1. 2015 VIDEO GAMES AND INTERACTIVE MEDIA CONFERENCE Thank You to Our Platinum Sponsors

2. Amy Dallas Co-Founder / CEO ClutchPlay Games LLC Errors, Experience, Evolution: An Indie Survival Guide

3. Errors, Experience, Evolution: An Indie Survival Guide Amy Dallas Co-Founder / CEO ClutchPlay Games Executive Board Member at Large Oregon Games Organization (OGO)

4. Errors, Experience, Evolution: An Indie Survival Guide Before ClutchPlay Stumptown Game Machine Touch Pets Dogs and Cats Early Days of F2P

5. Errors, Experience, Evolution: An Indie Survival Guide Little Chomp PAX East Indie Showcase, 2013 “Skullduggery!” PAX 10 Indie Showcase, PAX Prime 2014 Editor’s Choice/ Apple Indie Showcase ClutchPlay Games

6. Errors, Experience, Evolution: An Indie Survival Guide 1.Consensus-Based Decision-Making 2.Lack of Objectivity 3.Field of Dreams Syndrome 3 Factors that Caused Little Chomp to Underperform

7. Errors, Experience, Evolution: An Indie Survival Guide Fail Factor #1: Consensus-Based Decision-Making

8. Errors, Experience, Evolution: An Indie Survival Guide Consensus: Not always the best way to make decisions. Building consensus: Extra hard on even numbered teams! Consensus-Based Decisions

9. Errors, Experience, Evolution: An Indie Survival Guide Little Chomp. A Game for Everyone and no one. Little Chomp: Case Study

10. Errors, Experience, Evolution: An Indie Survival Guide Role clarity first, role clarity always. What We Learned

11. Errors, Experience, Evolution: An Indie Survival Guide More Haste, Less Waste Fewer meetings Improved Efficiency & Focus How “Skullduggery!” Benefitted

12. Errors, Experience, Evolution: An Indie Survival Guide Fail Factor #2: Lack of Objectivity

13. Errors, Experience, Evolution: An Indie Survival Guide When you work on something every day, it’s impossible to remain objective. Yet becoming precious about your ideas can be a dangerous trap. Objective Feedback (aka Tough Love)

14. Errors, Experience, Evolution: An Indie Survival Guide Find ways to introduce objectivity into your development process. Actively seek out opportunities to show your game to strangers. Listen to feedback, especially when it hurts. Little Chomp Lessons

15. Errors, Experience, Evolution: An Indie Survival Guide How “Skullduggery!” Benefitted

16. Errors, Experience, Evolution: An Indie Survival Guide How “Skullduggery!” Benefitted

17. Errors, Experience, Evolution: An Indie Survival Guide Fail Factor #3 Field of Dreams Syndrome

18. Errors, Experience, Evolution: An Indie Survival Guide If you build it (and it doesn’t suck!) they will come… Works in the movies. But in real life? Not so much. “Field of Dreams Syndrome” Explained

19. Errors, Experience, Evolution: An Indie Survival Guide Inherent in this belief is the idea that all you have to do is build a cool thing and the marketing will take care of itself. Pro Tip: It doesn’t. “FOD” Syndrome: Why it’s Dangerous

20. Errors, Experience, Evolution: An Indie Survival Guide If you tell them what it is, they will come… If you tell them where it is, they will come… If you tell them why they should give a crap, they will come… “Field of Dreams” (The Marketing Version)

21. Errors, Experience, Evolution: An Indie Survival Guide Once your game is live, getting the attention of press and platforms becomes exponentially more difficult if not impossible. Little Chomp Case Study

22. Errors, Experience, Evolution: An Indie Survival Guide Your marketing efforts are as important as your development efforts. Schedule them like everything else. Press Events Press Kits Promo Videos Social Media Marketing efforts should start well in advance of launch. The Solution: Marketing Milestones

23. Errors, Experience, Evolution: An Indie Survival Guide We started our marketing efforts 8 months in advance of our launch. This gave us two major advantages: Awareness Refinement “Skullduggery!” Case Study

24. Errors, Experience, Evolution: An Indie Survival Guide Understand what truly makes your game unique Tell an interesting Story Don’t rely on tips links and generic forms on game sites Seek out press who have written about the kind of games you made Don’t hound but do follow up Tips on Approaching Games Press

25. THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS SILVER SPONSORS PLATINUM SPONSORS

26. Amy Dallas Co-Founder / CEO ClutchPlay Games LLC Twitter: @amydallas Thank you!