Hello,

I am making my first quality mini-game, it's a 2D runner. I'm torn apart at what to do concerning some of the assets that the game requires - assets that I am unable to produce to the standard that I intend. Those assets include some art and some audio for the game. So, logically I've contacted some artists and asked them what their price would be.

Basically it came down to -

Audio: Avg $250.

Art: Avg $200.

Now, I find these prices completely reasonable. They're still pretty expensive for me. I could get either the Audio or the Art on my own funds, but I'm not willing to spend money for both.

This is where the estimate comes in. The game can be released for Android and Flash/HTML5. I'm not hoping to get anything out of Android, since the store from what I've gathered is very cut-throat and pretty hard to monetize.

So, sponsorship from mini-game websites comes to mind. If I can milk at least $150 from them, I'd be happy. However, I have completely no idea what they offer, I've looked on a couple of mini-game websites, but the range seems to differ a lot. I do realize it comes down to the quality of the game, and I can humbly and safely say that my game is on the same level as an average mini-game on various websites, if not more.

Now, audio determines the quality pretty heavily in games like these, but I reassure you that I thought very carefully about that statement.

So, what do? Do I skimp on one of either Art or Audio and end up with lacking in one of the sections. Or, do I take a gamble and hope that I'll get paid for my expenses? I don't intend to profit, and I have no idea how much sponsorship can acquire for you.

If you have any experience on this matter, please do post.

Thank you for your time.

Sponsors pay in money for a reason. Usually they do it to get eyeballs, to increase market share, to get sales, or perhaps just because they like your cause. If you are not popular it is extremely difficult to attract sponsors, and the sponsors you get are unlikely to give you much money.

I'm a bit confused by your posts.

One the one hand you write about getting paid for your expenses and recovering your money. That says "business". That says "trying to make a profit".

On the other hand you write "I don't intend to profit", and you talk about doing it as a hobby.

Many hobbies are expensive. A photography hobby can cost very little or can cost tens of thousands of dollars for extremely nice gear. A collection hobby can cost very little just collecting things you have around you, or can cost fortunes finding rare goods. Flying kites as a hobby can mean cheap kites from the convenience store or it can mean very expensive kites.

Hobbies are done mainly for entertainment or personal reasons related to self-fulfillment.

You need to decide what it is to you. Is this a hobby? If so, how expensive is the hobby going to be? Is this a business? If so, what is your plan to make money? Then you'll know about spending the money or seeking funding.

Sponsors pay in money for a reason. Usually they do it to get eyeballs, to increase market share, to get sales, or perhaps just because they like your cause. If you are not popular it is extremely difficult to attract sponsors, and the sponsors you get are unlikely to give you much money.

I'm a bit confused by your posts.

One the one hand you write about getting paid for your expenses and recovering your money. That says "business". That says "trying to make a profit".

On the other hand you write "I don't intend to profit", and you talk about doing it as a hobby.

Many hobbies are expensive. A photography hobby can cost very little or can cost tens of thousands of dollars for extremely nice gear. A collection hobby can cost very little just collecting things you have around you, or can cost fortunes finding rare goods. Flying kites as a hobby can mean cheap kites from the convenience store or it can mean very expensive kites.

Hobbies are done mainly for entertainment or personal reasons related to self-fulfillment.

You need to decide what it is to you. Is this a hobby? If so, how expensive is the hobby going to be? Is this a business? If so, what is your plan to make money? Then you'll know about spending the money or seeking funding.

Hey! Thanks for replying, and sorry for the confusing post. I wouldn't say this is exclusively a hobby for me, I like doing it, but I have other things that I would consider my real hobbies.

For simplicity's sake, let's just assume that this is a business. So, naturally I want to maximize profit and minimize losses.

My budget right now allows for only audio or only the art. I have 0% of the audio completed, and 75% of the art completed, so I'd definitely go for the audio. The other 25%of the art I can do, and I tried many times, but it stands out very badly to the rest of the art because it simply looks worse. But, I could dig a bit deeper into my pockets and get the finance needed for the art, it wouldn't be a major problem.

The question then would be - is investing into art going to bring me a return on investment that's not negative, either in the short-run or the long-run?

I cannot answer this, because I just simply have no experience with how this all operates. Well, I have a vague idea how much people get from looking into the 'sponsorship' page on various flash game sites. If those figures are true, then it's definitely worth the investment. However, I want someone to confirm with some first-hand experience.

That's pretty much the jist of it, thanks!

As of yet I have not looked at purchasing music or graphical assets or any sponsorship programs. In any case, only you would know what sort of projects that you might want to work on in the long-run so the question is, will these assets be well suited for use in your future projects?

I also haven't ever sold a game but I would assume that your return on investment is going to be a combined result of the quality of your product and marketing. I don't imagine that there's an actual formula for that.

I can tell you that as a player I sometimes don't mind a lower quality of artwork if it's consistent across the game. But the lower the overall quality or originality of the game the less I'll want to pay for it.

I guess another question is whether or not your comfortable risking the loss of that $450?

For simplicity's sake, let's just assume that this is a business. So, naturally I want to maximize profit and minimize losses.

My budget right now allows for only audio or only the art. I have 0% of the audio completed, and 75% of the art completed, so I'd definitely go for the audio. The other 25%of the art I can do, and I tried many times, but it stands out very badly to the rest of the art because it simply looks worse. But, I could dig a bit deeper into my pockets and get the finance needed for the art, it wouldn't be a major problem.

If you are taking a business tack, you need to figure out exactly how you intend to make a profit. It is not enough to just make a game.

Usually as part of a business plan you need to invest money to make a profit. The exact details depend on the venture. Buy a bunch of inexpensive glow-sticks for a few cents each online and get a deal at a park, sell them for $1 each at a park on a holiday night. Buy cans of soda in bulk and sell them cold at a parade route for a profit. Buy a bunch of food ingredients and a building, run a restaurant at a profit. Hire people to provide all the pieces of content and to advertise the game, sell at a profit.

If you don't have your business plan, get one. "Make a game and sell it online" is not enough of a plan.

For simplicity's sake, let's just assume that this is a business. So, naturally I want to maximize profit and minimize losses.

My budget right now allows for only audio or only the art. I have 0% of the audio completed, and 75% of the art completed, so I'd definitely go for the audio. The other 25%of the art I can do, and I tried many times, but it stands out very badly to the rest of the art because it simply looks worse. But, I could dig a bit deeper into my pockets and get the finance needed for the art, it wouldn't be a major problem.

If you are taking a business tack, you need to figure out exactly how you intend to make a profit. It is not enough to just make a game.

Usually as part of a business plan you need to invest money to make a profit. The exact details depend on the venture. Buy a bunch of inexpensive glow-sticks for a few cents each online and get a deal at a park, sell them for $1 each at a park on a holiday night. Buy cans of soda in bulk and sell them cold at a parade route for a profit. Buy a bunch of food ingredients and a building, run a restaurant at a profit. Hire people to provide all the pieces of content and to advertise the game, sell at a profit.

If you don't have your business plan, get one. "Make a game and sell it online" is not enough of a plan.

Well, I mean the plan is simple. I finish off the mini-game, and then I pitch it to as many possible mini-game websites as possible + FGL. I take either one exclusive sponsorship offer, or a bunch of non-exclusive offers. I can also enable ads in the game for some extra revenue. Worse comes to worse, I take a low ball offer.

There's really nothing else that I can think of to do with the finished product. I could release it on Android and iOS with minimal effort, it's just that on those platforms you need some marketing and I'm not willing to engage in that for now.