Review Fix Exclusive: Inside ‘Invisible Hand’

Review Fix chats with game developer Benjamin Martin who discusses his upcoming game, “The Invisible Hand.” Taking us through the original concept and development, Martin gives us an inside look at a pretty nifty indie game.

About The Invisible Hand:

The Invisible Hand is a game about traders, and their world. At first glance, it is only about numbers, but in the end, it is about much more.

In a world where computers can do most of the analytic work, you will live the life of a trader, and try to profit off the numbers spewed by the machine to get the best of what the world has to offer.

Whether you just follow the missions given by your supervisor or go rogue and put people to their knees for your own profit, it is up to you to make money for the well-being of the company and your own.

For More On The Game, Click Here.

Review Fix: When did the initial idea for this game come to you?

Benjamin Martin: It was a year ago, we were talking about games with friends, and I had the idea of a game about traders, where the player would be asked to meet financial goals, and to deal with the social consequences of his actions.

This lead to the premises of The Invisible Hand, and this is still our core idea for how the game will play.

Review Fix: This game would be awesome on the 3DS or Vita. Any chance at a port?

Martin: We are working with Unity, so porting to 3DS or Vita is technically possible, but we are focusing on PC right now. We will consider porting to other platforms after the release on PC. The game would definitely be great on those platforms, or on tablet. Most controls are mouse-based, so they would easily translate to touchscreens.

Review Fix: What games inspired this one?

Martin: I really enjoyed The Stanley Parable and its ability to express a lot about games through very simple mechanics. It’s part of the inspiration for The Invisible Hand, as I want this game to express feelings and ideas through the in-game market’s mechanics. Paper’s Please is also a great game in that area, and has a lot of believable details with very simple graphics. It inspired the workday-based flow of the game, where you start during morning, and have an Evaluation at the end of the day when markets are closing.

Review Fix: What do you play for fun when you’re not developing?

Martin: I love games that break boundaries between gameplay and narrative. For example, Paper’s Please makes you play the role of a customs officer, and makes you a part of family-crushing decisions by just putting a stamp over someone’s passport. Hideo Kojima also does this a lot in the Metal Gear Solid series, where for example you can wait for a week for an aged boss to die of old age, instead of beating him.

Review Fix: What has development been like?

Martin: We are two people working hard on this, and we both have day-jobs, so we are working on The Invisible Hand during our spare time. Development is not as fast as it could be, but we are planning to release a demo in the months to come. Fortunately, some wonderful people are helping us ! A graphic artist took notice of our Facebook page and is lending us a hand, and a friend of ours will make a website soon.

Review Fix: With all the competition on the mobile market and in the indies now, how difficult was it for you guys to try and make something that stood out?

Martin: Our game stands out because of our experimental concept. We wanted to make a game that feels unique from the very first impression, and that has a strong emotional impact on the player. This is a double-edged sword, because the experimental gameplay can make it hard for players to understand what the game is about. But for those who understand it, it will be a unique experience.

Review Fix: Who do you think will enjoy this game the most?

Martin: People who enjoy trader movies or documentary (The Wolf of Wall Street, The Big Short…), and players who love experimental games, such as Paper’s Please.
We are working hard on making the game accessible to everyone, even if they have no knowledge of the financial world.

Review Fix: Bottom line, why must someone play this game?

Martin: It is a unique experience that will make the players understand how their day to day life can be affected by an anonymous worker, playing with numbers behind his desk.

Review Fix: How do you want this game to be remembered?

Martin: I would like this game to be remembered as the first in a long series ! If we have enough success with this, we will definitely keep on making games.

Review Fix: What are your goals for this game?

Martin: We hope that the players will like it. As it is our first game, and as it is based on an experimental concept, we want to see how players will react to it, to see if we are on the right track.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Martin: Probably another game. I would like to keep on making games that parody real jobs and situations, because I think it can really be cathartic, and express a lot of things about the world.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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