As many of you know the Solipsist 15 minute demo pack got it's first test drive at Games Expo. I wasn't there to see it used (Gregor did the demos) so I am keen to get feedback from anyone who read it, watched it, or most of played it, to see what I can improve for the next version (which we will have on the website as a download).

So, did anyone here play in a Solipsist demo? If so how was it? Did you like it? Hate it? Understand it? If you own Solipsist or have played it elsewhere did the Demo do a good job of communicating an interesting part of Solipsist play?

Specific questions

Would there be any interest in a small CE/indie games stall/demo programme at the next Concrete Cow in September?

We had a trader at Concrete Cow on Saturday, selling second-hand stuff, and they made a bit of money. Not a vast amount, but enough to make it worth their while coming. They also said that there would be room for another, complementary seller at the next Concrete Cow. Would the CE be interested in having such a presence?

I ran four or five Esoterrorist demos at Dragonmeet last year. They went OK but I didn't really get to the meat of the game, I didn't really show what it was about. We did get a few sales on the back of them, possibly because they were fun, but not because they really showcased the game.

So I've been reading up on demos, here mainly but a few other places too and I've written a rough demo outline that I think does a much better job of highlighting the different parts of play.

Have you got a 15 minute Best Friends demo handy, Gregor? Or can you explain to me how you demo it in 15 (or 20 or 30) minutes? I'd like to demo it at Conception and pimp your wares!

So we've talked about the art of the 15 minute demo, but all the talk about Conpulsion has got me thinking about the 1 hour games some of us are planning for the indie games track. So what should a 1 hour game do? How much should it show? How much should it be a game vs demo?

Dead of Night lends itself very well to 1 hour games (or slightly longer), as it easily possible to complete a whole adventure in that time, so players get experience a complete game.

But how do other games work in an hour slot?