How Two Janitors Made One of the Year's Most Charming RPGs (bloomberg.com) 19
Adam Marshall spent more than a decade developing Kingdoms of the Dump while working as a custodian at a school in suburban Philadelphia, cleaning floors and hauling trash bags from 3 PM to 11 PM before coming home to work on his turn-based role-playing game until 5 or 6 AM. The game, which Bloomberg has called "one of the year's most charming RPGs," came out on Tuesday after Marshall and his childhood friend Matt Loiseau -- also a janitor -- built it using RPG Maker alongside a small team of hobbyists who mostly worked for free.
The pair launched a Kickstarter campaign in 2019 that raised $76,560, but the pandemic disrupted their plans and forced them to lose contractors and rethink their approach. Marshall maintained this schedule for five years straight before quitting his custodial job last year to finish the game full-time. Kingdoms of the Dump has sold about 7,000 copies since its release. The game stars a walking trashcan named Dustin Binsley who adventures through landfills and sewers in a world made entirely of garbage.
The pair launched a Kickstarter campaign in 2019 that raised $76,560, but the pandemic disrupted their plans and forced them to lose contractors and rethink their approach. Marshall maintained this schedule for five years straight before quitting his custodial job last year to finish the game full-time. Kingdoms of the Dump has sold about 7,000 copies since its release. The game stars a walking trashcan named Dustin Binsley who adventures through landfills and sewers in a world made entirely of garbage.
Paywalled (Score:3, Informative)
Re: Paywalled (Score:2)
And I read RPG as rocket propelled grenades first.
Re:Paywalled (Score:5, Informative)
Right? At least link to the site for the game: https://kingdomsofthedump.com/ [kingdomsofthedump.com]
Re: (Score:2)
"This game is nothing but trash" (Score:2)
hard to dispute
Too realistic (Score:5, Funny)
This is too much like what the ordinary person experiences of the ruins of our contemporary society to be escapist.
Is someone astroturfing Philly culture? (Score:1)
Are we trying to self-fulfill that Philadelphia internet prophecy?
Good luck (Score:5, Funny)
I wish them well. And I hope they really clean up in the RPG marketplace.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: "developing Kingdoms of the Dump while working (Score:3)
I know where you're coming from (open-ended employment contracts) but the answer is "no". Regardless of what is written in your contract, it's been proven in courts times and times again that "we own everything you do, even outside work" clauses do not hold their ground in courts. If you do things on your own time, on your own equipment, if there's no conflict of interest and the work you're doing has not been ordered by your employer, you're in the clear.
Re: (Score:2)
If he developed software while working for a school, the school owns the rights to his work.
ROFLMAO. I don't know what fucked up companies you work for but you might want to consider changing the type of company you work for in the future. In my 40 years in the workplace I've had just 10 months working at a company that imposed that kind of shit and they turned out to be such a shitty employer that one Monday I walked into work, took my stuff off my desk, left my work phone and business cards sat on the keyboard and just walked out, never returned and ghosted them not even caring if I got paid.
paywalled content should not be on slashdot (Score:3, Informative)
save us the wasted time.
The official web site (Score:4, Informative)
https://kingdomsofthedump.com/ [kingdomsofthedump.com]
Re: (Score:2)
It has a Day of the Tentacle vibe to it.
Kingdom of the Dump (Score:2)
The world built entirely of garbage... Sounds like they took inspiration from their school and everything that's going on inside.
Delightful game (Score:2)