Getting rich with Free Flash Games?
Still have a skeptical opinion about using Flash for making games? Read and rethink … at least for earning money it seems to pay off if done right! Check out this interview with Desktop Tower Defense creator Paul Preece! Obviously it is possible to create a monthly 8000$ revenue just by putting together a simple but addictive Flash Game and make it freely available to people.
Even though personally I’m not too impressed with the game (prefer better graphics/sounds) I found myself getting lost by its addictive gameplay for at least 30 minutes today. Why the heck do I sit here designing an overly complex roleplaying game??! To answer that question by myself: Because it’s what I love doing and its fun for me. But maybe I’m better off devoting some time to create a simple blockbuster first!
So what makes this game so addictive that people are coming back en masse? First and foremost it’s simple and straightforward. No long introduction, no necessity to read instructions, you get into the game quickly. Then there is the addiction factor … Maybe its just me but the reason why it is fun to play is because you try to make your defense perfect to stop the intruding enemies. Another factor is that you can shoot and destroy something. Sounds dumb? I know, but I can imagine that many people’s ‘hunting’ instinct is triggered by that. After all many popular games follow the same scheme. In fact you don’t even need to do the shooting as that is what your towers are doing for you. You just have to place them in a strategically good position and watch how well it works out. The author sure made a good choice by picking a Tower Defense game for this!
Now there are hundreds of other well proven addictive games out there. Make your choice and don’t forget to improve it by adding something that makes it even more fun to play! Meanwhile excuse me … I have to dig through my old games collection and do some searching … 
4 Responses to “Getting rich with Free Flash Games?”
By macke
on May 30, 2007 | Reply
“I know, but I can imagine that many people’s ‘hunting’ instinct is triggered by that.”
I think u are wrong here, I believe it’s not pplz hunting instincts that are getting triggered rather theire survival instinct.
And the human addiciton for solving puzzle and strategic thinking.
To say that ppl gets hooked on this becuase of hunting instinct is like saying that roleplayers just play to satisfy there hunger for stabbing people.
By Jan Breens
on May 30, 2007 | Reply
@ previous comment, the post is focussed around the business model of free games, not what exact games are played. (although I do agree with your statement).
I believe this is the case with any community based business. The users’s only investment in the project is actually using it, spending time. The business investment is creating the insentive to atract users, and advertisments income makes it worthwile for everyone.
I believe some company’s, once they have built up a substantial user base, do sometimes forget that they exist solely because of their users, not the other way around. Power to the user
By Ryan Christensen [draw.logic]
on Jun 4, 2007 | Reply
I agree I was taken back when I saw this. I know its possible I have other small flash games making some money but I really need to focus on the crowdpleaser to drive the traffic of an entire site or a little extra income, so I can make more games!
By alexk
on Jul 1, 2007 | Reply
well i definetly dont dig that desktop defense game. the pathfinding is nice, but other than that no thanks