Exhibitioner’s Insights: Adequate Games

Adequate Games from Australia showcased their automation game Clipper at Gamescom 2024. CEO Kane Rogers-Wong talks about collaborating with Home of Indies and explains why you have to make weird games!

At Adequate Games, we love creating experiences that are fun, strange, and unusual (just as our name suggests). Making weird games has become our mission, and Gamescom 2024 was the perfect platform to present our latest project, Clipper. In this game, you play as a time-traveling robot who finds himself back in the Viking era… tasked with the peculiar job of making paperclips! Since this robot lacks opposable thumbs, he has to brainwash Vikings to get the paperclip production going. This concept is as strange as it sounds, but it’s been surprisingly successful, especially given that we’ve only been working on it for about a year. Home of Indies provided us with an amazing opportunity to showcase our project at Gamescom, and our expectations were exceeded in so many ways.

From day one, Chris and her partner Fabricio were incredibly supportive. They always checked in, brought us anything we needed, and were there whenever we had a question.

Kane Rogers-Wong – CEO Adequate Games

Connecting With the Players

Our indie studio, based in Melbourne, Australia, is made up of four people specializing in automation games. Our first Gamescom visit in 2022 was thanks to the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (IGEA), the industry association for computer and video games in Australia and New Zealand. They offered small indie studios the chance to exhibit in a free booth through an application process. We applied, were approved, and got to present our previous title. That experience was unforgettable, and we’re genuinely thankful for it.

However, our booth was in the B2B area, which was excellent for business meetings but not ideal for connecting with players. As programmers and game developers we often spend our time in a dark cave barely talking to others. We wanted to see the faces of the people playing our games, to hear their thoughts, and get their feedback. So, I went online, hunting for a way to get a booth in the Indie Area and found Home of Indies. I reached out to Chris, and she was fantastic from the get-go. So we decided this was the way to go.

Planning From Overseas

Our Gamescom planning began in April, and even from those early days, Chris showed remarkable patience. As a small studio we don’t have a lot of money. So we took a unique approach: booking an L-shaped booth and sharing it with two other studios. Chris was completely on board and provided us with all the information we needed. Since we were coming from so far away, every detail had to be precise, so we asked countless questions, right down to the exact measurements of the booth. Using 3D modeling software helped us design our booth layout down to the tiniest detail. I would recommend this to anyone else doing this, to get a clear idea of how the booth will look in the end.One of our biggest planning milestones was creating the booth artwork that would represent three distinct games. We hired an artist just for this, who made a stunning design to tie it all together. Given the logistical challenge of traveling from Australia, we chose to rent all technical equipment through Home of Indies. We only brought a few power strips and some Clipper merchandise.

Navigating Gamescom As an Indie Studio

From day one, Chris and her partner Fabricio were incredibly supportive. They always checked in, brought us anything we needed, and were there whenever we had a question. We organized ourselves in shifts, giving everyone time to take a break. At a bustling convention like Gamescom, it’s essential to find a quiet corner like a stairwell or back area to escape the noise and crowds when you need it. Those little breaks really make a difference.

Our main goal for attending Gamescom was simple: showcase our game and connect with players. We didn’t pack our schedule with events, but of course we joined the Exhibitor’s Party on Thursday. It was a fantastic opportunity to connect with other cool indie studios from all around the world. The Exhibitor’s Party is a special event that brings developers together and creates a genuine sense of community.

Beyond Expectations: embracing the Buzz

The visitor feedback was absolutely fantastic. The positive reactions were invaluable because with this game we’ve really tried to be as weird as possible – choosing not to create something we thought others might like, but something we genuinely enjoyed. Seeing players embrace our game with such enthusiasm felt incredible. By noon Friday, we had already given away all our merch! It was an amazing feeling to see people walking around in our T-shirts, taking photos with them, and experiencing all that support, love, and encouragement. At one point, a wave of people came over saying they’d heard about us on the radio. Gamescom attendees were asked what games they’d recommend checking out, and people said, “You must go to Home of Indies and check out Clipper!” The entire experience was overwhelmingly positive and more than we could have hoped for.

Show yourself and Make Weird games!

When you participate in events like Gamescom, you’re not only testing your game but also your marketing. Are the visuals and words attracting the right crowd? Are people getting the humor and vibe? Defining your game’s genre helps you connect with the right audience, and I think we were really successful in that regard. We had a message that appealed to our audience. Home of Indies was the perfect partner, as passionate about showcasing indies as we are about making games.

The positive feedback at Gamescom reaffirmed that making “weird” games is worth it. There are so many people out there who appreciate quirky, enjoyable experiences that aren’t polished to perfection. These people want to connect with you as a person and hear your story– they’re more like supporters than just consumers. So don’t try to please people who aren’t your audience; the world needs more weird games! Be brave and make what truly excites you.

Let's connect !

Christiane Gehrke

Senior Event Communication & Sales Manager

FACTORY · C

Agentur für Messen & Kommunikation GmbH

+49 170 953 22 97

c.gehrke@factory-c.com

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