Ben Lehman - Giochi gratuiti

[Patrick]

https://plus.google.com/u/0/117301572585814320386/posts/BTRhMCBQj1V

Every day until I am done, I will be putting up a free, direct download link to one of my eBooks. At some point I will probably take these down, at which point you will have to write and ask to get a free copy.

Today the game is Clover.

http://www.tao-games.com/?p=35

"Clover is a game about an adventurous five year old girl and her life and her friends. Her name is Clover.

To play the game, you must devote an some time to play it with your friends. In playing, you imagine this girl and her friends in their lives, asking questions and saying what they say and what they do. There is no way to win. You just play because the experience is fun. So don’t play it with anyone mean.

This game is a fantasy, and in playing it we are imagining the idyllic childhood we never had. It doesn’t seek to realistically portray the life of a five-year old girl. Please do not mistake the two."

Please share widely.

Non credo ci sia bisogno di aggiungere altro

[Patrick]

Today the game is Bliss Stage.

Please share widely.

Right now, right this moment, right as you read these words, humanity is struck down by an alien force from beyond the limits of our understanding.

It is the first blow of a terrible war.

Seven years later, armed with a technology you cannot understand and can barely operate, you will strike back.

This is how.

Here is a link to the site, which contains more info about the game: http://www.tao-games.com/?p=15
Here is a direct download link: http://www.tao-games.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/BlissStageInterimStage.pdf

https://plus.google.com/u/0/117301572585814320386/posts/biQsfwhA58e

[Patrick]

Today the game is On the Ecology of the Mud Dragon.

Please share widely.

On the Ecology of the Mud Dragon is a game about stupid little dragons and their stupid little adventures, in the spirit of the old Dragon Magazine backup features and other fantasy-comedy comix. It’s easy to learn, takes only about an hour to play, and is totally hilarious.

Game's Site: http://www.tao-games.com/?p=25
Direct Download Link: http://www.tao-games.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/muddragon.f.5.pdf

Mud Dragon has really not gotten enough promotional attention from me (Gregory Hutton dressed me down for not telling him about it) because it's release coincided with a time when I stopped talking about games as much in public. It's a shame, because it's a very good game. I hope that you'll give it a chance: it's a pretty minimal time effort investment and I think it will pay off very well.

I would also like to give a shout out to my fantastic illustrator, Kevin Moore. http://mooretoons.com/ Consider buying his stuff!

https://plus.google.com/u/0/117301572585814320386/posts/RWq4tWDea6T

[Patrick]

Today the game is Polaris.

Please share widely.

Once upon a time, as far north as north can go, there lived the greatest people that this world will ever know. We cannot look upon them as they were, but we can understand them as they die, melting like a snowflake in the sun.

For those people are gone now, destroyed just as the world destroys all beautiful things. All that remains are these moments we call memories, moments frozen from the flow of time.

Game's Site: http://www.tao-games.com/?p=1
Direct Download Link: http://www.tao-games.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/polaris-ebook.pdf

https://plus.google.com/u/0/117301572585814320386/posts/2XEd4uxJTcm

[Mattia Bulgarelli]

Fanmail a Patrick per i report! ^_^

[Zachiel]

Avrei voluto aver letto Bliss Stage tre giorni prima.
Non si può avere tutto dalla vita, vero?

Questo iniziativa incontra il mio consenso.

[Fabrizio]

Avrei voluto aver letto Bliss Stage tre giorni prima.
Non si può avere tutto dalla vita, vero?

I link sono ancora attivi, non ha ancora deciso di mettere i link down. Ad esempio, io ho appena scaricato Clover che mi mancava (e Bliss Stage al momento che scrivo è ancora scaricabile )

[Zachiel]

Avrei voluto aver letto Bliss Stage tre giorni prima.
Non si può avere tutto dalla vita, vero?

I link sono ancora attivi, non ha ancora deciso di mettere i link down. Ad esempio, io ho appena scaricato Clover che mi mancava (e Bliss Stage al momento che scrivo è ancora scaricabile )

No no non mi sono spiegato, ci ho letto una frase (l'ultima nella scheda del pilota) che avrei potuto usare per descrivere l'atteggiamento del mio PG in gioco.

[Patrick]

Every day until I am done, I will be putting up a free, direct download link to one of my eBooks. At some point I will probably take these down, at which point you will have to write and ask to get a free copy.

Today the game is The Drifter's Escape. It also includes several short stories written by my brother, Jake Lehman.

This is the first time the game has been available in PDF. It is also available in .mobi and .epub forms, but those won't be available for free download until tomorrow.

Please share widely.

My traveling companions are an old yellow dog with the devil’s own farts and about a dozen loose and lonesome men we picked up along the way. There are a few old soldiers less some of their body parts, a skin and bones mountaineer with a beard down to his rotting buckskin belt, a merchant marine with a terrible cough, a dready white girl with eyes like punched-out aces of spades, and a few old hoboes who just won’t die. Some of them are carrying sad little bundles or crutches, one has an aluminum percolator, and another has one of those heavy, half-moon hoes like they still use on farms.

--

The Drifter’s Escape is a game, using elements of card games like poker and role-playing games like dungeons and dragons, designed especially for inclusion in this book. The reason to play the game is the same reason you would go to the movies, watch a play, or read a book: because you want a good story. When you play this game, you will tell the story of a poor wanderer trying to make his way in America and the challenges that confront him.

Link to the book's page: http://www.tao-games.com/?p=16
Direct download link: http://www.tao-games.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/TheDriftersEscape.pdf

https://plus.google.com/u/0/117301572585814320386/posts/cN7qZXZsgtT

Every day until I am done, with weekends off, I will be putting up a free, direct download link to one of my eBooks. At some point I will probably take these down, at which point you will have to write and ask to get a free copy.

Today the game is Animal Crime.

Animal City. Goddamn Animal City.

Please share widely.

Link to the game's page: http://www.animalcrime.com/?page_id=13
Direct link to the rules: http://www.animalcrime.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/animalcrimerules.pdf
Direct link to the playsheets: http://www.animalcrime.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/animalcrimesheets.pdf

https://plus.google.com/u/0/117301572585814320386/posts/4R3UV8eyZBH

[Mattia Bulgarelli]

OT splittato qui: http://www.gentechegioca.it/smf/index.php/topic,7803.0.html

[Patrick]

Every day, give or take, I have been putting up a free, direct download link to one of my eBooks. At some point I will probably take these down, at which point you will have to write and ask to get a free copy.

Today the game is XXXXtreme STREET luge. It is the last one.

Thrill to the awesome exploits of the XXXXtreme street luge community*. Cruise tracks and pull radical maneuvers just like your favorite sliders*. Experience the high-riding life of fame, fortune, and adventure*! Look vaguely like Vin Diesel!

Please share widely.

Link to the game's page: http://www.tao-games.com/?p=19
Direct link: http://www.tao-games.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/streetlugescreen.pdf

https://plus.google.com/u/0/117301572585814320386/posts/4B4USqPUAqg



E questo, come da testo, è l'ultimo.

Tra l'altro, qui potete leggere le considerazioni di Ben sul vendere o mettere gratuitamente a disposizione i propri giochi:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/117301572585814320386/posts/YJUPAAjEAw5

[Patrick]

Over the last week, I have been putting up my games for free download. I wanted to draw your attention to a game which is already free, Beloved.

Your beloved has been kidnapped by monsters. Only you, the hero, can rescue her.

This is a single player game, which you play during your day-to-day life, rather than in specific sessions or instances. It is a role-playing game in that you use your imagination and lateral thinking to advance your goals and interests.

Warning: This game may be a trap.

Please share widely.

Game's Page: http://www.tao-games.com/?p=30
Direct Link: http://www.tao-games.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/beloved.2.pdf

https://plus.google.com/u/0/117301572585814320386/posts/cide2DsfSyF

[Patrick]

ho aggiunto anche i link ai post originali su g+, e The Drifter's Escape (che avevo dimenticato di segnalare)

Inoltre, altre considerazioni di Ben sull'iniziativa:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/117301572585814320386/posts/TzRc6Ygcw9i

[Patrick]

https://plus.google.com/u/0/117301572585814320386/posts/caEEM4pVnBh

So, taking a break from writing new Matriarchy content, I thought I'd look at the whole "free games download" thing.

About a month and a half ago, I put all of my games up on my website (www.tao-games.com) for free download. I had a variety of reasons for doing this, but most of them were "I want to see what happens."

To clarify: before this, all of my eBooks (and one physical item) were available for free, to anyone who e-mailed me and asked. The change was that I put up a direct file link on my website, rather than you have to write to me and ask for the eBook.

So what happened?

When I put the games up, I got a big burst of attention and donations, which was great and probably netted me a couple of hundred bucks over ordinary income levels. After the first couple of weeks, that faded out. Since then, donation rates have been about 1/2 of what they were previously.

Download rates have been quite high. I don't know exactly what they've been, because I don't track downloads (I know, I know, I'm just not very web-savvy and I didn't care that much.) +Chris Chinn says that his index post (bankuei.wordpress.com/2012/06/26/ben-lehmans-pay-what-you-want-game-sale/) has gotten over 1000 clickthroughs. If each of those represents a download, that's pretty huge in terms of audience growth.

I hope those folks enjoy their games!

I have gotten more donations / purchases for some more obscure games (particularly On the Ecology of the Mud Dragon www.tao-games.com/?p=25.) That's pretty cool. Mud Dragons need love, and because there is nothing inherently loveable about them they can use all the help that they can get.

Given that there's been a definite drop in stable income, I think I'll probably take down the files over the next week-or-so. It's been a cool experiment! Probably on average I've made a small profit on it. But I think I should end this before I start running into the red. All in all, "write and ask" looks like just a better strategy for free eBooks and me.

Anyone have other thoughts, opinions, ideas?

P.S. If you want to get a free download copy, go grab it now! If you wait, you might have to write to me and ask (gasp!)