Jonathan Epstein's Blog
I'm currently living and working in Germany, but am originally from Seattle where I earned my Masters in German Literature. I am in the process of developing a game for iOS and Android with a friend. More specifically, I oversee the marketing/business side of things.
I speak three languages, and love traveling. I'm also learning Python.
Check out my blog: exgrad.com and Twitter
Member Blogs
Posted by
Jonathan Epstein
on Mon, 30 Jan 2017 10:49:00 EST
in
Business/Marketing,
Indie,
Business/Marketing,
Smartphone/Tablet,
Business/Marketing,
Social/Online,
Smartphone/Tablet,
Business/Marketing,
Serious,
Indie,
Social/Online,
Smartphone/Tablet,
Design,
Serious,
Design,
Serious
This post discusses 3 ways you can use game making software to to teach STEM related subjects to students.
Posted by
Jonathan Epstein
on Mon, 25 Jan 2016 02:01:00 EST
in
Business/Marketing,
Indie,
Business/Marketing,
Smartphone/Tablet,
Business/Marketing,
Social/Online,
Smartphone/Tablet,
Business/Marketing,
Serious,
Indie,
Social/Online,
Smartphone/Tablet,
Design,
Serious,
Design,
Serious
This post is about the narrative possibilities of gaming; how gaming needs to push the line between reality and illusion in terms of narrative.
Posted by
Jonathan Epstein
on Fri, 08 Jan 2016 01:21:00 EST
in
Business/Marketing,
Indie,
Business/Marketing,
Smartphone/Tablet,
Business/Marketing,
Social/Online,
Smartphone/Tablet,
Business/Marketing,
Serious,
Indie,
Social/Online,
Smartphone/Tablet,
Design,
Serious,
Design,
Serious
This post is about content creation. Specifically, writing short stories about the game to keep fans interested, updated, and to help show your world to them.
Posted by
Jonathan Epstein
on Wed, 06 Jan 2016 01:32:00 EST
in
Business/Marketing,
Indie,
Business/Marketing,
Smartphone/Tablet,
Business/Marketing,
Social/Online,
Smartphone/Tablet,
Business/Marketing,
Serious,
Indie,
Social/Online,
Smartphone/Tablet,
Design,
Serious,
Design,
Serious
This post discussed the importance of outlining. Marketing strategies and voice should be integral to the game from the start.
Posted by
Jonathan Epstein
on Mon, 04 Jan 2016 01:31:00 EST
in
Business/Marketing,
Indie,
Business/Marketing,
Smartphone/Tablet,
Business/Marketing,
Social/Online,
Smartphone/Tablet,
Business/Marketing,
Serious,
Indie,
Social/Online,
Smartphone/Tablet,
Design,
Serious,
Design,
Serious
This blog discusses the use of in-game screenshots as a way to monetize your game. Like a disposable camera, the amount of images taken are limited. The best part is that this doesn't interfere w/ gameplay and helps spread the word of your game.
Posted by
Jonathan Epstein
on Mon, 30 Nov 2015 03:20:00 EST
in
Business/Marketing,
Indie,
Business/Marketing,
Smartphone/Tablet,
Business/Marketing,
Social/Online,
Smartphone/Tablet,
Business/Marketing,
Serious,
Indie,
Social/Online,
Smartphone/Tablet,
Design,
Serious,
Design,
Serious
An introspective look at working on an Indie while living abroad, and isolated from your partner.
Jonathan Epstein's Comments
Comment In:
[Blog - 02/02/2016 - 05:55]
This is a really helpful ...
This is a really helpful article. I too have been researching retention rates, and one interesting thing I found was that a dev should update the game every 6 weeks in order to keep the retention rate relatively strong. What do you make of this strategy, in addition to yours
Comment In:
[Blog - 01/06/2016 - 01:32]
I totally agree with cohabitate ...
I totally agree with cohabitate with . What I meant by not letting it interrupt was more don 't let the entire game be dictated solely by trying to turn a profit, and therefore sacrificing the gameplay elements wholesale. Rather, the monetization come naturally to the game the genre, the ...
Comment In:
[News - 01/06/2016 - 11:14]
While I don 't want ...
While I don 't want to explicitly state that they might have shot themselves in the foot, it is somewhat hard to not think of other such pricing errors in recent history. The first thing that comes to my mind is the PS3. When it was first released, the price ...
Comment In:
[Blog - 01/04/2016 - 01:31]
You bring up an excellent ...
You bring up an excellent point in terms of the ease with which one can simply take a screenshot w/ their phone, and the sense of feeling duped. Furthermore, the difficulty one would have in getting players to do this 10 times is indeed problematic. Nevertheless, I think the strategy ...
Comment In:
[Blog - 11/30/2015 - 03:20]
Would you say then that ...
Would you say then that being a proper fit in the company is more important than pure technical skill This is just out of curiosity everyone is equally talented, so to make sure the environment of the company--which varies from company to company--works they hire like-minded individuals
