I just got done with a phone interview as a designer at InnoGames for their free-to-play browser game Tribal Wars, and it was a pretty good experience.
Tribal Wars is an always-on freemium browser game, similar to a game that Janice and I played while we were dating called Travian. Its actually a pretty solid genre that I've had a soft spot for a very long time. Browsergames are accessible anywhere, and its kind of surprising that they're not more prominent in game culture than they currently are with the really easy access to the internet via smartphones.
InnoGames appears to be making a very smart move in that direction, though. For all of their browsergames, it looks like they're developing accompanying apps for smartphones, not just relying on phone browsers. I remember playing Travian with Janice and being completely thrilled to be able to manage my account from my phone. For an always-on experience, having an always-on device is just that more incredible. I seriously can't figure out why this genre isn't more popular.
In either case, the interview went really well. We talked about design of both Tribal Wars and Cyber Heist, and what I might do to improve on either of the games. The most interesting question of the interview was what changes I would make to Cyber Heist to make it into a freemium game. I mentioned making DLC map packs, cosmetic banners for players searching for partners, and perhaps in-game cosmetics for people who want video streaming to look cooler.
InnoGames is in Hamburg, and it'd be quite the experience to move there and work in Germany for a while. I actually have quite a fondness for the German people, not only from my heritage but also because they seem to really enjoy the same things in games that I love. Some of my favorite games of all time are the board games that regularly come out of Germany, and it'd be really cool to work there.
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