Drag the basic template into the editor, then drag in the scene template.

With that, the main framework of the game is set. After players enter the game, they can drive their cars and speed along the desert highway.

But, the purchased assets can’t go to waste either.

Eric Bennett also added a radio function to the vehicles, so players can turn on the radio while driving and listen to random music.

It’s all some niche music or very traditional classic tracks; as for those popular hit songs, there’s no way you could buy them for this little money.

Next comes a rather crucial question.

What exactly is the core gameplay of this game?

Eric Bennett himself didn’t know.

A racing competition?

Forget it, there’s no money for that.

He could only afford a basic template, just one car skin, and only one scene.

Those complex tracks, beautiful cars, and the programming for racing gameplay—none of that is affordable!

How can you make gameplay if you can’t afford it?

Eric Bennett slapped his forehead—got it.

The core gameplay of the game is very simple: just drive!

Drive from the starting point to the finish line, and you clear the game!

But that alone won’t do. It’s all cobbled together from generic assets, with zero gameplay innovation. It probably wouldn’t even pass review.

He had to make some changes to ensure the game could pass review; but those changes couldn’t be too good—he had to make sure the game would lose money, and that no one would want to play it!

Eric Bennett thought for a moment, then simply made the desert track scene infinitely long.

Stretched it so the total game time is 8 hours!

That’s right, players need to drive on this road for 8 hours to reach the finish line, and during that time, the desert highway will curve every so often.

If players think they can just hold down one key to clear the game, that’s impossible.

This way, the gameplay is different from typical driving simulators on the market, so it should pass review.

And with such a ridiculous gameplay mechanic, wouldn’t players just roast the game to death? There’s no way this game could make money!

Eric Bennett was excited, feeling like an absolute genius.

Finally, he used a very crude method to make a game completion screen, just displaying a single line: “Congratulations, you’ve successfully wasted 8 precious hours of your life!”

Even if someone actually manages to finish the game, it should make them so mad they’ll never play any of my company’s games again!

The purchased leaderboard function couldn’t go to waste either, so he made a “Time Wasted Leaderboard” to track each player’s “number of completions” and “effective play time.”

This leaderboard is pretty much useless, it’s just there to make use of the feature he paid for.

In no time at all, it was done.

All these features are the most basic of basics supported by the editor, just requiring some simple drag-and-drop and parameter changes—pretty much anyone with hands could do it.

Self-learning the editor, buying assets, making the game—all together, it took less than two hours.

“With a game this dumb, I’m guaranteed to lose money!”

Eric Bennett finished the game and did a test run on his own computer.

He quit after five minutes, almost threw up.

All you do is drive, drive, drive—boredom to the max!

Eric Bennett was very satisfied, and immediately published the game.

Game title: “Lonely Desert Highway.”

Game description: Drive alone for several hours on a desert highway, and you might gain some reflections on life.

When writing the description, Eric Bennett was quite conflicted.

Brag about himself? Not appropriate—what if it actually attracts a bunch of clickbait types and he loses less money?

Trash himself? Also not appropriate—that’s too obvious. On one hand, he’s worried the system will flag it as a violation; on the other, he’s afraid it’ll trigger players’ rebellious psychology—the more you say the game is trash, the more they’ll want to play.

So, he wrote the description honestly, making sure players would lose interest just by reading it!

Next was pricing.

Eric Bennett set the price at 1 yuan.

He didn’t want to set it too high—if it’s too high and a few idiots impulsively buy it, he’d lose less money!

With the price low enough, even if a few dozen players buy it, it won’t affect Eric Bennett’s losses much.

After everything was done, Eric Bennett uploaded the game, waiting for it to pass review and automatically go live on the official platform.

This process usually takes anywhere from a few hours to two or three days.

The official platform’s recommendation system is fully automated. New games in the same batch are recommended based on data changes, and unless there’s malicious leaderboard manipulation, the staff won’t intervene.

Eric Bennett wasn’t worried at all.

With such a trash game, once it’s released, it’ll definitely be ignored and flop instantly. After two weeks, he’ll get his fifty thousand yuan—how sweet is that!

Eric Bennett closed his laptop, feeling relaxed and a wave of happiness washed over him!

Chapter 4: Looking for Trash Games

At noon, the roommates all came back.

Brian Carter was carrying a plastic bag with food he’d just bought from the cafeteria.

“Eric, you’ve really got guts, huh? Actually skipping class? But you got lucky this time—the associate dean didn’t take attendance.” Brian Carter had a look on his face like, “You lucky dog, what kind of crap luck is this?”