Meet the man from Queensland who quit his full-time job to create a hugely successful, honest, Aussie-themed Dinkum video game.
The game is called Dinkum and sees players start a new life on a fictional Australian island, start a farm, go deep into the mines, build a city and make new friends.
The island inhabits different kinds of Aussie animals, but not as you know them.
Kangaroos hop around with antlers, the Tasmanian devils can breathe fire and the wombats are five times larger than average.
It all comes from the mind of one man, James Bendon.
Born and raised in the Queensland country, Bendon never imagined he would make video games for a living.
Before Dinkum, Bendon studied graphic design and illustration and worked in retail.
A few years ago, he quit his job and risked everything to create his own Aussie adventure, and Bendon doesn’t look back.
“I don’t have a background in game development, this was just a hobby – I taught myself to code, I taught myself 3D modeling, I taught myself Unity and I’ve always loved doing it.” he said.
Unlike most people, Bendon didn’t jump into a TV streaming binge fest every night, he said he came home from work, sat down at his computer and did this as a hobby.
“Now it’s finally my job! I’m quite happy with that,” he said.
So how many people play Dinkum? Bendon couldn’t reveal the real sales figure, but says the reception has exceeded all expectations.
“I expected to sell about 60,000 in my first year and you know, there are 10,000 people playing it almost every hour of the day. So I’m completely blown away,” he said.
Strut! For a game made by one man alone – that’s impressive.
Bendon started Dinkum in November 2017, drawing inspiration from games such as Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley and Harvest Moon.
While Dinkum is not yet fully released, it has been available in early access since July of this year and players are expressing their love for the title.
“I’ve sold more than I can imagine, more than I expected in my entire life… So it was overwhelming,” he said.
“It’s still in early access. But I thought there were plenty of features, you know, I was considering doing a full release — but I like how the community can get involved in the development,” Bendon said, explaining that he will likely continue to work on the game for at least another year.
“I really enjoy hearing all the suggestions and feedback,” he said.
Bendon says he just wants everyone to have fun playing the game.
“I just want them to know it’s fun for all ages, it’s co-op so you can play it with your kids — I can’t wait to play it with my daughter,” he said.
Online reviews are “overwhelmingly positive,” with thousands of people eager to share their thoughts on this Aussie adventure.
Dinkum was also bread and butter for Aussie video game streamers, many seeing a huge increase in viewership since sharing the game with their audience.
Australian streamer Matt Jurd, known online as Jurdman, says he has seen a huge stream of viewers since playing the game via the streaming platform Twitch.
“My viewership has quadrupled,” Jurd said.
“I’ve had viewers come and visit my island. I’ve visited their islands on tours to see what they’ve been up to – everyone’s worlds are so different.”
Jurdman says Dinkum perfectly combines the best bits of all games in the “social farm” genre.
“It’s one of the most polished early access games I’ve ever played, which is a miracle when you consider it was made by a solo developer,” he said.
“If you like Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, My Time at Portia, Sandrock, Story of Seasons, Harvest Moon then this game should be on your radar.”
I had to see what all the fuss was about, and for under thirty bucks on Steam you can’t go wrong.
I blinked and I’ve been in the game for 10 hours now, I now have my own island house, an island shop and even a museum. Bloody ripper!
Dinkum is now available to play on PC via Steam Early Access, the official release date is coming. Bendon says he has plans to bring it to consoles sometime in the future.
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