14 DAY TRIAL // Andy Nguyen, the leading level designer working on indie hit Monaco, explained that his company was eager to find out what beta testers though about the product but did not modify the core mechanics to match their requirements, instead choosing to simply explain the game’s ideas better.
Pocketwatch Games decided to test Monaco with a group of 400 beta testers and some of them were initially annoyed by the strict line of sight rules that the title used, which are not traditionally associated with stealth games.
Players wanted to see the entire map but Nguyen is quoted by Joystiq as saying that “When i think about that, it reminds me of the idea of traditional stealth, and what traditional stealth means to people.”
The team at Pocketwatch Games never wanted Monaco to be a title that focuses on precision and the fast and solid execution of well-laid plans.
The studio was interested in more frantic, emerging gameplay, and once the concept was explained to the testers they were understood how to approach the game and had more fun with it.
Gamers also wanted to have more ways to take out guards and clear a path through levels and that lead the team to add tranquilizers and some new tools, all of them designed to reward players who were willing to improvise and use all the options that Monaco offered.
Expectations also needed to be adjusted when it came to failure and punishment, which were not central elements of the game.
Pocketwatch Games took to the gaming press in order to talk about the way Monaco is different from other titles in the stealth genre.
Nguyen adds, “We told them it's not a stealth game, and why we thought it was fun despite not being a stealth game. The game is essentially a conduit, you have to change the game so you can transfer the game appropriately.”
Monaco managed to take home two awards at the 2010 Game Developers Conference Independent Games Festival, the Seumas McNally Grand Prize and the Excellence In Design prizes.
The game was one of the biggest indie hits to be launched in 2013 and can be played on the PC, the Xbox 360 from Microsoft and the PlayStation 3 from Sony.
Overall sales for Monaco are over the 750,000 mark, which is a solid performance considering its niche appeal and the indie roots.