But if you follow this logic to its conclusion – and many do – then you will arrive at the point of thinking that, since this is what sells, it is all that any game should be: an addictive game loop that can be wrapped up all nice and neat under the bow of a marketing hook that fits into a tweet. If you were already sold on Time Bandit and have no need to experience this game loop, I recommend just waiting for the official release so you can experience the real-time mechanics as they’re intended!Ī lot of very practical-sounding people say that a game should be made according to what is most marketable and that this is clearly where I should have started. I sacrificed some artistic integrity in deciding to release something like this. So, this second prologue does just that: it jumps you ahead to after all the main mechanics are introduced and throws you right into the stealth so you can get a feel for how the game works. Then it wasn't long before I also realized that giving players the opportunity to experience this game loop should have been part of the marketing all along. Around the same time that I finally discovered how to describe Time Bandit, I was also able to do some playtesting, and I quickly realized that I should use a save file to jump people past the whole story intro and into that game loop. ![]() It's simple! And it's definitely circular, as a loop should be! And this is a significant part of what people want to hear, I think, when learning about the game, alongside whatever makes it unique (and for that I've developed a line about how this is a "wholesome"-seeming idle adventure game where everything you do takes an unusual amount of time because the company you work for is hiding a dark secret). But this is it: Time Bandit is a resource management game in which you try to sneak out time crystals in order to sell them for money, which you need to buy more fuel in order to solve more puzzles to collect more time crystals. And as with most things that stare you right in the face, it took me much longer than you might expect to figure out how to explain exactly what you *do* in the game in the most basic terms. But at the same time, it's leading with the parts that are the most complicated to explain, and it’s just not possible for me to convince people with something like that that there's also a rather traditional game loop to come. And certainly, these things can make up part of its appeal. The first prologue has different goals entirely than the game that follows, namely, to introduce a story and set up the idea that this game will give you an unusual experience of time. These first moments of the game aren't at all representative of the game as a whole. Unfortunately, it was terrible for marketing. I was happy with it artistically it begins at the beginning, and I had no problem releasing something like that early on as a teaser to the game. I really like how, in the real-time spirit of things, even the main mechanics are introduced slowly in a tutorial that's spread out over a couple of real-life days. The first prologue was more or less an intro to the story, and that was it. This is a big, experimental game with a lot of different parts, and for a long time I found it very hard to explain exactly what you *do* in the game or convey how it is, in fact, fun to play. ![]() Truthfully it’s because the game needs a big marketing push. Yes, Time Bandit is receiving a second prologue chapter!
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