Hey everyone!
I'm Andy, the author of The Nick. From March 11 to March 29 we are celebrating the anniversary of the release of our debut video game: The Nick: Chapter 1. This is not just a demo, but a full segment of the game that we plan to keep developing. For our game studio it's another excuse for spotlights, dancing, and anything as long as it's not work! But seriously, the day the game was released became my second birthday (no exaggeration!!!) So I wanted to share some news about the game and what awaits us in the future.
Honestly, as I’m writing this right now it’s hard for me to hold back my gratitude to everyone who helped us reach the point where we are today.
To the developers: Chris for the atmospheric soundtrack and huge creative contribution, Nikolay for the balanced sound design, Sergiy for the experimental art style, Grady and Nikita — for the precise gameplay experience thanks to your code, and also special thanks to those who help translate, promote, and improve our game.
And of course... the players.
This is our very first release, and I absolutely didn’t expect that we would get 1300+ players on Steam, a peak online of 112 people, 500 wishlists, and several very warm reviews. Guys, you can’t even imagine how приятно it was for me as an indie developer to read things like this:
"I like that this game isn't what it seems. At first, when you just enter and explore the locations, it might be scary, but after getting to know the characters and completing the first boss fight, you relax and realize that even if the atmosphere around you is oppressive..."
"You can't get bored with such a cocktail. Nice music, great sound effects."
"Literally soooo good I cannot express how much I enjoyed playing this, amazing soundtrack, story and very relatable in parts. Keep up the work devs..."
"All in all, I was quickly hooked and I’m eager to learn more about this story featuring our ghosts.
Thanks for the demo."
...
Guys… you can’t even imagine what kind of feelings I have after several years of developing this chapter… Among players there is a terrible myth that developers don’t care about reviews and feedback (even indie ones!). What nonsense! Whenever we learn about mentions of us somewhere or new reviews, we discuss them in the team and… cry (usually from being touched)! This is a huge motivation for EVERY developer to keep moving forward. Truly.
We didn’t make some mega hit (yet), but that doesn’t take away the joy of this anniversary. It was a huge journey, a first attempt, working with almost zero production experience — and it was worth it. I made this game during a very difficult period of my life. Hoping that it would help improve my state of mind. I just wanted to create something that would show what I feel, but outside of my own head. And even though in Chapter 1 most of the story branches (which I polished for years) are only just beginning and you can’t even imagine what awaits you next… you still managed to see the interconnectedness of the story during our playtests… It touched me so much I’m crying!!! Ъ_Ъ
That’s why for us and for me this is not a small thing at all. I’ve seen some fan arts for the game (although there were very few), and I’m so happy that this person is now working with us on RAIN HEART! So if someone liked the game so much that they decided to make fan art — please let us see it! Send it to Steam UGS. We will definitely look at everything and if we really like it we will publish it on our social media.
It’s also worth mentioning that from March 19 to March 29 on Steam THE NICK SOUNDTRACK will be sold with a discount! This is almost 1 hour of original compositions created by Chris and me. When we release the continuation of the game, we will update this product and you will receive new tracks at no additional cost.
Please!!! Recently our team started running a profile there where we share behind-the-scenes content and other things related to our games and development. If you’re interested in that kind of content, find us under the nickname @flat.reality.
Future announcements are meant to be talked about later! Right now our team is focused on releasing our new game later this year, as well as looking for funding. So in the near future we will be sharing updates more often!
I’ll also whisper that in April we’re planning something very interesting. So be sure to stay tuned!
Thank you for building a small but very warm community <3
-Andy from Flat Reality