with that information – the game was what it was – but after several months Ian and I started talking, and realized that while the game’s difficulty DID make it fun for people looking for a challenge, it made it IMPOSSIBLE for many more people to even get into the experience. We started discussing how we might add an easier mode into the game, to see if we could broaden its appeal, and potentially get more people confident with its controls to enjoy its original, chaotic flight model.
Those conversations were so rewarding for me. When we started Loose Nozzles, Ian inspired the idea, provided some art and performed the sounds; but this was many years later, and now he was a teenager, an experienced gamer, and a peer… one with strongly held, strongly stated opinions.
We debated ideas and found a version of Simple Rules that satisfied both our sensibilities as players and designers. I couldn’t have imagined working this way when we started on the game, and it was great to have a clear measure of how much Ian has grown as a person.
Furthermore, coming back to the game to make these changes after many months was an opportunity to see it with fresh eyes. I could play the game (MANY times – inserting a new game mode after the fact requires a lot of testing) and actually still have fun playing it. I could appreciate everything we’d built from a fresh perspective, and be proud of our work. It was also one last chance to involve the rest of the family; their testing and feedback offered crucial insights as gamers and non-gamers alike, leading to important tweaks to the first few levels that I never would have thought of on my own.
So, now we have a new version of the game that has all the chaos and comedy of the original, provides a friendlier way to learn to play, and offers a more casual experience for those who want it. If you’re reading this and haven’t tried the game, or tried it and thought it was too hard to learn or understand – please take a look at the new game and try out the Simple Ruleset.
We’re on iOS and Google Play. I hope you enjoy it and let us know what you think.
And thanks for reading.
– Chris
Loose Nozzles 