Starting to enjoy Flash game development

After originally being almost opposed to Flash game development, I've come to actually enjoy it.



You'll notice that Seeds of Time Online has several Flash minigames now, the most recent being a virtual pet sim called "Monster Resort," pictured above.  In this minigame, your active monster from Seeds of Time Online is imported into a small field to run around and play.  You take care of the monster through three buttons: feed, play, and bathe.  Keeping your monster content in all three of those areas (without overdoing it) will increase its Happiness rating.  At the end of the game, your monster receives real experience points (in Seeds of Time Online) according to two things: how well you took care of it, and how high your character's level is (the higher level you are, the faster your monster will level up).


There are four things I like about Flash game development:

• Development is rapid (the above minigame took only two days to write)
• Flash minigames can be integrated into larger browser-based games, like Seeds of Time Online
• Browser-embeddable functionality makes it easier to reach an audience that wouldn't otherwise bother to download and install a game
• Such games can also be uploaded to Kongregate and other Flash game portals, further increasing profits

Flash minigame development for Seeds of Time Online also gives me more variety in work, rather than simply coding PHP for Seeds of Time Online all day.


I'll be working on more minigames in the near future.  I'm also speculating a complete Flash remake of Seeds of Time Online at some point within the next few years.  We'll see...