Pricing question: How to price a game fairly?

teafood

The title isn't that great but here it is. I scoured through Google and Polycount's forums but most asked where to sell a game, can I sell a Unity game or how much should I charge per hour.  I read the Polycount Wiki for Freelance Rates which was helpful however, I still have questions. 

I found a web developer who showed interest of commissioning me to develop a game for his online avatar community. Think of like GaiaOnline but much smaller. He mentioned to me that his budget isn't large; so something like a MMO is not plausible. When I reference the Polycount Wiki:

Freelancer Type	US Day Rate	US Hourly	Overseas Day Rate	Overseas Hourly
Individual contractor	$300/day *	$37.50/hr *	$250 - 375/day	$31.25 - 47/hr

This gives me a nice visual in my head but this is more geared towards a 3D freelance artist than a 2D one. I having a feeling these are average rates whereas I'm a 0-2 yrs experience. 

[Your Desired Hourly Rate] x [How long it takes] makes sense for an individual, but does this work for a team, developing a game? Maybe that's a dumb question but I don't even know where to start in my prices. I don't have a game doc laid out. There's no concepts. 

Here's the thing, the developer doesn't have much restrictions on what this game should be. His only rule is that it's educational. It could be a game about frogs fighting math. Currently, I don't have a visual on what type of educational game is. I just approached him and said, "Hey would you be interested in having a game developed for your website?" It was a vague conversation. I've worked on game collaborations from a four person team to 10 person team. Out of the five collaborations I've worked on, I was a lead artist twice. So, I'm not a newbie but I wouldn't call myself an expert or anything. Also, I was never in the position to recruit people to the collaboration or work out the technical aspects (like starting a collab).

My main goal out of this whole thing is to gain a strong portfolio piece. I told the developer that I wasn't in it for the money. Yeah, being paid is great but I want a working finished game to showcase. I don't have any shipped titles. He still offered payment.

Here's a hypothetical outline:
Engine: Unity
Platform: Desktop, Android, iOS
Genre: 2D puzzle (ex. bubble shooter)
Time-frame: 4 months
Team: 3

• programmer: 2+ yrs experience
• 2D artist: 0-2 yrs experience
• animator: 0 yrs

There's obviously missing parts in this outline, like the team specifically. I do have people lined up to ask, but I'm unsure if I should work out the price now or reach out first? There's also the possibility the price can be rejected. A perfect scenario is that the other team members aren't influenced by money and more about developing a game. I feel like it makes more sense that I should approach them with an approximate price rather than gathering them and discussing a price point. But that makes me think, "Is that even fair on them though?" I feel all over the place and overwhelmed.

I need advice to help ground me how I should navigate this. I'm not looking for the 'right' answer but to be pointed in a smarter and efficient direction. 

Thank you.

RyanB

You probably want to use Phaser or a similar 2D HTML5 engine for a website.  Then, if you want to make a 2D bubble shooter you can find a Phaser game template and make whatever changes you want.  https://html5.gamedistribution.com/127c290309bb4b7096dab06c711ad58e/