Chris Crawford on Game Design

Results

Balance of the Planet was a commercial and critical near-failure. We sold about 12,000 units in total. Because of a combination of errors on the part of our distributor, we ended up losing about $20,000 on extra copies of the game that we need not have manufactured. This was counterbalanced by an unexpected offer for licensing rights in Japan. What saved the game was the unexpected sales to educational institutions; Marylyn Rosenbloom orchestrated this effort for us. For several years, we continued to sell copies into schools and colleges all over the country. All in all, we made a small profit on the game, probably not enough to justify our time expenditure, but enough to repudiate any sense of failure.

The critical response to the game ...