Everyone who’s familiar with American literature knows the story of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. What most people might not be familiar with is the dark retelling by indie game designer American McGee simply called Alice. The first game in this series came out in 2000, when action-adventure games were at their peak. It follows the same protagonist, Alice Liddel, and her journey to Wonderland. Her journey this time is not as sunshine and rainbows as its inspiration. In this version, Alice’s family dies in a horrifying fire, and the traumatic event lands her in a psychiatric clinic where she creates “Wonderland” as a retreat from reality. American McGee’s Alice almost immediately became a cult classic for its gruesome yet beautiful visuals and dark chaotic retelling of an American classic. A sequel was demanded, yet, as most smaller games go, the sequel was underfunded and development was slow.
It would take a full decade after the first game for Alice: Madness Returns to be released. In this sequel Alice relapses and returns to Wonderland in order to uncover truths about her trauma she buried deep in her mind.
Now jump almost another decade forward to 2018, and fans still rant and rave about the dark imaginative story of Alice trapped in a “Wonderland” created her own psyche to deal with her trauma in violent and twisted ways. What’s a small game developer with no financial backing going to do in order to fund a new game? Crowdsource funding and use Instagram to gain interest.
For the first time in the Alice series (and my first time seeing this for any video game in general), fans were able to not only watch the creation process on Instagram from start to finish but also be part of it. They’re able to comment and critique their favorite series while also funding the process and receiving merchandise they could represent along the way. For every amount fans funded, American McGee could send them small gifts like stuffed animals and concept art books. He was able to use his feed to highlight the giveaways and let his audience know that if they engaged with his campaign, he would engage back.
As he gained interest for the development of the game, he could create and tailor merchandise his audience would actually want and look forward to. Where he saw and shared people creating makeup looks of Alice, he could sell his fans makeup! He’s also able to engage his audience through Instagram by sharing fan-made content. This ranged anywhere from amazing fanart posts to full-fledged cosplays and even fan-made videos. On top of all this, American is also able to intermingle photos and videos of his own life and family into his feed and relate to his audience on a human level.
For a small game developer with a cult classic series, Instagram coupled with crowdfunding sites are the perfect ways to get your audience involved in the making of your game. Through sharing fan content, giveaways, and updates, American McGee is able to create an experience that fans can be a part of and, by doing so, cater his engagement and perfect his product.
