I’m in the process of starting on the next Tile Panic! version, after having discussed things with yet another potential publisher (I’ve already got a couple of groups I’m dealing with now, all non-exclusive contracts, so I’m continuing the campaign and trying to find more publishers to deal with. Having ‘decent’ success with doing it, even though I got a rejection letter. They are just pushin’ me to work harder at it 😉 So I talked with my current customers, who are probably the best experts on the game, and asked what else they would like to see in the game, what bugs or problems they found, etc. One reponse in particular caught my eye, and I’ve gotta share this one. The little old lady in question is named Lura, and I’ve exchanged email with her concerning the game a couple of times now:
Spend all your time on unlocking the timer and doing new great stuff. I can hardly wait to play the other boards when they are not timed. I have tried out the timed games but I get way too excited and my heart won’t take it. I thought maybe if I could pause the game or save it, I could do a little at a time but my daughter is a nurse and she tells me I shouldn’t. My pulse rate really flies. See, your game is a true “heart-stopper”. And, I’m not really quick enough to do very well anyway.
I know this for sure — no one who has played this game has had more hours of pleasure than me. It has brightened many, many hours for me.
There’s two things about that email that make it worth mentioning. The first is the idea that one of my games could bring happyness to someone. It’s such a simple thing really – but it’s worth more than all the sales from the games to date. My work makes someone happy – the long hours and headaches suddenly become worthwhile again.
The second thing is the realization that I probably need to be careful with my games, otherwise I’m gonna end up giving some little old lady a heart attack one of these days! Yikes!