The multiplayer version will focus initialy online to create market penetration.

Online Version

Fase 1 (approx. 3 to 6 months)

All games will be playable for free.

Small tournament will be played weekly + one major tournament monthly

Donations will be accepted.

Fase 2 (3- 12 months)

Solo games : - Free subsription ( no high scores)

• Paid subsription ( High scores)

Multiplayer : - Free subsription ( no high scores)

• Paid subsription ( High scores)

Tournaments : Fee per tournament played (50% donated to soicial project)

Fase 3 (approx 9 - 12 months)

A new version will become available with extra features, playable in 3D with a variety of boards and players.

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From the beginning the social enterprise aspects will be highlighted, with links to ventures and sponsors

Offline versions (available in 3-6 months)

All of which will be available in our online shop and gallery( interlinked with the game).

Can be made in a variety of materials (wood, glass, fabrics,beads, etc...).

Art educators and community groups could make some fun artprojects for kids. (shown in our gallery)

I've been working closely with professional artists who are eager to make them in a more exquisite fashion. (artworks for shop)

On a light note, we are currently exploring to have the players made with Belgian chocolate and a French winemaker is interested to supply us with some superior wine for our players (glassbottles ).

Note that those offline ventures might have a very positive impact advertising both the online and offline versions.

Mission statement

The mission of chess in colour is to become a major multiplayer game site, offering games of the highest order with a social responsible edge. We believe our games points to a future where cooperation and strategic thinking go hand in hand.

Trends

• More people are spending time online. Growing access to the internet.
• People love games that require speed and strategic thinking (ex. Tetris)
• Younger people are getting more internet savvy
• Greater social consiousness in our society. People love to be involved with social causes, especialy if it could be done in a fun way.
• Real time experience on a global scale.
• Easy online payment systems.

Targets

To have 50000 members in the first year

To have 500 paid memberships in the first year

To have 1000 tournament fees paid in the first year.

How the market is set to develop

Screen Digest forecasts that by 2011 over 10 million subscription accounts will generate $1.5bn in consumer spending on this growing sector of the online

games market. Over the forecast period Europe will enjoy the strongest growth between the two Western regions.

With the growth of broadband more and more people are using the internet in their daily life. It allows for interaction on a global scale. Up until recently the online games market was mostly the preserve of teenagers (mainly shooter games), however in the last few years, a more mature audience has started to appreciated online games.

Chess in colour is uniquely placed as it will appeal to the general public, existing chessplayers, general gamers, social entrepreneurs, educators, artists and more. It will also create an opportunity for people to be part of something that is not only fun and challenging, but will make a difference to certain peoples lives.

The game should grow fairly quick once the multiplayer version is online. Word of mouth travels fast for those games.

At the moment there are allready some high quality chess sites and blogs that are linking to the game, and expect that to grow a hundredfold once in play.

Target group / customers

Apart from the general public who will be playing the game, i will also be looking for corporate and private sponsors who might want to get involved with peculiar social projects (ex. Childrens hospital)(sponsors will also be honoured and have their logo advertised)

Target Market

8 to 88

Competitors

No competitors as it is a unique concept.

Marketing strategy

The game should grow fairly quick once the multiplayer version is online. Word of mouth travels fast for those games and exponential growth is envisioned.

Additionaly:

• Newsletters will be sent to chessclubs, art educators, bloggers and more (both online and offline).
• High quality link building
• Google adwords campaign will be used for the first year.
• Press coverage (emphasis on the social factors)

Distribution

Online

Try the current solo game.

Anybody skilled in putting a good spin on this and willing to help me on this one will be remembered forever in my prayers.

:-). Dominique. I started a game. Made a move. Waited, and nothing happened.

Mark.

What you have up there now is only a solo version, which means it's only you who can play on your own computer.

To make the game really interesting is to get it multiplayer so people could play it in real time. Tournaments could be played on a weekly and monthly base with specific games that would fundraise money for specific projects.

Give it another try, match the colours while making proper ches moves. You will see that both players will leave the board when that happens.

Also note there's a timer and a movecounter which keeps track of everything. The idea is to finish a game as quickly as possible or with the least moves.

If you're a bit more adventurous try the mystery game.

Colours will onle be shown if you click on them.

I'm only looking for a minimal amount to get some programmers do the networking. Once that is implemented, the game should grow exponentially as there will be an element of competition in the equation (although it is a cooperative concept).

Tournaments are gonna be the key to success as people will be able to play and 50% of the money generated will go towards one or other social enterprise.

Note that those games could be easily transported to mobile phones, second life, etc...

OK, the colors were hard at time to make out from one another on my computer. In essence the idea is to clear the board as quickly as possible, but only colored player can capture their own color? A red player can only capture a red player. A green player capture a green player.

While the primary focus will be on the online version , there's also scope to play them out in real life.

The offline versions will have educational, art and social enterprising dimensions. (Kids, shool and artprojects, etc...)

A portion of the money raised will go towards those social enterprises.

Interesting aspects

• Could be used to teach children the basics of chess in a fun way.
• Games are played with a co-operative mindset while tournaments can give them a competetive capacity.
• Can be played online globally in a manner similar to correspondence chess
• While beginners can play an easy introductory game, mental wizards can make combinations and study end games.

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Wikipedia lists the game as follow:

Colour chess is a family of alternative chess games that uses the same moves as traditional chess but changed from a competitive to a cooperative game.

Rules

The goal is the most efficient clearing of the board

— either as quickly as possible or with the least possible moves.

Games are played with a co-operative mindset but tournaments can give them a competitive capacity.

The same moves are used as in classical chess.

The colours of the pieces should match to make a so called "good move", a capture.

A "good move" removes both the captured and the capturing piece from the board.)

Well I couldn't resist having a look at this, as something of a keen games player, albeit not very keen on chess. I may have a few goes at responding on your business plan, as I figure it out.

From what I can gather, the objective is to match the pieces as quickly as possible, minimising the number of moves. The game is different each time, because the colours change from game to game, although I guess there is a finite number of colour combinations.

It uses the same piece moves as chess.

Some points of feedback...

1. In essence it is more of a puzzle game and works most effectively as a solo game, as it would be hard for two players to be able to read each others mind on their strategy, unless they were allowed to talk to each other.
2. Java puzzle games like Peggle are quite common and very popular. They do tend to be given away free as a basic albeit addicitve version, with the option to buy the advanced version or a non-time-limited version.
3. To me chess is an instant turn-off, although I appreciate it won't be for some people. I find it rather dry and restrictive. I would much rather see pieces with special abilities, which I need to unlock than pieces which I played with (and lost with) 30+ years ago. Why not look at a game like Battlelore, which is designed to sell on through expansions until kingdom come?
4. The games are too similar to each other. Perhaps you could start with a 3 x 3 grid and increase or even have odd-shaped grids? Being a Star Trek fan, perhaps even 3D grids would work!
5. I don't really understand the "diplomacy" angle. If it is co-operative, then why do you need to be diplomatic? Now if you had a board where you had four players and you could negotiate secretly with any of the other three to team up with them to win the game.
6. You have a whole bunch of competitors until you can find a "niche" for the game. You may well be on the right track by focusing on social enterprise. However, why not exploit this social enterprise angle by having pieces which relate to the major players in our market? Instead of Rooks and pawns, have Opok Farms and Oxfam.

7. I believe that the best market in on-line gaming at the moment is collectible card games, where people will continually buy new "virtual" cards to enhance their set. Although I appreciate that this is a different "style" of game to the one that you have invented, there is an interesting abstract game, that uses this premise, known as TetraMaster: http://www.playonline.com/tetrae u/index.html It's worth a go!

8. Your marketing strategy looks pretty decent. You could look to see where games like Peggle are advertised and try the same methodologies. Again, exploitation of the social benefit may well allow you access to free advertising, where other commercial offerings have to pay. Windows and Yahoo Messenger are good places for your game, if you could wangle its inclusion there.
9. I see income as coming from game purchase or expansions, rather than tournament play.
10. What is the longevity of the game? Chess has stood the test of time because it is an archetype. How are you going to maintain interest for people for 2-3 years or more?

I hope the above are useful, albeit rather focused around my personal preferences!

Hi Ben, thanks for your insights.

In essence it is more of a puzzle game and works most effectively as a solo game, as it would be hard for two players to be able to read each others mind on their strategy, unless they were allowed to talk to each other.

It could indeed be seen as a puzzle, albeit there's strategic thinking that needs to be applied. Specific games can be set up that could make it quite hard to finish, The whole idea with the tournaments would be to play, let's say 5 specific games, in real time with a specific start (Lets say 8pm Greenwich Mean Time). 5 games would all be running at the same time ( ability to switch in between games).

You have a whole bunch of competitors until you can find a "niche" for the game. You may well be on the right track by focusing on social enterprise. However, why not exploit this social enterprise angle by having pieces which relate to the major players in our market? Instead of Rooks and pawns, have Opok Farms and Oxfam.

The whole idea was always to make it as a social enterprise (art projects,etc...). And you're spot on when you say to make pieces based on opok farms, oxfam, etc... I'd love to see some people involved trough arts and crafts projects to see that become a reality and have given out certain feelers about that. However, i need to focus first on the practicalities to get the game up and running in a proper way so those people would be coming onboard.

Or to go a step further, have ,for example, one part of te players made with beads from Uganda and the other part by TEN/made by survivors and the board made out of peacetiles.

Ps. I myself am not a very big chess player.

The games are too similar to each other. Perhaps you could start with a 3 x 3 grid and increase or even have odd-shaped grids? Being a Star Trek fan, perhaps even 3D grids would work!

I'm working at present with some 3D artist (and having a shot at it myself) and it could be implemented.

However, i need to concentrate to get the multiplayer version started.

What is the longevity of the game? Chess has stood the test of time because it is an archetype. How are you going to maintain interest for people for 2-3 years or more?

I've been working on it for some 20 years, made carpets in India with a whole village for several months and have a cornucopia of prototypes (glass, wood, brass,...)

It's been steadily growing (from pre internet days)and i reckon i'll spend the rest of my life developing it further. Let's hope people will take it on.

I hope the above are useful, albeit rather focused around my personal preferences!

Very much apreciated. Keep it coming.

hi dominique - congratu(lul)ations on getting this far along! i am going to focus on reading your business plan, as i am not very good at games - except scrabble maybe. and pictionary :) and i certainly know less than a worm about success at online game sites! i have a hunch gambling, advertising, and lots of selection has something to do with success.

First of all, despite what people might think, i'm not a chess head.

I came up with this game some 20 years ago while living in the Salisbury centre ,edinburgh, Scotland.

This was the place of Madame Blavatsky an Co. (The one of the theophisical society). There used to be sufi's staying long time ago and is now a listed building and holistic centre.

It used to be run by 6 people (on a rotating basis) who dedicated one year each. Some 20 years ago, i happened to fall in love with an Indian/English girl who was part of the running of the place and after some delibiration i became the 7th person in the centre.

They had weekly meetings where they would hold a staff. (the person holding that could tell what was on his/her mind regarding the running of the place and each other--closed meeting). Certain people might have had problems with each other, but people where frank with each other and ended up having a positive impact.

It was up there, i had the brainwave and came up with the game.

I'm aware i'm a stickler to explain the finer points that most people expect and tend to go for the more easy option of throwing a few bones (pictures) and see whatever happens.

Something that will be corrected.

A beautifull way however is that the digital game on itself could easily stand on it's own. However, it's more in the way how we could explore those games where my heart lies.

I really agree that the visual appeal of the game is absolutely critical. The beauty of the Peggle game and many similar makes people want to play more to see what special effect they will get and they feel rewarded for good play, even though most of the time it's pure luck!

I have been thinking about your tournament idea and I am wondering whether something like the Razoo Speedgranting system might be a way of linking your game to NGO projects. Basically, the tournament winner would have an opportunity to select which project from a list of suggested projects would receive a $1000 grant. You could have an entry fee or rely on advertising or even have a tournament annual membership system.

Perhaps by competing outside the tournament you might gain "credit" for participating in the tournament - perhaps slightly better pieces (perhaps otherwise a bishop might be restricted to moving 4 squares) or gain more time to make your moves.

You need some positive PR opportunity and you might well find that charities themselves advertise your game/web-site, if they see that there is a chance for them to gain $1000 on a semi-regular basis from their devoted supporters.

If you don't want the big charities to swamp things, you could target some of the tournaments to NGOs with less than £50k per annum turnover, perhaps. Or even have "Start-up projects" as one category. So you would therefore expose the smaller projects to some of the big charity contributors.

Obviously, how you find the prize money is a key issue, but there are a few ways that this could perhaps be generated:

1. Advertising revenue - charity donors are quite an interesting market for advertising buyers
2. Email list sales
3. Grant funding - I wouldn't rule this out for perhaps the first year's prizes. It seems a good deal, if the money is going to NGOs anyway.
4. Tournament/Membership fees - this one I'm most dubious about, but see below how the on-line cardgames do it.
5. Maybe Razoo would work with you in partnership to add variety and extra PR to their offering? If you can get some large charities on board through your innovation, then this would be more likely.

Having said all of the above, the game needs to really sparkle, as you suggest. I also feel you need a "Game development plan", where it is launched as is, but with clear vision for longevity.

Take, for instance, the Fluxx card game. It was launched as a single card game, but they now have an Eco version. They are even selling blank cards for people to fill in with their own ideas. The on-line card game of the moment is Legends of Norrath http://legendsofnorrath.station. sony.com/ You can play it for free, but it's not very long before you'll want to part company with £10, if you enjoy the game.

Recent analysis of the games industry has advised that games producers should not launch their product with everything available to a player on Day 1. They need to incentivise continuing play. In some ways even NED does this by saying until you have 10 feedback you can't start a new thread! So my recommendation would be to not offer tournament play until perhaps a customer had earned a new playing piece. You would then not allow that customer to use that piece (or gain any future more powerful pieces) without committing a small fee for this additional service.

Appreciating that this might require a game rule adjustment, which requires research and balancing, but this is worth it if you can extract $10 from someone that could start the prize fund.

Ben, nice one.

Good food for thought.

Just back from a busy weekend. Back soon

Peggle is indeed very addictive.

My game however is different as it relies more on strategic thinking.

There are some fine points you made earlier. Some of them that i was aware of, but also some that require closer scrutiny.

Jeff Mowatt started an interesting group. (some more sponsors needed) about open capital.

http://www.ned.com/group/open_ca pital/

This is something i'd be happy to peruse, as it would give me an opportunity to offload certain aspects to other people who probably have more knowledge regarding specific aspects (eg, words, connectedness with social enterprises,etc...).

( I'm currently doing the whole lot, and while i'll get there at the end, my talents would be better exploited if i could concentrate on more things that lay closer to my heart and of which i know i'm very good at)

I've got satisfaction in what i'm doing as an artist, and luckily things are going well at the moment. I've never been a big fan for fancy cars,big houses, etc..., don't have a big fixation on money and always seem to be in my element when at play (preferably in a place like India).

Trough a fluke, i met up with an artist that used to have a studio next to me next door some 15 years ago.

Meet up tomorrow in his studio. He's an old pall and i'll reckon we get something cooking for the game.

Apparently, he's well known in the states and has his work in Hollywood, Boston, NY, and several other cities.

Here some samples.

I just received an email from Sony On-line Entertainment. I talked on an earlier post about the possibilities for on-line tournaments and clearly they are making money out of this, or about to. They have also started selling expansions to their product.

I post this simply to show more clearly a good methodology for using a new on-line leisure idea to generate income in innovative ways:

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