Hey, before I continue on with my question I would like to explain what I want my "circumstance" (if you will) is. I'm not relying on this game for any financial needs. It is completely from a hobbyist's stand point, who would like to make a (very) small amount of cash. Ok, now onto the question. I'm in the process of writing a FPS game. I will be buying the Indie version of Unity soon, and will move all my current work over to that. When all is said and done, and the game is complete (will still be awhile) I want to sell it. As I said, I am not relying on this once so ever. I was thinking that even $2-5 would due. To be honest, I'm still in highschool, doing this for the fun of it! Also I have a graphic artist working with me, and I would like to give him something for helping me out tremendously. I am having doubts of even putting a price tah on this, and just releasing it as freeware. Any suggestion on what would be smart to do? Thanks for your time, Bronx

Subject: Price for a game

>I would like to explain what I want my "circumstance" (if you will) is.

To be.

>Ok, now onto the question.

On to.

>I am not relying on this once so ever.

Whatsoever.

>I was thinking that even $2-5 would due.

Do.

>I have a graphic artist working with me, and I would like to give him something for helping me out tremendously.

A piece of the profits? Put it in writing. Oh wait, if you're both under 18, you cannot enter into legal agreements.

>I am having doubts of even putting a price tah on this

Tag.

>Any suggestion on what would be smart to do?

1. As long as you aren't 18 yet, do not do this for money. It can get very nasty with your artist, without a legal agreement between you.
2. Learn to spell.
3. Write subject lines that are in line with your actual question. "Price for a game" does not compute with "what would be smart to do."

In addition to Tom's comments:

1) Learn to spell and write well. Nothing destroys your credibility faster than poorly written communications. This is a life skill that goes beyond game programming and will affect every aspect of your life.

2) If your parents and their parents are willing to agree to it, you can work with them to get the legal formalities out of the way. You will both need assignments of rights, if nothing else, just in case.

This one is often hard to swallow for most beginners:

3) A very smart thing to do would be to start with the absolute minimum needed for a game. Don't try to create Doom from scratch for your first game -- it will fail. If you are using an engine and writing mods, then write mods in tiny steps. Start by just modifying textures, then modifying the behaviors of some objects, then move on to more advanced concepts. If you are programming, move in small steps as well. Typically tetris and pong clones are a good start, followed by breakout and a side scroller. Unity3D might be too big of a leap for a first project.

4) Don't just do the easy stuff. Do the hard stuff too, since that's where most projects fail. If it isn't polished it isn't done, and polishing is hard.

There is much more, but that is a good beginning.

All right, thank you for the tips and spelling corrections! I don't have much (life) experience at all, and that does reflect on my post(s).

As for starting small, I have. I been working my way up through a varied amount of games. Baseball Trivia game-> 2D platform sidescroller type game (similar to the Marios on the SNES)-> chip8 emulator-> And, now I am on to this. I'm not saying I'm not a beginner though, as I still am one.
I do have other small demo's and such besides these, but those are the major ones.

I guess it would not be a smart move sellling this game, being a teenager. So freeware it is :)

On a side-note about the legal agreements with my graphic artist, if I was going to sell this (which I am not), he agreed to do this totally free anyways, just for fun and experience. I just thought it would of been nice to repay him for his help. Oh well, maybe some other way!

Thanks, Bronx

> "I guess it would not be a smart move sellling this game, being a teenager. So freeware it is :)"

Being a teenager is no excuse to not to sell your game. :)

I wrote an article: 18 approaches for setting price which basically shows many different ways to set a price for your product. Here's also an article that explains why lowering the price is not a good move - you would need to sell 10 times more if you price your game $2-5, and people won't be buying your game just because of the price.

Besides, if you put your game in sale, it gets much more interesting than just having freeware.

Thank you for the links! Looks like a good read :)

Don't give up the idea, minors can successfully launch successful businesses. I have seen it happen several times over the years.

Just be aware, as was pointed out earlier, that minors cannot legally enter into contracts, cannot legally create a business, and so on. You will need the assistance of your parents or guardian, assuming you actually turn it in to a business.

As a hobby, you as a minor are free to do basically whatever you like. Kids are able to sell their stuff, with lots of rules attached. There is a solid economy of kids doing chores, babysitting, doing yardcare, offering computer services, and other tasks.

There are several labor laws and commerce laws involved, but as long as you follow the law there is no reason you can't make a few bucks. It is once you begin making more than a few bucks that you will need someone of legal age to make sure you are doing everything properly.


As an example that I know kids can start their own businesses if done properly: I have a younger relative who loved fixing cars with his dad. His dad helped him buy cars at the local auto auction, fix them up, and make a significant profit. His dad -- who happened to be a CPA -- helped him with the few bits of legal work and reporting everything on taxes. At age 16 he was working with a mechanic on weekdays, and still fixing up and reselling cars on weekends. By age 18 he was independently wealthy and was doing well making thousands of dollars each month working on cars. He went through college and now owns his own successful auto company -- and is still in his mid twenties.

Wow, thanks for the inspiration!

Say, I was working with another minor, that lived in a different country then I (Canada and/or U.K.), how would the different laws (child labor laws?) conflict? What specifically should I look out for if I were to attempt to start a small business (with the aid of my parents)?

Quote:

Original post by bronxbomber92 Wow, thanks for the inspiration! Say, I was working with another minor, that lived in a different country then I (Canada and/or U.K.), how would the different laws (child labor laws?) conflict? What specifically should I look out for if I were to attempt to start a small business (with the aid of my parents)?

If nothing ever comes from it, then it doesn't matter.

BUT if something actually comes from your work, both families will want to have many long phone calls with each other, and many talks with qualified accountants, and a few discussions with qualified lawyers from both countries.

Most of the laws involved are tax laws, at least, in the US. For the most part the government doesn't care as long as each of the government entities get their cut of the money.