Kongregate Developers Blog (Page 3)

Talks Apr 03, 2018

Data-Driven or Data-Blinded? Uses and Abuses of Analytics in Games (GDC 2018)

This year at GDC, Kongregate CEO and Co-Founder Emily Greer gave a talk titled "Data-Driven or Data-Blinded? Uses and Abuses of Analytics in Games." Check out the talk summary and slides below! Talk Summary In the last decade of data analysis, A/B testing and predictive modeling have transitioned from an afterthought to a given in the game industry. Data can be invaluable in understanding the player and making decisions, but it can just as easily lead the industry astray, or worse, narrow the way the industry thinks. When should you be driven by data, and when should you let your imagination roam free? This session will expose common mistakes and pitfalls, both technical and emotional, as well as provide practical guidance on how to improve the rigorousness of your tests and the quality of your data, and how to make sure you don't lose the forest for the trees. Slides Emily Greer at GDC 2018: Data-Driven or Data-Blinded? from Kongregate

Mobile Publishing Mar 29, 2018

'Heroes of Rings: Dragons War' Launches on Mobile

Kongregate has teamed up with Spanish indie studio Codigames to launch Heroes of Rings: Dragons War, the turn-based, free-to-play RPG, on iOS & Android devices. Heroes of Rings: Dragons War starts players on an amazing 3D island, tasked with saving the world from evil creatures intent on destroying the Pillars of Creation. The turn-based RPG is driven by a compelling hero collection structure and unique battle system. Players will develop complex strategies based on the heroes they use, their skills, and the turns remaining until the enemies attack. Each Hero is customizable with "Rings," special items that can be upgraded and combined to unleash a Hero's true potential. Players can participate in Arenas and Raids to win resources and fame, and challenging monthly and weekly events complement the intense and engaging PVP modes. “They’ve built gorgeous characters, stylized in a way that really demonstrates the '90s cartoons that influenced them,” said Mael Novat, Kongregate Producer, “from the eccentric mix of animals, humans and technology to the quality of the animations and bold colors. Whether you are in

Talks Mar 27, 2018

All the Families: The Making of 'Animation Throwdown' (GDC 2018)

This year at GDC, Kongregate Senior Producer Peter Eykemans and Producer Katrina Wolfe gave a talk titled "All the Families: The Making of 'Animation Throwdown.'" Check out the description and slides below! Talk Summary Ever wonder what it would be like to create a AAA game with a skeleton crew, split between two developers, one publisher, one IP owner, and five individual IPs? Join two producers from Kongregate to hear how "Animation Throwdown" was created in an unusual way, and how they turned an incredible production problem into a major success. Slides All the Families: The Making of Animation Throwdown (GDC 2018) from Kongregate

Talks Mar 23, 2018

Going Cross-Platform: Is It Worth the Effort?

This year at GDC, Kongregate's VP of Publishing Tammy Levy gave a talk titled "Going Cross-Platform: Is It Worth the Effort?" Check out the description and slides below! Talk Summary Today's mobile market is extremely competitive. How can you find additional success? Kongregate has launched a number of truly x-platform games on Mobile, Web, and Steam. Through several case studies from live Kongregate games, including Animation Throwdown, AdVenture Capitalist, and Bit Heroes, Tammy shared the learnings and upside of going cross-platform and allowing players to play where they want to. Slides Going Cross-Platform: Is it worth the effort? from Tamara (Tammy) Levy

Engineering Mar 20, 2018

Serverless: Up and Running

What is serverless hosting? In 2018, the requirement for a dedicated server running 24/7 seems a bit antiquated. With the invention of AWS Lambda, it is now possible to own and maintain an API application that only exists on-demand, and only costs resources based on what it uses while running. It’s never been cheaper to run an API thanks to Lambda. To do that, however, there are a handful of hoops that need to be jumped through to get a working application. For the sake of this blog, the tools that will be used are AWS SAM, CloudFormation, API Gateway, Lambda and DynamoDB. With this toolsuite we’ll be able to get a fully functioning API with minimal setup and minimal cost. Config Getting started with AWS SAM is pretty easy. For reference, SAM stands for Serverless Application Model, or the way that AWS has decided serverless applications should run. With this model, there’s lots of documentation and helpful links on how to get a serverless application running in production. The base config for a SAM template

Culture Mar 15, 2018

The Culture of Kongpanions: What’s in a Name?

Synapse joined the Kongregate family on October 2, 2017. When we were first granted access to Kongregate’s Slack rooms I joined several player-focused chats for both camaraderie and commiseration. Many of the rooms featured ways to engage or support players, but it was the #whos-that-kongpanion room that gave me an instant sense of culture and connection with the company. Kongpanions are collectables found on Kongregate.com; each Kongpanion is charmingly designed by staff and obtained by players who complete at least one "Badge of the Day" during the week. Players can earn additional prestige by collecting at least five in a week, granting their Kongpanion a crown -- AKA a "Shiny." Developers can use the Kongpanion API to use these adorable companions as characters in their games, and they are tied once a year to larger Quest events. I joined Kongregate.com in 2008, so I remember when Kongpanions were released to the general public. The excitement for something new on Kongregate was overwhelming, and collecting Kongpanions turned into a competition among my group of

Web Mar 13, 2018

February 2018 Contest Winners

Each month, developers win cash prizes for having the highest-rated new games! Click here for official rules. Check out the official contest page here. TOP WINNERS 1st Place: $1,750 Medieval Angel 4 -My Uprising- (Part 2) by VasantJ 2nd Place: $1,250 Tales of Nebezem: Golden Scepter by Beranek 3rd Place: $1,000 NGU IDLE by somethingggg 4th Place: $750 SiNKR by robertwahler 5th Place: $500 Road of Fury 3 by IriySoft We reached out to the top 5 winners to ask about their inspirations and experiences developing last month's top games on Kongregate! First-Place Winner VasantJ, developer of Medieval Angel 4 -My Uprising- (Part 2): Medieval Angel (previously known as Medieval Shorts) is now coming to a close, as the last episode of the season will be released soon. We have come a long way from Medieval Cop, where a drunk cop goes around solving mysteries to fighting against supernatural beings of epic proportions. But the reason the series did not lose its charm is because the fans helped me out a lot. Thanks to their honest replies,

Kongregate News Mar 08, 2018

Kongregate at GDC 2018

Kongregate will be back at the Game Developers Conference later this month; please join us at our booth, talks, or other events! Kongregate Booth: Expo Hours - Wednesday-Thursday: 10am-6pm | Friday: 10am - 3pm 108 (South Hall) Talks from Kongregate Speakers: Going Cross-Platform: Is It Worth the Effort? Summit Speaker: Tammy Levy (VP of Publishing, Kongregate) Location: Room 2016, West Hall Date: Tuesday, March 20 Time: 2:10pm - 2:40pm Pass Type: All Access, GDC Conference + Summits, GDC Summits Today's mobile market is extremely competitive. How can you find additional success? Kongregate has launched a number of truly x-platform games on iOS, Android, web, and Steam. What do you need to change? What KPIs should you expect? Through several case studies from live Kongregate games, including "Animation Throwdown," "Spellstone," and "Bit Heroes," this lecture will share the pros and cons of going cross-platform and allowing players to play where they want to. All the Families: The Making of "Animation Throwdown" Summit Speakers: Peter Eykemans (Senior Producer, Kongregate) Katrina Wolfe (Producer, Kongregate) Location:

Kongregate News Mar 06, 2018

Announcing Kartridge, a New Downloadable Gaming Platform

First, a Message from Emily Greer, Co-Founder and CEO of Kongregate It hasn’t been long since our last big announcement, but we’re ready to share more exciting news: Kongregate is creating a new community-driven, developer-centric PC platform -- Kartridge. Kartridge is designed to be rich in social and community features and will allow us to provide more games and features to our playerbase (full screen mode! retail games!). Kartridge will allow us to elevate the experiences of both players and developers alike, without the technology constraints of web browsers. Some Kartridge features will be directly connected to Kongregate.com, while many are brand new to Kartridge. The platform will also further our premium games initiative; developer-controlled price points and a downloadable platform means more games, more developers, & more options. Kartridge is a direct result of the hard work, culture, and engagement that went into Kongregate.com. It’s designed to be community and developer focused, so we hope you sign up to participate in our Beta program. If you are a developer interested in early involvement and