Together with the Game Finder business partner search service, we continue the cycle of publications about games that are looking for investments and publishers. Next up is material about the Russian studio Aeroplan Games, which is preparing to release a game dedicated to the culture of the Altai Republic.
Danila Ermakov, head of development, told about the project.
Danila Ermakov
About the team
I am the head and initiator of the projects of the Aeroplan Games indie team. It was formed behind the scenes a little over a year ago. In fact, I am the only one constantly working on studio projects, and if necessary, I turn to my colleagues to perform a number of tasks.
My colleagues are all from different cities — from Feodosia to Kazan, but, like all indies, this does not prevent us from working together on the games.
During the existence of the studio, we have already released an immersive art gallery dedicated to the medieval artist Hieronymus Bosch, which can be downloaded from the official website of the project www.bosch-eternal.com . It was created on enthusiasm.
I am running our main and flagship project "Heart of Altai" at my own expense (if any need to be invested in something) and plan to complete it on my own as well. At the moment, the demo version of the project is published in VK Play.
About the project
"Heart of Altai" is an atmospheric story quest dedicated to the cultural values of the Altai Republic.
The plot of the game tells about the brave blogger Arina Demidova, who decides to go in search of the lost city of the Altyr kingdom in the territory of the Altai Mountains. This reflects the plans of a real expedition, which was planned in 2021 in this region.
The thirst for discovery and the desire to explore the world around her will lead to a sacred secret that will change her entire fate.
I have been developing the project with my colleagues for about a year now with varying degrees of intensity. We are indie and, accordingly, we have other tasks besides hobbies.
The game is being developed on Unity (standard render).
The release of the project is scheduled for autumn this year.
The game has a meditative and exploratory gameplay. There will be no violence and no blood in it. The game is primarily about exploring the surrounding space, getting to know the plot, the story and performing simple tasks to achieve the plot goal.
Along the way, in the game it will be possible to engage in quite tourist activities within the framework of mountain tourism simulation: tent installation, household organization, photomechanics, collecting and studying plants, and so on.
The game will also allow you to explore the peculiarities of the region: folklore, way of life and traditions of the Altai peoples.
About the gameplay/mechanics of the project
Speaking about the specifics of the project, it is worth noting the following points:
1. Playing, we learn the culture and traditions of a popular region.
This is one of the tasks of the game, for which, among other things, the parents of the children thanked us at the Play Port Fest 2023 exhibition in Kaliningrad.
2. It is created with the participation of scientific consultants of the Ministry of Tourism of the Republic, as well as Gorno-Altai State University (GAGA).
Thanks to the consulting support of the Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Altai and GAGA, they managed to understand the Altai centuries-old culture faster and better.
The most difficult thing in the development of the project was the implementation of the cultural basis around which the gameplay is built.
3. A version of the game is planned for people with disabilities.
Many cannot travel to the region. Although the game is not about terrain simulation (this is not a task), but about culture, we tried to give people with disabilities the opportunity to spend this journey remotely.
The system requirements for the product are gentle.
4. Atmospheric simulation of tourism.
An important task that was set for the project was to give the feeling of hiking through the expanses of the Altai Mountains. To do this, we consulted with guides and just fans of wild tourism for the implementation of tourist mechanics.
As already mentioned, there will be no violence in the game. There will also be no survival simulation, complex detective riddles and puzzles.
About the target audience of the project
Game references are games with meditative gameplay: Dear Esther, Firewatch, Journey and others.
The target audience is players aged 27-35 (including, as the analysis of the recruited audience showed, sometimes they are not players at all).
Additional audience: children 6-12 years old (parent audience).
About the business model of the project
The game is planned to be distributed according to the Buy-to-Play model (i.e., just a purchase) in the VK Play and Steam game stores.
It is planned to release story additions after the main release and further parts of the game as part of the "Heart of Altai" series.
About metrics
At the moment, we are actively recruiting vishlists in VK Play (in total, more than a thousand per month without budgets and promotion). So far, we have not had any marketing activities, except for a few streams and reviews, but we plan to increase activity soon, as well as create a Steam page.
Who are we looking for
If we talk directly about the team, then out of urgent needs (I don't want to do this on my own) — a rigger / animator.
Speaking of partnerships, we have a developed media plan from the RPB gaming agency, which includes all the necessary marketing activities to achieve a decent profit from sales. Our colleagues have successful experience in promoting gaming products and have tried to take into account all the necessary nuances of promoting our title.
At the moment, the marketing budget is 3.9 million rubles for six months with a planned revenue of 12.6 million rubles. Therefore, we are interested in attracting external investment funds for marketing the game under a ready-made media plan from our promotion partner.
It is planned to finalize the very development of the project on its own. There are all the tools and capabilities for this, including a well-developed framework, with the help of which all mechanics and activities are gradually assembled and debugged.
How do I get in touch?
As the project manager, I am always available for communication in a telegram: https://t.me/danilaermakov or through the game's public https://vk.com/serenitygame
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