What are your thoughts about playing and spending money on games that are still on the Alpha Phase?
Alpha Phase, or better known as Early Access, has been about the gaming industry for some time. For those of you who are not familiar, it is a funding model for developers, especially indie games. Don't believe me? Look it up on the web.
That's what my Early Access page looked like on Steam at time of writing.
The gist of Early Access is to release an incomplete version of the game and let the players test your product. The best part, they have to pay you to do it. Not only do you receive the benefits of crowdfunding, you also get free bug hunting. Often, the community that spawns from the sales can influence development direction. In the end, the developers receive money and consumers receive a product they enjoy.
In a sense, this is not much different than the ICOs we have seen in the crypto space. A project has some sort of blockchain solution to a problem. Then, the team distribute tokens as a way to raise funds for their project. Should they release something worthwhile, token holders would profit.
What are my thoughts? It's not much different from ICOs. You buy at your own risk.
The difference is that losing $10-20 for an Early Access game is less detrimental. There exist people who have lost hundreds and thousands of dollars investing in ICOs.
I generally avoid buying unfinished products. There are some very good games that we know today that were in that Alpha Phase. Examples include Darkest Dungeon, Slay the Spire, and Fortnite. But, for every successful game, there were number of frauds and money grabs that happened.
Nowadays, the screening process for these games have gotten better. We are seeing less scummy products released to the consumers. As for me, I have yet to come across an Early Access game that draws me in based on promises.
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No matter how deep you do the research about a certain Early Access game, in the end it's still "Buy at your own risk". I've seen Early Acces games that made it out to full release with overall positive reviews, such as Darkest Dungeon, and the ones that were either a.) empty promises, b.) the content of the full release is just as much (or lacking) as while it was in Early Access (eg. Graveyard Keeper), c.)total change of direction from revolutionary-sounding idea into something that we have enough of (eg. Wolcen: Lord of Mayhem).
For me, I think it's better to wait until the full release or at least when the game got "Very positive" review in Early Access. And even so, it's still good to read the handful of the negative reviews, because if you can find the good one with objective judgment you can consider if the current flaws of the game won't bother you too much.
You do raise good points. Generally, I want the amount of money I spend for entertainment worth it.
Purchasing stuff on early access is a total gamble!
And many people do it. Makes you wonder what is the psychology behind it.
That's a great question. I am always ready to pay money for games that I find interesting even if it's Early Access.
I have to say though that I am more restrained now than I was earlier.
Sometimes, the money you spend adds up.
I don’t play too many indie games, but I’m definitely excited for alpha release of @roadofrich. I’m okay with spending $20~ to help support a cool project.
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It is your money. So, go for it!
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