Subscribe to the Pencil Kings Podcast: | iTunes | Stitcher
“We really do believe in our community. We would never have got this far without listening and learning how we can improve.“
~ Carina Kom
Indie gaming is now a big industry in its own right, with artists and developers across the world coming together to launch new titles using crowdfunding instead of major publishers to finance their projects.
But what’s it like to actually see your own title get launched successfully and receive rave reviews from the gaming community?
In this week’s podcast, co-founder of Crash Wave Games, Carina Kom, shares her experiences of launching the Viking roleplay game, Iron Tides, and reveals why getting your project off the ground isn’t always as daunting as you might think…
Carina Kom on Indie Gaming and Iron Tides
Carina Kom has been working in indie gaming for around six years, and has seen how the industry has grown and developed since then.
After starting out as a quality assurance tester for Hot Head Games, she moved into the growing industry of ‘social casual’ games (think Farmville and Candy Crush on Facebook etc) where she gained more valuable experience.
During this time, Carina says she’s seen a shift away from Facebook as a games platform, and a move towards mobile gaming instead.
So, with this in mind, she was keen to get involved in a new game project and jumped at the chance when her former colleague, Sam Raski, suggested they launch a new video game together back in 2015.
And that’s where the concept of Iron Tides was born – a hugely entertaining mash-up of survival, exploration and tactical combat games where you’re cast in the role of a viking chieftan.
After plenty of hard work, consulting the indie gaming community for feedback, and a Kickstarter campaign, Iron Tides was launched successfully in November this year
She says: “It’s been a really wild ride, to be honest with you. We went through many different processes to get to where we are today, but I feel like that feeling of empowerment is something than can only really happen in a smaller, indie gaming studio like ours.”JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwd2lkdGglM0QlMjI1NjAlMjIlMjBoZWlnaHQlM0QlMjIzMTUlMjIlMjBzcmMlM0QlMjJodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRnd3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbSUyRmVtYmVkJTJGMzB5cDZkLWJXX3clMjIlMjBmcmFtZWJvcmRlciUzRCUyMjAlMjIlMjBhbGxvd2Z1bGxzY3JlZW4lM0UlM0MlMkZpZnJhbWUlM0U=
Watch the Trailer for the Iron Tides Kickstarter Campaign
We hope this week’s podcast interview with Carina Kom gives you some useful insights into indie gaming and launching your own creative projects with crowdfunding campaigns.
Why not check out Iron Tides and let us know what you think?
People on this Episode:
Links From This Episode:
Subscribe via iTunes.
Listen on Stitcher Radio.
Android users can grab our RSS feed here.
Right-click and “save file as” for direct download.
Thanks for listening to our show! We’ll be back next Wednesday morning 8AM EST.
Cheers,
Mitch
PS, there is also Pencil Kings content on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.