What's a reasonable price to pay for a game?

[GarageGothic]

I think i payed upwards of $40 for an original copy of Phantasmagoria 2 (which i regret for the record, M Night Shyamalan would even say "now, thats a fuckin stupid plot twist.") Really if it wasn't for some lovely gory deaths like the stapler bit, the whole thing is beyond awful. Unless you like to see a shit-ton of tits and BDSM than thats your game, if you like intelligent and clever or even remotely enjoyable stories, than your fishing in the wrong lake)

Can't say the game is great, and the otherworld ending with its nonsensical, organic Myst puzzles sucked balls. I think it's a pretty interesting game overall, though, like an interactive Hammer-horror version of "Jacob's Ladder", and I dug the weird computer messages and the bits with the psychiatrist.

My main connection to the game, though, is that I bought it influenced by one of the few precognitive dreams I ever had. Basically I dreamt I went to a specific games shop and found Phantasmagoria 2 - which I'd been wanting to play for ages - at a much reduced price. Next day I go to that very store and find the game, original version, not a budget release, priced at two thirds of the standard price of the other budget games!
Now, is it possible that I'd had visited the shop weeks before, spotted the game and the price tag without consciously registering it? Possibly, cryptamnesia I believe it's called. But nevertheless odd. One night earlier I had had a dream that told me how to fix the LAN network that I'd been struggling to set up all the day before, woke up in the morning, knew exactly what had to be done, and got the network running in five minutes!

Off-topic, I know

[strangechicken]

Can't say the game is great, and the otherworld ending with its nonsensical, organic Myst puzzles sucked balls. I think it's a pretty interesting game overall, though, like an interactive Hammer-horror version of "Jacob's Ladder", and I dug the weird computer messages and the bits with the psychiatrist.

Except Jacob's Ladder was actually very good... hell, anytihng that had an influence on silent hill is pretty good, reason why its the most resonant horror game of all time... beats resident evil's fuckin jump scare, and basic "theres this underoround government lab making zombies to use as soldiers" plotline thats been recycled around for 40 years, and the last puzzles were rather shit, I don't think any sane person would debate that. There were some good scenes in the game, but some of it was just fuckin stupid... and I think i read somewhere tht the designers reckoned it was better than Phant 1, I know Phant 1 was cliche, but it had some sort of sophistication and class and not just sleaze and cheese.

Given the Hindsight and choice I wouldn't pay more than $5 for Puzzle of flesh

[Dave Gilbert]

As with everything, it depends on the game and what goes into making it.  A typical iPhone game can be made in a few months, be sold for a buck and do pretty well, since the market for those things are really high.  A PC adventure game, even little ones like mine, could never be sold for such a little amount.  It's too niche and there aren't enough customers to make up for it.  If I sold my games for a buck I'd go broke in a heartbeat!

Choosing what price to sell a game for has always been tricky.  I've written about this before, but in a nutshell:  after several games of experimentation I have learned that $14.99 is the sweet spot for my games.  I've sold them at $4.99 and $9.99 and while I do sell some more copies at the lower price, I don't sell enough to make up for the loss in revenue.  I'm not saying that this price would work for everybody, but it's what has worked for me.

[Saren]

So $30 for a full length game and ~$15 for an episode?