Way back in junior high, I started to make some games. Over a decade later, well, I’m still making games. A lot of people have come and gone over the last few years, but I’m still here, and still under the Vertigo Games name. The stakes, however, have changed.

While making games back in the day was fun and worry free as far as copyright issues are concerned, these days it’s a bit more hectic and careful (but still fun). Unfortunately, at 23 my stakes in the game have changed a bit as the bills pile up and I start to make some decisions: do I leave game making as a fun hobby, or pursue it as a goal to one day be profitable? As I have a few thousand invested in Vertigo Games, I want it to at least make a return on my investment, however slow that might be. But how?

It’s not an easy thing to do. I can’t simply flick the switch from “freeware” to “commercial” and start charging for all my games, nor would I want to. I have to ask myself: is the game I’m making now fun and original? Is there a way to make it profitable, and if not that, perhaps make it accessible enough so that other sites might pick it up? Could I turn the game into a vehicle for getting the Vertigo Games name out there? What competitions are coming up that I could make this game for? How fast can it be done, and how much will I have to invest in assets?

Games aren’t free to make anymore these days, but they’re incredibly cheap compared to most devs out there. I spend about $100-400 per game, starting with the Winter Solstice. It’s mostly for licensing, assets, outsourcing, etc. Some games, like greenTech, are cheap to make ($60) and paid off in spades. Some, like Spirits of Metropolis, are going to have a hard road ahead recouping the money spent in making it. But you know something…that’s OK. It’s a learning process for all involved, I think, and there’s really no way of me being successful for the first four or so commercial games I make. I gotta start somewhere.

Over the last six months I’ve tried to break into the casual game market with Spirits of Metropolis, and that ultimately has failed, mainly due to the fact that it’s incredibly tough to break into the casual game portal without some heavy marketing and support behind you. So now it’s time to take a new direction. With Kablooey and another game I haven’t announced yet, I’m going to do something a bit different. Both of these games will be priced at a ridiculous price…and by that I don’t mean $20, or $10, or probably even $5. It’s a new direction that I want to try in conjunction with something else that’s happening behind the scenes (which you’ll hear more about in the summer). If successful, I think it’ll finally get Vertigo Games some footing and we’ll be able to go from there. If not, well, I’m not really sure. I’ve never been sure about anything up to this point, and I’ve managed to do OK.

You know, it’s funny…whenever I talk about game making or Vertigo Games, I always say “we” even though it’s just me. I think it’s because I include all of you readers, blog commenters and forum posters under the Vertigo Games name. Certainly I wouldn’t be where I am today without you guys, whether it’s thouough bug testing or a simple comment that might raise my happiness up a bit, I’m totally thankful that I have an awesome base like you all.

So, watch for Kablooey! and the other game to be released this summer, and until then watch the blog for more news and a new monthly giveaway contest starting next week. Woo!