Top all-time · #2548
World of Goo from 2DBOY
Company blog · 2dboy.com/bloggamesbusiness
World of Goo from 2DBOY is the company blog at 2dboy.com, writing about games and business. Since 2008, 30 different Hacker News readers have linked it 37 times, most often “World of Goo does a Radiohead. Pay whatever you like.”. No feed was found, so read it on the site itself.
Too few sampled comments (27) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link 2dboy.com for World of Goo developer posts on piracy rates, pay-what-you-want sale results and the game's development history. Commenters also point to the Human Resource Machine studio's site.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 27 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Most-linked posts?
- /2008/11/13/90/8 people · 12 mentions · first linked 2008-12-22
- World of Goo does a Radiohead. Pay whatever you like.4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2008-12-22
- /about.php2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2009-10-20
- /blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/histogram.png2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2009-10-20
- World of Goo Pay-What-You-Want Sale Results2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2009-10-20
What Hacker News says?
It's available on Steam for $10 or DRM free cross platform from https://2dboy.com/ . I believe there is also a mobile version? Correct me if I'm wrong.
Comment linking /
on “World of Goo Update, 10 Years Later”Submitted World of Goo does a Radiohead. Pay whatever you like. as a story · 115 points
HN discussionIt's probably not completely accurate, but the publisher does provide some context as to how he estimated that. http://2dboy.com/2008/11/13/90/
Comment linking /2008/11/13/90/
on “Piracy - You can't have your cake and eat it”Submitted World of Goo Pay-What-You-Want Sale Results as a story · 85 points
HN discussionYour point is valid, but it is still worth noting that a huge audience also did buy their game. They just sold their millionth game on the App Store alone. http://2dboy.com/2012/01/09/one-million-downloads/
Comment linking /2012/01/09/one-million-downloads/
on “Piracy - You can't have your cake and eat it”Submitted Indie game made by 2 people out-selling Spore, Left 4 Dead, & Fallout 3 at Amazon as a story · 69 points
HN discussionTo teach them basic concept of coding you can always let them play Human Resource Machine, Android/iOS/Windows game created by World of Goo studio http://2dboy.com/
Comment linking /
on “Ask HN: How should I teach code to kids?”Submitted Analysis: World of Goo’s iPad Launch as a story · 63 points
HN discussionCan't recomend enough Human Resource Machine! by World of Goo creator http://2dboy.com/ it's Android/iOS game teaching some basic programing concepts. Fun and good looking.
Comment linking /
on “Games of Coding – A curated list of games that teach you a programming language”Submitted World of Goo Releases Rapid Prototyping Framework as a story · 61 points
HN discussionI think at least for the initial startup period it would be a good idea to rely on Paypal or some similar service. The hassle of getting a merchant account might in some cases eat up too much of the founder(s)' precious time. Some successful retailers (like this indie game one: http://2dboy.com/games.php ) continue rely on Paypal though they have a large user base. I think the best time to get a merchant account wou…
Comment linking /games.php
on “How to get a merchant account - a series of hoops”Submitted World of Goo for iPad Now Available as a story · 45 points
HN discussionWorld of Goo did the same thing a while back. They made an incredible amount of money and reached a large amount of people. Yes, many people paid 1 cent, but they still made more than they would have otherwise. Read the attached article, it's their response to their sale: http://2dboy.com/2009/10/19/birthday-sale-results/
Comment linking /2009/10/19/birthday-sale-results/
on “The Humble Indie Game Bundle”Submitted Is XBLA Past Its Prime? as a story · 5 points
HN discussion> Remind me, how many media companies have gone bust due to so called "piracy"? Sony? Warners? Fox? Any? Why does that matter? > Any artists gone bust provably down to "piracy"? In fact many really awful "artists" make millions, seemingly supported by draconian acts of government. I mean, would some one like Rhianna be happy to see her fans potentially get fined or even jailed? Ironically if you fine people they hav…
Comment linking /2008/11/13/90/
on “Demonoid Busted As A Gift To The United States Government”Submitted World of Goo released DRM free - no torrents yet (awesome game btw) as a story · 3 points
HN discussionWhenever I read a comment like yours I get this feeling that people like you are: A) Either Astroturfing on behalf of content publishers OR B) You are taking a moralistic stance that is completely unrealistic not unlike a grown man chastising another for watching Porn and/or going to a strip club, by preaching about sanctity of love/marriage. And whenever I read comments like yours, I facepalm. Accusations of astrot…
Comment linking /about.php
on “Why I Pirate - An Open Letter To Content Creators”Submitted 8lb Gorilla Paradox as a story · 1 points
HN discussion> I pirate because I would never be afford all the things I want or use. That may apply for you, but seems empirically false. Take, for instance, 2D Boy's recent "Pay Want You Want". The plurality[0] chose to give $0.01 (the lowest possible amount). I really have a hard time believing that $0.01 was anywhere near the maximum of what the average customer could afford, or valued the game at. As long as it's without co…
Comment linking /blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/histogram.png
on “Piracy is a Market Correction.”Except this isn't true either and I would suggest it's nothing but pandering. People pirate because they're cheap, the amount of people that pirate because of DRM is tiny and anyone who takes part in these online communities (gaming.reddit for example) will be part of the small small group that pirates for "moral" reasons. 2DBoy, creators of World of Goo, a game that had 0 DRM and was available, as Gabe says, to EVE…
Comment linking /2008/11/13/90/
on “Gabe Newell: Game "Piracy Isn't About Price"”I've mentioned this before, but World of Goo did everything right: great game, 90 on Metacritic, easy purchase through Steam or direct from their website, no DRM at all, and priced at $19.99. But an estimated 90% of players were on pirated versions of the game: http://2dboy.com/2008/11/13/90/ . Is there something else they could have done?
Comment linking /2008/11/13/90/
on “Paradox CEO Calls DRM a 'Waste of Money'”Interesting graph - http://2dboy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/histogram.p... Observe skews at multiples of $5 - 5, 10, 15, 20 These tell you how people look for easy anchors to decide pricing. When there is no guidance, easy to think of $5 than $6.21
Comment linking /blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/histogram.png
on “World of Goo Pay-What-You-Want Sale Results”^^ That quote is from this page: http://2dboy.com/about.php
Comment linking /about.php
on “World of Goo Pay-What-You-Want Sale Results”Is there a mailing list for Linux users who want to be updated when a linux version comes out? Edit: Nevermind, kind of found it http://2dboy.com/mailman/listinfo/announce_2dboy.com
Comment linking /mailman/listinfo/announce_2dboy.com
on “Indie game made by 2 people out-selling Spore, Left 4 Dead, & Fallout 3 at Amazon”If you haven't already bought it, you should do so right now. A downloadable, DRM free version is available at 2dboy.com -- support these guys. Btw, this game was supposed to have a 90% piracy rate.. Though their method of calculation wasn't very scientific.. http://2dboy.com/2008/11/13/90/
Comment linking /2008/11/13/90/
on “Indie game made by 2 people out-selling Spore, Left 4 Dead, & Fallout 3 at Amazon”Yeah, it's referring to World of Goo. It was one of the most enjoyable games I've played in years. If you want to try it out before you buy, there's a demo that spans the first chapter/~25% of the game here: http://2dboy.com/games.php
Comment linking /games.php
on “Indie game made by 2 people out-selling Spore, Left 4 Dead, & Fallout 3 at Amazon”There's a good demo at their site http://2dboy.com/games.php (you can also get it through Steam). The presentation is very slick (atmospheric, with a dark undertone reminiscent of the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), and the puzzles are interesting and varied.
Comment linking /games.php
on “Indie game made by 2 people out-selling Spore, Left 4 Dead, & Fallout 3 at Amazon”The article lacks any real point--the only solid point he's making is, "if you write software and charge money for it, your software will be pirated." He then implies some software "deserves" to be pirated, by claiming World of Goo falls outside that category (because it isn't from the "bowels" of a "faceless EA-Activision franchise sweatshop"). Many independent game developers don't view piracy as black and white.…
Comment linking /2008/11/13/90/
on “My Software Is Being Pirated”My responses will focus on the PC market, mostly. The console market is a different beast altogether. > Instead of relying on a single instance of a product making money for years to come, focus more on new games Sell it at a loss, make it up in volume? Right. > or in-game content sales. That's exactly what I DON'T want. Dragon Age has a guy in your camp with the "I have a quest!" marker above his head. Except it's…
Comment linking /2008/11/13/90/
on “Linux Game Publishing introduces DRM - Ubi take note”It's an estimate with a solid base: http://2dboy.com/2008/11/13/90/
Comment linking /2008/11/13/90/
on “Ubisoft: PC Piracy Levels 95%, and 95% of Free-To-Play Users Do Not Pay”
