March 24, 2022
Three Questions to: Octofox Games
The team of Octofox Games consists of five former students of the Games Master at HAW Hamburg who have been working together for a couple of years already. They were among the first teams to receive 80,000 euros through the Prototype Funding Program and have since worked on a prototype for their couch-coop game "Wild Woods". We asked them about their experience.
In this game up to four players take on the roles of brave cats, collecting resources and defending their wooden wagon on a dangerous trail through the forest. As applications for our next round of Prototype Funding are open right now, we wanted to check in with Octofox Games and asked them about their experience with the program and what they would like to tell potential applicants.
We see a wide variety of creative ideas in the Prototype Funding Program. Please tell us: What's your idea/game in a nutshell and what about it do you think convinced the awarding committee?
Wild Woods has an easy to understand concept which we think helped a lot. "Collect Resources by day, keep you fire lit at night and protect your wagon with up to 3 of you friends!" Moreover, we had a specific goal for the funding - to make our prototype playable online. Also we have cute cats, that always helps.
The program is open for all kinds of enterprises, students or newcomers so they can develop a playable prototype and receive further funding from a publisher or start a Kickstarter campaign etc. How did that work out for you? What was Octofox' situation while applying to the program and what have you achieved since?
We were on the look for a publishing/funding deal, which turned out to be pretty hard. Lacking the "online" part in our couch coop concept made it not interesting enough for most of them. We used the Prototype Funding Program to expand our core concepts, experiment a bit with our features and learned a lot about online technology. We were able to work a full year on what now has way more potential to be a success on the games market.
What advice or tip would you like to share with people who think about applying for the Gamecity Hamburg Prototype Funding?
Just do it! We learned so much by just applying, because we needed to sharpen your focus on the game's core vision to produce the documents and questionnaires Gamecity asked us for. Which was good! Your game idea needs to be understandable and plausible. A greybox or any form of prototype might help, but you don't need it if you can explain your game idea in a vivid way. Keep calm and take your time to work through the application. It seems hard, but it is totally worth it.
Applications for our first round of Prototype Funding for 2022 are open until April 11. The second round will open on August 29. Find all info on how to apply right here.
Want to know more about Ocotofox and their game Wild Woods? Follow them on Instagram or Twitter.
