Publishing games is a very vulnerable experience.
It feels like you're baring your soul to the world, offering up a piece of you, painstakingly molded and nurtured, open to critique and even rejection. Throughout the years, I have practiced the approach of deriving gratification from the making of the game alone, without relying heavily on external validation. However, there’s no denying that seeing your game resonate with folks provides a certain feeling of fulfillment that is hard to replicate.
And as an indie creator, I don’t (shouldn’t?) really care about chasing trends or cashing in on the 'in' thing. I'm in it to create the kind of games I wish existed. That has been my one and only rule.
But. BUT. This one felt different.
What’s your style?
On podcasts and interviews, I’m often asked to peg down my ‘style’ of games. I usually tell them (with the enormous risk of sounding pretentious) to “expect the unexpected”. But I don’t say that in an “oh, I am so brilliant” kind of way, it’s just that, when I finish a game, I’m done with it. I’m ready to explore something else, chase a new approach, one that, not rarely, contradicts the very thing I’ve just put out (that’s why you’ll rarely see supplements or new editions of my games).
Now, with nearly 30 games published, and in the light of this upcoming release, perhaps I need to reconsider this statement.
I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I am not as unpredictable as I once believed. There are some persistent elements that I can spot that go beyond just the ‘vibes’. Perhaps there are some recurring mechanical solutions, design philosophies, game structures, underlying messages, approaches to themes that I see throughout my portfolio. I don’t know, but there is something.
The fact is, I think it is enough to identify a ‘brand’, which feels… weird, in many ways. First, being haunted by the whole ‘self-plagiarism is style’ kind of thought. Am I, under the surface, just reworking the same game over and over? Secondly, and most relevant to this moment, did people come to expect a certain kind of game from me? If so, what do I do with that information?
That doesn’t look like you
For almost two years now, I’ve had this idea of making a football game. I had only the title in mind: Two-Minute Warning. I wanted to capture the thrill of the final moments of a football match. I put it aside because… honestly, I didn’t know what to do with it.
I believe that if we imagined a Venn diagram of NFL fans and solo RPG enthusiasts, the intersecting section would be quite narrow. Well, it just so happens that I am in it, ever since I lived in the US and my roommate taught me the basics of the game (hi, Randy!).
So, who is this game going to be for, besides myself?
I mean, I’m no stranger to making super niche games, but this one, for the first time, raised a flag in my mind: am I being too off-brand? Should I care? For a person that struggled his whole life with meeting other people’s expectations, and that felt for the first time the freedom of doing whatever he wants through his games, this is huge.
‘What the heck is that? Is he out of his mind?’, said the imaginary voices in my head of the disappointed followers deciding that they didn’t like my work anymore. Ah, the joys of being a creator.
And, if I’m being honest, no small part of this self-doubt is due to the pressure to make it a ‘commercial success’ as well. This is my full-time job after all, and a flop means I don’t pay rent, simple as that.
So, how did I get out of this conundrum? What made me decide that the game was worth releasing?
Just do the thing
Well, in fact, I didn’t. I had (have?) no idea if the game was going to be well-received, but I wanted to want to release it, if that sentence makes any sense at all.
What I did instead was put in so much effort and passion that it would feel like a waste not to publish it. Instrumentalizing the sunk cost fallacy, if you will. Instead of questioning myself if I should, I just worked and worked to polish it to a point that my excitement about having it done would surpass my fear of having it made public.
And today, here we are. The most unexpected game I’ve ever made, a solo/coop narrative card game about the final minutes of a championship football match, with the unlikely mix of tactical card play and storytelling. A game I wanted so much to exist that made me overcome the feeling that I would be the only one that did.
I spent months carving it into a sports magazine-like layout (I’ve even made some rules look like a nutrition supplement ad inside the magazine); I designed a custom card deck for it; and I even crafted a custom virtual tabletop (using the amazingly free playincards.io platform) so you can play it online.
I polished it to a point that my excitement about having it done would surpass my fear of having it made public.
In the end, I had something I wanted to see the light of day. Am I more confident it will resonate with people out there? No, not in the slightest. But now I just can’t keep it to myself.
You can find Two-Minute Warning on my itch page. If by any chance this game makes you think of a person that could possibly enjoy it, it would mean the world to me if you shared it around. I could use some new eyes on it, that’s for sure.
Without meaning to sound too familiar, I think this game is 100% on brand. Your games always go beyond play to covey ideas, messages and emotions and this one is no exception. You design like an artist, and this is what sets you apart.
hey, cezar i will be honest with ya: when i received the itch email about your new game i was like "huh? a football solo rpg?? from cezar capacle? that cezar capacle??"
and by no means that's a bad thing. i loved how unexpected that was. im still absolutely amazed by your work with the layout. because, yes, it's a narrow niche, but hey, we NFL fans and solo rpg enthusiasts exists!! 😁😁 looking forward to buy and play the whole thing watching some sunday games 🫡🫡