Scooter Boy launches to New Zealand

Here we are in September '13 and it's time to introduce "Scooter Boy" to New Zealand!

www.scooterboygame.com

Our launch was well timed to fit in with the Digital Nationz expo, and I had a wonderful time at the two day event.

In truth, I was a bit nervous to try "selling" Scooter Boy for the first time. It turns out I had nothing to worry about. Everyone at the expo was so friendly and it was great to be around so many people who just love playing games!

I have never been much of a sales person but because I know Scooter Boy is such an awesome game and it can appeal to so many different people I didn't have any trouble at all approaching people to try our game and my confidence kept increasing as it was so well received. Also it's free and that helps! lol

Highlights for me include, our first player, a sweet little boy, who came back to the Scooter Boy booth after having been our first official NZ player and said out of all the games at the expo he liked ours the best!

And watching Chris answer this question from a Mother who was impressed with how much her kids loved Scooter Boy..
  Mother:  "Wow, what an amazing game, it's so great for kids, what else have you worked on?"
  Chris's awkward reply, "Actually ummm, 'Watch Dogs' was the last game I worked on, its in the Ubisoft booth behind ours, behind the black curtains in the R18 section."

Another highlight was finding Chris's first game "Super Skidmarks" in the History of Video Games Museum.

 

This makes Chris officially old!

Indie Anywhere

Game developers often seem to be chained to their desks.

This is no longer the case for us. As an Indie, your work space is only limited by battery life, wifi availability and your imagination...

Reading Email

Problem solving

Writing Email

Working

Updating Facebook

Tweeting

Consulting

Skype

Listening to music

Testing

The home in the Country Side

Looking for a home sweet home, we wanted to live close to family, we wanted somewhere typically New Zealand...  Would we be lucky enough to live close to the ocean? Somewhere with a view?


And then we found our home in the Country Side!

Going indie means working from anywhere, working from home means we don't have to live in the bustling city. So we're trying out the country life!


And living in the country can be much cheaper than living in the big city ;)


We only have one neighbor nearby and they're actually our close family!

 Our apartment in Montreal had a tiny courtyard and now our backyard is measured in acres!


 

The kids love it here  The kids get to help take care of our neighbor's animals, chickens, sheep, horses. A first for them as our pets have been limited to goldfish til now.

 The home office is a short commute upstairs and its quiet (mostly) with a view. (How we managed to get internet all the way out here is a whole other blog post )

 Its a big change and a wonderful adventure!

The Home on Wheels

We have arrived home in New Zealand and as soon as we arrived in the airport we had two problems to solve...

• Transport (a way to get from here to there)
• A house, somewhere to sleep and eat and live!

So we've hired an RV ;)

Now our home is mobile and we are free to go wherever we want - and spend the night there!



Having your home be a RV has been (as I had imagined) difficult at times, the bedtime routine for the kids is now, bath time, books, brush teeth, uninstall carseats or dining room table and fold out/re assemble bed to sleep in, then make bed and finally time to go to bed, ugh!

Also I miss having a washing machine.













But the upsides are obvious, you get to come and go from places as you please.
And our RV does provide all the necessary bits and pieces, stove to cook on, Fridge, shower/toilet, bedding etc


And the unexpected quirky "up"s I have found are:

I really like sleeping in a queen size bunk bed.

I like having a change of clothes for me and the kids travel with me everywhere I go (in fact all my changes of clothes are always with me lol)

When you go grocery shopping you get to unload your groceries from the supermarket trolley in the supermarket parking lot, straight into your home fridge.

And you can get drive through takeaways, never leave the car park and still eat at your dining room table.

hmmmm, where to next?...

The Single Serving Home

So we're officially homeless!










We're in a world of temporary in-between homes with no idea where we'll end up living.

Not counting airports and airplanes, a non-descript hotel room in the American Southwest is our newest temporary home.



I recently watched a great documentary, "Tiny Homes." It's about people who choose to live in 1000 square feet homes. Living in well organised small spaces. For a while now I've been thinking about "life editing", quality-over-quantity. The stress of getting rid of so much excess stuff when we left Canada has made me conscious of all the things I will choose to bring into my next home.

What do I really need in a home? Somewhere to sleep, a bathroom, somewhere to make food, relax and play.



Of course its notable to me that accommodating two kids and an Indie Game developer husband who needs an office space/man-cave, may make living small a bit more difficult. 


Still, living in this hotel room of just two separate spaces, one room for eating/sleeping/relaxing/playing and just one other small bathroom has been... uncomplicated...
 

      
     
                                                                   ...and it does have its perks!

O Canada! O Canada! Goodbye Canada:(

I am going to miss so much all the fabulous friends we've made here, this is the place I became a Mom and I'm so proud to have my two lil Canadian boys!

This is the friendliest place I have ever travelled to. Where people are so open, inviting and polite.

Here in Canada when you get in an elevator (lift) with a stranger and neither of you can think of anything to say, you actually suffer through an awkward silence.

People here are welcoming and non-judgemental, willing to get to know you first before trying to sum you up.

It can be -20C outside and you've found your car stuck in knee deep snow, you can depend on people to just appear to help shovel you out and push your car back onto the road.

The friends I made here became my family. Aunties to my little boys, My best friends. Teachers to my family.

I'm going to miss the endless family activities and festivals, the historical feel of walking through the old port, the distinct 4 seasons, the vibe on the Plateau, the food and my accent.

For your friendly culture, vibrant spirit, for welcoming us wholeheartedly and for skor candy bars, thanks for everything Canada!

p.s. We'll be back ;)

Home on the Plateau

So now we're free of all the excess stuff!
But as my three year old put it, in response to me giving away our plates and cutlery "what are we going to eat off?"

Very good question, where are we going to sleep, eat and play?

Welcome to our "temporary borrowed home" on the Plateau in Montreal!

I placed an ad in our local "wanted" pages.... something like "Tidy N/S Professional couple with two young adorable children, seek 1 month Sublet for July" and as luck would have it, the universe (internets) connected us with another family looking to go away for the summer and rent out their home while they were gone.

Fabulous! So now we get to experience (in my opinion) one of the nicest areas of Montreal and live here in a fully furnished home for the last month before we move home to New Zealand.