Introduction

Joe Lieberman is the head of business development for ArcadeTown, a network of over 12 million unique visitors a month. He also authored the recent book The Indie Developer’s Guide to Selling Games. See the GameDev.net review here

Remember that movie, “What A Girl Wants?” Well this article is just like that movie, only shorter and actually worth the price you paid to see it. The most common question I get when I tell people it is my job to accept or reject games for online distribution is, “What do you look for in a game?” It may surprise you to learn that many developers don’t ask this question until after their first game is finished… and in many cases their third or fourth game. Oh, yeah, did anyone else notice I get paid to play games? Take that mom!

So, following this article, you will no longer be able to claim ignorance of at least one portal’s opinion. Keep in mind this is just what we look for at ArcadeTown, every portal is different and looks for different things. ArcadeTown takes a more cutting-edge approach. We are bold enough to embrace more traditional games, from 1st and 3rd person shooters to RPGs and beyond. We also sell plenty of traditional casual style products, like action puzzles, but my point is we’re more diverse than many other “casual-only” destinations- and this affects what we look for in a game.

Acceptance Guidelines