This past fall, Montreal-based developer Juicy Beast released Toto Temple Deluxe on the Wii U, PS4, and Xbox One. It was that colourful, chaotic-looking game with a goat.
Unfortunately for them, Juicy Beast have announced on their website that the game "didn't sell very well." Although they don't provide any sales numbers, they do give a detailed and interesting exploration into what they feel went wrong.
Our review of Toto Temple Deluxe found favour in its fun gameplay, but lamented its heavy dependence on local multiplayer, lacking both online modes and an established single-player quest. The developers agree, identifying these factors as some of the main reasons the game didn't find a hook with players:
At the end of the day, we think the biggest factor is because it's a local-multiplayer game with no online play. The game is aiming at a pretty niche audience by requiring actual human friends to play, and we can't ignore the impact it has on sales. A quick look at comments on YouTube, Reddit and such, and it's obvious that a lot of people are simply not buying the game for this very reason (that along a lack of solo experience).
Another factor discussed was the difficulty of porting the game (which originally released on Ouya) to all three major consoles at once. According to Juicy Beast, the Wii U port ate up about half of the total programming time spent on the three versions. And with no exclusivity, they say, all but one company seemed unwilling to provide them any digital exposure:
Because of that, we weren't really able to get a featured spot on any the storefronts, except for Nintendo who actually featured us on both the American and European front pages. Thanks Nintendo!
With the Nintendo boost, Juicy Beast says Nintendo's sales pretty much matched those of other systems.
The entire article on Toto Temple Deluxe's fate is good reading for anyone interested in all the hard work that can go into independently promoting a game as well as programming one. It's also pleasantly lighthearted and optimistic for what the developers themselves consider a failure. They seem eager to learn from their mistakes for a second go, and it's hard to not want to get behind their enthusiasm.
[source juicybeast.com]
Comments 31
I feel bad for them.
This game was very much on my radar and I would have bought it if online had been included.
I also think the game title should have been funnier and included the word "goat." Certainly would have drawn more attention.
Bummer! I've been planning on picking this up but just haven't yet. They can count on one more sale.
Local multiplayer is dead. The few ppl that still get together to partake are simply also some of the loudest cryers about it online.
Everyone I know that I played local MP with on N64 have PlayStations and xboxs now and play exclusively online.
Games with "Deluxe" in the title sound like shovelware to me. It seems like something you add to the end of a title to make it sound more appealing to people that don't know better, which is why I've probably scrolled past this in the eshop without even thinking to click on it and find out what it is. Not to say that this particular game is shovelware or anything, just that the title sounds like it.
I feel bad for not buying it since it looked awesome but yeah the no online hurt it for me. I might still get it even if it is not on sale but I'm not surprised with the low sales. I wish the best for the developer.
It's one I still plan on getting. I was just holding out for a sale. Out of respect, I may not now.
They did put together some really clever trailers that sold me on the game long ago.
Looked too complicated for a party game.
Maybe I'll try it on an extreme sale.
I remember seeing the trailer for this and wasn't very impressed. It looked aesthetically better than most indie titles, but it also didn't look very fun.
This is a great quote from the article: "That second year of development was all about paperwork, unusable console portals, technical problems, bugs and desperate searches for information"
That's not the reason at all! Kids love local multiplayer. The problem is it was 6.99!!!! Looked like a lot of fun, just not 7 dollars worth.
@gatorboi352 If I have the option, I will play local instead of online every single time. I simply don't see the fun or advantage in playing a game like this online. And while you may not know anyone who plays locally, I can say the inverse. I don't know of anyone who prefers online to local multiplayer.
First time I'd even heard of the game... Whoops!
@bro2dragons you say if you have the option, so let me ask you: how often do you have the option?
Also, I guarantee more people play online MP these days vs. Local. Ppl play local almost exclusively for nostalgic purposes.
Maybe it would have sold better if they had released a demo version so people could try it out?
@gatorboi352 For Xbox and PS players those online modes are must have but example i don't play online games with Wii U because it's too hard without real party chat and game invites. For Wii U i only prefer couch co-op.
@gatorboi352 I'm so glad we have people like you to offer insightful industry analysis, that clearly isn't a dig at people who claim they like local multiplayer and designed to provoke responses.
It would be totally out of character for you to use these comment sections just to repeat general anti-Nintendo talking points and seek negative attention, after all.
I think the problem with this game, is that it looks like a lot of other cheap puzzle games released on mobile and game shops.
While this may actually be a good game, it's a flooded market.
It's a very very fun (although simple) local-play party game, one of the very best! This game got no hype on release though, which I think killed it (probably together with the art style and game name).
@cyrus_zuo It's not a complicated game at all. Compared to Runbow, Starwhal, Smash, it's extremely easy to grasp. But compared to those other games however, Toto Temple Deluxe is much more limited in what it offers to the players.
Yeah the local multiplayer only is the only reason I didn't get it. Looks really fun though!
@gatorboi352 Of course online MP is more popular than local - duh. It doesn't mean local is dead. There can, and should, be space for both. I'm just glad Nintendo still understands that.
I echo a few other comments here:
-the price could be a bit lower (personally for my gaming group, probably $4-5. I'd probably enjoy it, not sure if my friends would as much so idk how much mileage it would get).
-the inclusion of 'Deluxe' in name makes it sound / gives the impression that it's a cheaper title
Aside from that, I'll say I like multiplayer games and wish there were more, online may be nice though I don't think I'd play it much more even if it had it, unless the gameplay was very good quality/replayability. I bought some other indie local mp games but my friends and I didn't care much for them, so they only got a few rounds of use, and they're not something I think I'd regularly play. They didn't quite compare to similar games (i.e. bomberman) which are simple to learn, but difficult to master, fun/challenging, good 'gotcha' moments.
I checked out a couple Youtube videos for this game, and it was hard to understand just by watching it (saw the bomb exploding mode). I think a good multiplayer game (like sports) is ideally fairly easy / clearly understood by those observing it, so they can cheer and get excited and become interested in playing it. The color indicator is helpful when a swap occurs for the person obtaining the goat/bomb, but it's confusing for the person who gets tackled and a bit visually distracting. Maybe a better option could be a slow motion tackle (similar to Starwhal?). A more exaggerated animation for getting hit by a bomb may also be helpful visually (and also feel more satisfying when a hit occurs. Maybe add a sound effect? Not sure if there was one.). I found it also kind of weird that only the leader's score is displayed in game. While that might've been added for suspense, I think it's more interesting (and perhaps even more suspenseful) to watch if all 4 player's scores had been continuously shown. Content feels a bit sparse, there are other stages and I see some random things / powerups, not sure their significance (doesn't seem readily apparent from video watching).
-Ideas/recommendations to make game interesting:
Note, I haven't played the game so some of this may or may not be actually implemented to some degree in the game.
-per bomb exploding mode, may help if the bomb showed more visually when it was about to explode. It seems more based on the sound effects, but if the sound were turned low/off, it seems it'd be harder to track/tell when it was about to explode
-The dashing mechanic seems to be the main draw, does the dash go the full distance (until running into something)? While that mechanic is interesting, a cooldown on dash and limited distance could potentially be more varied/interesting (which would allow for inclusion of powerups to extend those or get the full-length dash, or a 'double' dash to allow player to change direction). Maybe rare one time use items to snatch goat/bomb from afar, like a grappling hook. Or throwing a temporary block (to limit movement). Goat holder can collect a temporary shield/trampoline item to push back players? Seems like dashing to snatch item leaves that player immediately in danger more often than not (presuming all players are going after one).
Looks like a well made game and i was interested but i pretty much always want some kind of single player option to pick a game up.
These guys seem nice but I question their business acumen if they released on OUYA first.
First thing I thought when I read the title - Toto TEMPLE Deluxe - was endless runner, thanks to Temple Run. I then saw the goat and thought single player endless runner with a goat, similar to that bear platform yesterdsy, which isn't an endless runner, but looks and plays like one.
So to hear this endless runner with a goat is actually a multi player only offline game, and it's $7, and this is the very first I've read about it, I'm only surprised it sold any at all.
I grabbed the Wii U version recently when it was on sale and the game is definitely well made and tons of fun to play. My young niece and I gave been burning it up lately to the point of neglecting our usual Runbow antics. It is a real shame that it couldn't find the audience that it deserves on consoles.
While I am more inclined to prefer local multiplayer, I am likewise inclined to decline (haw haw) any game with a complete lack of singleplayer.
So yeah, while it's structurally sound and easy on the eyes, it might be a hard sell to any of the three demographics.
The game failed because gamers are all loners.
Always going to be the case. Any game that relies on local multilayer to the extent of excluding single-player and online altogether is aiming at a small audience. Local multiplayer is great but not always practical for a lot of people. Games need to provide options.
It's on sale right now, and frankly, I have more fun with Toto Temple Deluxe than with recent similar games (multiplayer 2D platformers) such as Runbow or Extreme Exorcism.
The gameplay is better, but there isn't that much content apart from a ton of unlockable goat costumes. I unlocked Juan from Guacamelee and tons of other characters... it seems there are about 60+ cameo characters to unlock. And while the "battlefields" seem all extremely welldesigned, I think there are just 8 of them.
Anyway,, just like Runbow and Extreme Exorcism, Toto Temple has its own fun and unique twist in that particular genre, and it's a great little game if you have family or friends around. More ppl should give it a chance.
I don't play online games. Only single player.
But, if there is a chance, that a game has a local co-op or splitscreen, I like to play that with my two nieces and nephew. Sadly today there are less and less local multiplayer games. Nintendo is a bright star on the horizon in that matter.
From the newer big racing titles, only Mario Kart and Sonic Racing has local splitscreen. The last splitscreen Need for Speed title, if I remember correctly, was Need for Speed Shift (and Pro Street).
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