State of the Lemur
Shipping a product is a lot like leaving for vacation. The realities of getting out the door mean you're inevitably going to forget something. After going through it a few times, all you can hope is whatever it is can be dealt with when you get there.
These past few days have been very educational, and I'd like to share what we've learned, and what we're going to do about it.
The elephant in the room is the fact that many people find Puzzllotto infuriating. People want to love this game, and they want to support us and our cause, but if the game isn't fun for them, they feel, frankly, betrayed.
We can't go back in time to write a different game, but we can address the feeling you've wasted your money. When the contest is over, everyone who bought Puzzllotto will get a second game free — but more about that in a moment.
Whether you're puzzle-curious, or just want to support what we're doing, go ahead and purchase Puzzllotto. If it turns out to be your cup of tea, fantastic. If all it does is raise your blood pressure, set it down and wait for the contest to be over.
Now for the nitty gritty details: when designing Puzzllotto, we actually designed two games. One is the frustrating puzzle game, designed to not only confuse, but deliberately mislead. The other is a more traditional game, with game play modes and instructions and all the other things normal people enjoy.
Once the puzzle is solved, the new game, called "Lemur Grotto," will appear as an upgrade to Puzzllotto, alongside a re-release of the current game as "Puzzllotto classic."
Confused? This is why we didn't say this in the beginning. If you want to just think of the second game as a "fun patch," that's cool too.
If you've already purchased Puzzllotto, and still feel ripped off, email me personally — mike at United Lemur org — and I will do what I can to make you whole.
Puzzllotto is my baby, so the blame is all mine. I'm sorry to the people who've been frustrated-in-a-bad-way. Thanks all for your patience, and for your continued support.
For the people who love Puzzllotto, hurry up and solve this thing before we lose our shirts.
Originally posted Friday, October 24, 2008