Various things can help a video game be successful, but while famous voice actors, realistic graphics, and textures may go a long way, enjoyable gameplay is far more critical. Those believing that simple-looking games can not succeed should look into stories of many indie games that highlight that a big budget is not always needed to develop a well-selling video game to earn a ton of money.
Terraria
image via steam.com
Usually, the gaming industry goes in cycles, especially when it comes to genre tends. Currently, battle royales and competitive titles are thriving, yet gamers were obsessed with sandbox games allowing them to craft a decade ago. Together with Minecraft, Terraria is considered to be one of the best.
By May 2022, over 44 million copies of Terraria had been sold across all platforms. Considering that the Re-Logic studio that created the game has only around 11 employers, such success was somewhat unexpected for a relatively low-budget game studio. Yet playing the game gives tons of reasons to love it – challenging but fun combat, world exploration, and variety in items and in-game characters. The game might be over 10 years old, yet it still manages to keep up with the newest titles and retain an active community.
Flappy Bird
The game was created solely by Dong Nguyen, a Vietnamese programmer, in less than a week. A laughably simple objective, to keep flying a bird over a series of varying height pipes, has attracted many players with its simplicity and addictivity.
Although the game was free and did not offer any in-app purchases, the sheer amount of ads shown to millions of players has generated a ridiculous amount of revenue. It may have been a simple project, but it certainly hit the right spot for many people.
Undertale
image via steam.com
The RPG game looking like it was made back in the 80s, took the world by storm when it was released. With an unusual battle system, appealing characters, and well-developed story game, it is no surprise the game was loved by its players.
Created almost singlehandedly by Toby Fox over nearly three years and financed via Kickstarter, Undertale does not sound like a success story at first; the game sold 1.3 million copies on Steam, not including ones sold directly from the creator’s website. It might be a small game, but undoubtedly is a mighty one!
Stanley Parable
image via steam.com
While the game looks unpromising at first, it quickly grabs Your attention with incredibly captivating narration and nonstopping reality bending. 4th wall-breaking elements are also there, making players question whether the narrator’s speech is prerecorded or they talk to them live.
The game has sold over a million copies. Its sequence, The Stanley Parable Deluxe, has raked 100000 sales within the first 24 hours after its release. People seem fascinated by being told mind-boggling stories in surreal-looking environments.
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