BSE on Kongregate

Two days ago, and in the name of science, I uploaded Bureau of Steam Engineering to Kongregate. It’s been an interesting experience, to say the least.

I have to say, though – you guys are champs. I make games, you play them, and everyone is generally happy. Less so on Kongregate, although the overall response was pretty good.

I’ve “earned” about $10 via their ad-revenue sharing program so far; from what I understand, once it reaches $25 they’ll send me a check that I can cash and donate. Does anyone know of a good micro-lending charity? Preferably one with a low overhead and a good understanding of economic incentives…

9 Comments to BSE on Kongregate

  1. Z Partical's Gravatar Z Partical
    December 11, 2008 at 5:01 am | Permalink

    BSE was great fun – just need Episode two now. The only downside was that I just couldn’t get the big cannon to fire more than one shot – as a result my default setup seemed to be a static dual repeating rifle combo with crouch ability.
    I can see why BSE got a lesser response on Kongregate than here – the Ruckingeur set & BSE all require a specific mindset for true enjoyment (that and the site wouldn’t allow me to register as it seemed to think my everyday email address was invalid)
    Keenly looking forward to more R & BSE challanges

  2. Adman's Gravatar Adman
    December 11, 2008 at 10:29 am | Permalink

    I thought BSE was an awesome game. Haven’t played Ruckingeur yet, but plan to. What are the odds we’ll get a sequel? Any time frame? Can’t wait.

  3. Zach's Gravatar Zach
    December 11, 2008 at 7:43 pm | Permalink

    It’s unlikely there will be a direct sequel to BSE; the game was flawed in some pretty serious ways.
    While I’m working on a totally new game at the moment (more information in the next few days), it’s very likely that a reimagined spiritual successor to BSE will be coming within the next few months. If you’re looking for more Games for Engineers to play in the meantime, check out Manufactoid, Ruckingenur II, Silicon Foundry, and Pulse.

  4. Pogo's Gravatar Pogo
    December 20, 2008 at 5:51 pm | Permalink

    As a physics graduate, I find your games creative, fun, and educational. Keep up the good work.
    As for Kongregate, I wouldn’t worry about some of the negative nancies that troll that site. They like stupid tower defense games and things they don’t have to think about. However, I do think your games will still be received well over there, and you may consider transferring more and, in turn, get more ad revenue for them. If you decide to do this, I highly recommend adding “Badges” for achievement completion, as that draws people to play games multiple times.
    Good luck with everything!

  5. Zach's Gravatar Zach
    December 21, 2008 at 2:29 am | Permalink

    Pogo: Thanks for your positive comments! As long as I keep on making flash games, I plan to continue putting them on Kongregate; not only does it draw more traffic to my site, but I’ve made $20 so far! Woo!
    Unfortunately, I don’t have the ability to add badges myself; someone at Kongregate creates all the achievements, and only for games that are ranked favorably. BSE got bombed, but perhaps my next game will fare better.

  6. lesslucid's Gravatar lesslucid
    December 21, 2008 at 10:15 pm | Permalink

    Kiva.org seems pretty good, though I don’t know that much about them.

  7. 'Dragon' Dave McKee's Gravatar 'Dragon' Dave McKee
    December 31, 2008 at 12:23 am | Permalink

    Z Partical: The cannon reloads when it has low steam pressure. You can get that by venting the cannon chamber. I’d recommend two (or more!) steam vents to get it to dump that waste air as quickly as possible.

  8. Raphael Sofaer's Gravatar Raphael Sofaer
    October 4, 2009 at 4:09 pm | Permalink

    I have some money in Kiva, they have a good track record, and you can donate without funding overhead if you want. Most micro-loan organizations have pretty high overhead, though. It’s hard to avoid.

  9. Had24get's Gravatar Had24get
    October 5, 2009 at 12:44 am | Permalink

    hey i played on kong, and i tottaly sucked at that game…
    but you know what… I thought that if i had been able to figure it out , i was looking for something a little more “mindless”, i would have had fun. i tried it again and voila, not only did i still suck, but i was having fun…