Eggy's Maze ROM cartridge

The MSXdev23 game Eggy's Maze found its way to a physical ROM cartridge release. French retro fanatics Côté Gamers will publish this MSX2 game with all bells and whistles. To be released at, you guessed it, the MSXgoto40 event.

Dutch game developer Jacco Bikker made his debut in the MSX scene with his puzzle game Eggy's Maze. Submitted to the MSXdev23 compo, the game was well-received - particularly praised for its smooth gameplay and charming graphics. Eggy's Maze is a game In the vein of Eggerland Mystery. Only here, the puzzles are not restricted to singular screens, as the player must navigate vertically scrolling maps. The game has over 30 screens in total to solve. It requires MSX2 or higher to run, but does not need any other hardware extensions.

While the game is currently under review by the MSXdev23's jury, French retro game publishing company Côté Gamers went ahead and took it upon themselves to grant it with a physical ROM release. The publisher is on a roll lately, as they're pumping out one MSX game after another. As always, French retro fanatics Côté Gamers will publish this game as a complete package; a pretty box containing the 20-page manual next to the game itself.

Eggy's Maze is now available at pre-order, the price is set at €35,00. Its official release will be at the MSX GOTO40 event, in December this year. You can pick up your order there, or have it delivered at your doorstep at a later moment.

Relevant link: Côté Gamers product page
Relevant link: MSXdev23 - Eggy's Maze.

Comments (24)

By RealUnknownInfinite

Rookie (23)

13-11-2023, 17:43

Definitely going to add this to the list of physical games to get.

By enribar

Paragon (1233)

14-11-2023, 22:16

Bought! But... no additional stages or special features?

By jbikker

Resident (60)

15-11-2023, 10:36

It's the same game as the one entered for MSXDev'23, but: In a super nice package, and on a real cartridge. And: it comes with a large world map, which you can put on your wall!

By davince

Resident (42)

17-11-2023, 15:14

Nice, but can i get a discount for the money i already donated Sept 6?

By valkyre

Paladin (725)

18-11-2023, 00:09

Surely you are not after a discount for donating msxdev?

By davince

Resident (42)

18-11-2023, 11:11

yes I am I donated a fair amount for the game which i completed and therefore wanted to give something back to the developers(it felt to easy to donate nothing, that's noble right?). As a collector i rather have the physical copy, but now it feels that the ones who didn't donate get a discount. That's not too strange of a thought? You don't want me or other people to stop donating and wait for a physical release to show there gratitude right?
But enlighten me please if there's something strange about me thinking this way.

By aoineko

Paragon (1209)

18-11-2023, 13:54

Nothing strange for me. You're like a "early adopter" for a Kickstarter.
Anyway, it's up to the creator to decide whether or not it's right for him.

By jbikker

Resident (60)

18-11-2023, 14:36

First of all: thank you for donating to MSXDev'23!
A donation is for the compo as a whole; it is supposed to encourage development by all developers.
This makes a discount on a specific game based on a donation a bit complex, in my opinion. And, what if your favorite game doesn't make it in the top 5?
Also be aware that the earnings for one physical copy are small.

By valkyre

Paladin (725)

18-11-2023, 16:28

I donate and am more than happy to pay full price for a cartridge release, I wouldn't dream of asking for a discount!

By gdx

Enlighted (6644)

18-11-2023, 16:39

Strange to me. A donation is a donation and the cartridge is reasonably priced.

By davince

Resident (42)

18-11-2023, 19:56

Great to see different opinions.

Quote:

I wouldn't dream of asking for a discount!

Don't think this is constructive and respectful though.

What i learned so far is (i did not know that) is that my donation has gone to MSXDEV indeed. So effectively did not go to the developers which i believed. So fair point! Thanks @jbikker !

Quote:

A donation is a donation and the cartridge is reasonably priced.

Perhaps the fact that the cartridge is reasonably priced is part of the problem.What if i donated 35 euro* for the game believing this is the only way to say thank you......and months later you learn that you could have bought the physical game for that same amount ? I would feel a bit mislead and makes me think twice before donating (so is contra productive)
*) i did not donate 35, but still a fair amount.

So while the (small) majority has a clear strict separation between donating and pre-ordering the game, i was hoping for a bit more understanding, like @aoineko

I believe the current situation is not very logical. Ask yourself....why is there no donation option for MSXDEV when pre-ordering Eggy-Maze? The whole game was the result of MSXDEV in the first place....which was made possible by people donating to MSXDEV?

By tfh

Prophet (3493)

18-11-2023, 20:09

davince wrote:

Great to see different opinions.

Quote:

I wouldn't dream of asking for a discount!

Don't think this is constructive and respectful though.

What i learned so far is (i did not know that) is that my donation has gone to MSXDEV indeed. So effectively did not go to the developers which i believed. So fair point! Thanks @jbikker !

Quote:

A donation is a donation and the cartridge is reasonably priced.

So while the (small) majority has a clear strict separation between donating and pre-ordering the game, i was hoping for a bit more understanding, like @aoineko

That is quite weird...
Donations can already be done at the start of the competition. In the end only a few games that entered in the MSXDev competition will end up as a cartridge. And somtimes this only happens after the competition. So there is no way to do what you propose, unless people can only start donating after all entries have been made available. I think it is your reasoning which is quite illogical.

But in the end it seems that you just didn't do your homework when donating to MSXDev. You did a donation, not a downpayment. Those are two completely different things.

By ro

Scribe (5130)

18-11-2023, 20:45

Sorry for the misunderstanding.
Donating to msxdev is donating to the prize money for participants.

By tfh

Prophet (3493)

18-11-2023, 21:37

And besides... The results are not known yet. Who is to know if Eggy's maze is actually a winner? Maybe the game won't make the top and hence won't be winning any money.

By davince

Resident (42)

18-11-2023, 22:33

@tfh let me clarify before people start assuming things....i did pick up the news of winners of msxdev23 after the contest (end of august?). So at 9 September i stumbled upon this website: https://www.msxdev.org/2023/08/30/msxdev23-15-eggys-maze/
Played the game through the file-hunter link. Was surprised by this nice game, so after completing the game i saw that donate button at top right believing I was donating to the developers. That's the truth and nothing but the truth ;-)
The text in article states: 100% of the donations will go to the developers.
It seems you expect me or others to fully understand MSXDEV contest etc......I just stumpled upon an MSX game news article...that's all.

Writing this i did some homework....and it seems the contest is not over indeed! LOL! At least not when i saw that webpage with Eggy's Maze...so i understand what you mean now. But can you understand the confusion from my part or somebody else who simply stumbles upon a news article about a new msx2 game? And the confusion you get when there's a donate button on a webpage dedicated to that specific game? I guess not....trying to get in someone else shoes is difficult.

So all in all i'm happy now. While having this discussion i educated myself and also got notice of the game Tiny Magic (winner material if you ask me when they haven't decided yet :D ) I ordered both games without discount so everybody here can sleep well tonight. Having free shipping makes me forget about the donation confusion as a whole ;(
If you fully understand MSXDEV contests....everything makes more sense i guess....but for newcomers like me it's a bit confusing at least. Of course you can laugh at me and say i didn't do my homework, but what's that gonna solve? People are harsh in there judgment and i miss a bit of understanding even though i am/was wrong.

@ro: Thanks for your reaction, it all makes sense to me now. In the end it's just misconception on my part

By gdx

Enlighted (6644)

19-11-2023, 08:54

davince wrote:

But can you understand the confusion from my part or somebody else who simply stumbles upon a news article about a new msx2 game? And the confusion you get when there's a donate button on a webpage dedicated to that specific game? I guess not....

Yes, but it would be preferable if the rules clarified all of this and especially on the donation page.

davince wrote:

In the end only a few games that entered in the MSXDev competition will end up as a cartridge.

In general the games are improved before for sale. I'm a little disappointed for Eggy's Maze because I thought that was going to be the case.

By jbikker

Resident (60)

19-11-2023, 10:54

I did improve Eggy's Maze several times since the initial release based on feedback (including yours!). The only mistake I made is then that I made all these improvements available for free? The only solution for your disappointment is then is to simply not buy the cartridge...

By gdx

Enlighted (6644)

19-11-2023, 13:35

It's not that kind of improvement I'm talking about but more stage or more music for example. The game is very good but its lifespan is short.

By ro

Scribe (5130)

19-11-2023, 13:36

It took me a moment to realize that the following lines, which are printed at every news post on msxdev, feeding confusion

Did you enjoy this MSXdev game? Well, why not consider donating to the prize money or sponsor the winner’s-loot-box by submitting a physical reward? 100% of the donations will go to the developers.

Harmless as it may seem, if you have no context, this might look like a donation is for the game in question, yes. Good point that might need tuning. Dunno how many ppl are mislead by this, tho.

Assumptions are the mother, right.

Thanks for the clarification Davince.

By Manuel

Ascended (19817)

19-11-2023, 23:52

Not sure either... there is a text "Support the contest" above the donate button, right? But yeah, who knows how someone can read and understand this without having all the prior knowledge most of us do. Hard to imagine.

All in all: thank you for all the support Davince!

By davince

Resident (42)

22-11-2023, 10:57

Hi, let me try not to start everything over as i'm more than happy now! I now have proper understanding of the contest
But be warned....i'm a guy using lots of words and crazy ideas

Recap:It was my mistake caused by spending 99% of the time playing and completing the game Eggy's Maze
After completing I wanted to give the developers a token of appreciation, so looked for a way to donate.
Given the text "100% of the donations will go to the developers." and having real basic knowledge that this game is part of a contest I simply assumed i donated directly to the developers of the game participating in a contest.

If i may suggest some improvements for the text (feel absolutely free to ignore them...i'm just trying to help out):
- change : "100% of the donations will go to the developers." to "100% of the donations will go to winning entries of the contest determined on a later moment." (This makes clear that donation is not necessarily going to this specific entry)

The text "Support the contest" also applied to me thinking I was donating for specific game, so it's kind of ambiguous, because donating to developers directly makes them want to attend the contest.
That being said, maybe it's an idea to do more with way of donating? It's my understanding that last year all price money went to Lilly's Saga, right ? Leaving all other entries with no prize money/goodies?

So the situation could arise (correct me if i'm wrong!) that people (thinking they) donate for specific game(because they enjoyed playing that specific game) but if that entry does not win the money goes to another entry?
So to me it would sound fair that an extra option will be offered:

make general donation for the contest OR
donate with certain game favoured

When choosing to make donation with certain game favoured, you could perhaps offer some options:

a part of that donation directly goes to that game. eg. 25% and rest goes to general prize money OR/AND
The jury could use that donation information as a public vote indicator which they can weight in there final judgement.

See above as inspiration and most of all feel free to keep as is as it seems to work well for you guys! Keep up the good work! And perhaps meet some of you at MSXGOTO40

By ro

Scribe (5130)

24-11-2023, 19:10

Perhaps it is time to get familiar with msxdev. Prize money is divided by first four winners and the lootbox can be for every one, if there's enough items in it.

But, keep ideas coming!

By davince

Resident (42)

27-11-2023, 08:46

haha it's better to back off, feeling more stupid everytime. But believe me I downloaded the jury report for 2022 to get a glue of the division of the prize money. But it's not in the report
Not here: https://www.msxdev.org/2022/11/11/msxdev22-results/ and not in the PDF :-?
But just now i found that the info is here: https://www.msxdev.org/msxdev22/. A bit confusing for me or newcomers.

By shalafi

Master (194)

29-11-2023, 23:28

I think the rewording is a great idea. Most of us have previous knowledge and fresh eyes can show us a lot. I think the suggestions are great.

On the topic of donating to a game, I think they can always have a donation box on their own, maybe once the contest has finished ????‍♀️. The idea of donating to the contest is IMHO to encourage more people to join, more than reward the ones already submitted.

But that's just my opinion, the monetary price was never a factor for me entering the contest????‍♀️

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