Agree, I have tried and liked the demo of Defender's Quest on day one from GOG, and finally got it from the Insomnia sale.

A bit of a sad tale, with some seriously low numbers. I remember seeing it released here and thinking it looked like a fine platformer. One I might consider playing if the right conditions were met. The reality though is I don't buy new games, nor do I gravitate towards platformers in general. I also didn't even bother taking a hard look at it. A game has about two pictures to get me to invest into taking a deeper look, and that just didn't happen. I didn't read anything about it, or even know it had some physics puzzler elements.

The 10$ price point seems fair, but its also the kind of game I wouldn't pay that much for. Its the kind I would like to see wrapped up in some deal. Like 6$ or a bundle. To be fair it looks a lot better than much of what gets stuffed into those things, and there are a number of platformers I've acquired with other stuff I would have rather had been this game.

I'm tempted to give it the sympathy buy, but I really shouldn't be tossing 10$ around on impulse right now. It may not be much help to them today, but I will consider putting it on my "one day" list.

Thanks for the links to the articles Amok.

I added my feedback on their site, but to sum up, the game looked interesting to me up to the point where I saw "brutal platformer". I already have enough of those that I don't want to waste time on mastering that another one got the thumbs down on the going to purchase it meter. Added it to my wishlist when it came out as I figured the puzzle aspects might be redeeming enough to make it overall fun, just not willing to gamble on that when I have so many other games to play currently.

Edit: (Further thoughts)
I agree with many of the comments on the thread here, particularly the 'advertised difficulty' being a selling point (maybe it is to some people, but not to myself) I don't think I'm their target market in any case.
Also that the other games being released at the time didn't probably make much difference and I concur that I also don't typically buy AAA releases in the first month - I can count the number of AAA titles I've bought on one hand, maybe 2? in the last year and even those I think I got with a coupon code for 20% off.

Now both the games are finally in a promo, so time to give them a whirl I guess. (Ethan: Meteor Hunter and Race the Sun).

http://www.gog.com/game/ethan_meteor_hunter

http://www.gog.com/game/race_the_sun

I presume the reason why OP wanted to highlight these two indie games as unsuccess stories is because they are available on GOG, but not on Steam. Steam promotion and GOG detraction, you know. :)

Oh yeah the OP called them "post mortem", so apparently these are now dead games that I am buying.

Or wanting to promote discussion on a piece written by someone. Much like posting a blog piece about the death of Windows desktop doesn't mean the OP wants to demote Windows and promote tablets (or does he?).

Yeah, must be a complete coincidence, knowing the OP and there being masses of generic indie games not on GOG, which must also have been selling poorly during the first non-promo month of their existence. Just a coincidence, of course.

Musta been bored mate ;).

Thing is, what the press likes (as with everything.. books movies), doesn't necessarily mean potential buyers feel the same way. Reviewers aren't going to look at stuff like oversaturated markets and things like that when reviewing a game nor see things from a potential buyers perspective. Jamyskis summed it up for me.

God, what is your problem? I know you love me so much that you you seem to not be able to make two post without bringing me in, but this is truly bordering on obsession... Give it a rest, will you?

Postmortem is a common term of developers dissecting its own actions and results from a game, it can be done at anytime. Just go to industry blogs like gamasutra and do a search for "postmortem" and see what you can find. It is not only indie developers who do this, but several AAA titles also. From games released a month ago to games released years ago. It is not my term, but one commonly used.

And I do apologise if you think that a game sold on gog is not worth being discussed on gog.

It does seem weird its so positive in media but at the bottom of the catalogue. Maybe the game isnt that good or attractive to potential buyers for already mentioned reasons.
Question do indie devs make games that appeal to gamers? Or they make games they love or want to make?.Maybe the two do really mix....

I think that most indies do try to make the games they want to play themselves. For Ethan I just think that it is just a unlucky coincidence of wrong timing (not in terms of GTA V, but in terms of there being too many platformers right now), poor marketing (and I am not sure how well spent that marketing budget was...) and old habits. As I understand it, the game itself did not actually originate from Seaven Studios, but was a project started by Hydravision, which in itself is interesting, but I know too little about it to say much more.
I am sick of you calling my opinions trolling for being different from yours. I am doing my best to ignore you, I am sick and tired of you now. If you feel the same, then please do the same. I also dislike how you pull whatever happens in one thread into another. This is becoming personal prosecution. Please stop, and please stop putting words in my mouth. Generally leave me alone and I will do the same.

In all honesty, I didn't -- and won't -- buy this game because I find it to be largely uninspired from what I saw in trailers and screenshots.

I'm probably one of the 40 or 50 people here on GOG that actually likes them releasing contemporary indie gems alongside the classics, and I particularly enjoy platformers and puzzle platformers, so I would have been the perfect target audience for Ethan: Meteor Hunter. Unfortunately, I do find the game lacks soul and character. It's obvious I feel bad for thinking this way, especially since reading the devs' post-mortem of their game, but it is, nonetheless, the way I feel: this game is ugly and uninspired. They complained about people not wanting games with gameplay value over graphics, but I think they are missing the point: better graphics, in an indie developed and published platformer, don't necessarily mean high-end AAA studio graphics. Guacamelee!, for instance, even looks like a flash game, sometimes, and that doesn't mean it isn't great. The art style is unique and even if the game was bad -- which it most certainly isn't -- the art alone would have sold it, something which can't be said about Ethan.

I feel bad for them, but unfortunately these things aren't all science and logistics and statistics. This is not to say they didn't put their hearts in it, I believe they did, but unfortunately they relied too much on their own idea of the market and what they could do to benefit from it, and ended up releasing a mediocre looking game that hardly resonates even with fans of indie puzzle platformer games such as myself. I'm glad they didn't go with the overused pixel-approach, but the game has no distinctive features whatsoever to distinguish itself from the multitude of platformers out there. Also, Ethan himself doesn't look cool or anything like that, especially in-game... he looks awkwardly animated and stiff, I don't want to play with such a character in a game that should be about speed, agility and "finesse".

I want Ethan in my present box during this winter promo :)

Hey guys,

I'm the producer at Seaven Studio who did Ethan: Meteor Hunter. I just wanted to thank you for your honest feedback, that's what make us move forward. We'll hopefully have enough money to make a second game, learning from these mistakes.

Thanks again! And feel free to ask me any questions :)

Welcome to the forums, even though you have been part of GOG for quite some time.

If I may give a suggestion for your next game launch (whenever that is), do participate a bit in the community. Pop up in the release thread, say hello, and do answer a few questions that may arise.
We do (usually) enjoy a little chat with the developers/publishers of the game, though complaints are also a part of the discussions.