The iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch Gaming |Thread4| NOT Doomed

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fooyee said:
Brainsss came out a little over a month ago and some stats were released on our sales:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505124_...tag=cbsnewsSectionsArea;cbsnewsSectionsArea.1

The game hasn't sold very well even though we were featured by Apple. I'm curious to hear the thoughts of the community and opinions of other developers.

This isn't a post on Brainsss, I just wanted to spark a discussion on if iOS development is viable or not.
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The fact some developers are having enormous success (Plague Inc is a nice, recent example), I'm thinking iOS development is fairly viable.

I followed your game over on TA before it released, and my interest was definitely piqued. It has zombies (+1), it looked great (+1), and it seemed to have experienced folks working on it (+1).

Now then...

Wasn't clear how the game was going to control (-1). Reviews criticized lack of control over units and lack of content (-1). Price just wasn't there for me because of 1 & 2 (-1).

I ended up not buying your game. But it is on my AppShopper wishlist for when and if it hits a buck or less. If any of my comments tell you anything about your approach, then great.

Suggestion: Do what Jaffe does. Find some games that knock your socks off -- not technically or tickle your developer clit -- but games that just bowl you over with a sense of fun, and think about how you can make them better. This game seems like something you guys tinkered with, with all your techno wizardry and the like, but I wonder if it truly brings all your passion, blood, sweat, tears, and next month's rent to bear.

I don't know the first thing about game development. Just sayin'...
 
ChackanKun said:
What?!?! Who wants to play some Async Worms 2??
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Can someone let me know how the game is and how the async implementation is?

There's "async" (most apps -- janky notification, hard to know when it's your turn, hard to see all your games)

And there's "async" (carcassonne -- perfect and beautiful)
 
mikespit1200 said:
I just started playing Ascension and really like it. Which if any in game expansions should I get?
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All of them except the promo cards. (So, two)
 
AstroLad said:
Can someone let me know how the game is and how the async implementation is?

There's "async" (most apps -- janky notification, hard to know when it's your turn, hard to see all your games)

And there's "async" (carcassonne -- perfect and beautiful)
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Well, there's no easing you into the game, as far as controls go, but if you go into the options menu there's a "how to" guide that walks you through the basics. Once you get all that out of the way, the controls actually work pretty darn well, considering...

The async also works fairly well. I don't own Carcassonne -- and judging from your past comments in this thread, I don't think anything can hold a candle to that game for you personally -- but everything is done through GC. Basically, you can start a new game, and if there's no player yet available, your turn will be sent off (to their servers?). Depending on how quickly your matched-up partner is, you're good to go. I've only got two games going right now, as I'm still not sure how much time I'm willing to invest in the game (solely because of its ungodly file size), but I imagine you can have quite a few games going at once. I haven't had any trouble finding other folks. I guess the sale has boosted the community a bit.

Overall, though, it's a solid Worms game. There seems to be a lot more shit unlocked from the start compared to past Worms games I've played, and all the accents and extras are in full supply.
 
Gez said:
They still need to add a virtual D-Pad and buttons. I don't like tapping into nothingness. Also the game is 700meg lol.
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There's no reason for the big file size, but I actually like the controls a lot. Looks great on a retina iPhone screen, and works pretty well. Took me a few minutes to get everything down, including acrobatic rope swings.

I recommend for any worms fans.
 
GeekyDad said:
The fact some developers are having enormous success (Plague Inc is a nice, recent example), I'm thinking iOS development is fairly viable.

I followed your game over on TA before it released, and my interest was definitely piqued. It has zombies (+1), it looked great (+1), and it seemed to have experienced folks working on it (+1).

Now then...

Wasn't clear how the game was going to control (-1). Reviews criticized lack of control over units and lack of content (-1). Price just wasn't there for me because of 1 & 2 (-1).

I ended up not buying your game. But it is on my AppShopper wishlist for when and if it hits a buck or less. If any of my comments tell you anything about your approach, then great.

Suggestion: Do what Jaffe does. Find some games that knock your socks off -- not technically or tickle your developer clit -- but games that just bowl you over with a sense of fun, and think about how you can make them better. This game seems like something you guys tinkered with, with all your techno wizardry and the like, but I wonder if it truly brings all your passion, blood, sweat, tears, and next month's rent to bear.

I don't know the first thing about game development. Just sayin'...
Click to expand...

I get what you're saying but Plague, Inc seems to be in the minority. Ski Safari is another game that was number 1 for several weeks, which is great and probably made a fair amount of money, but for every one of these games, there are dozens of other games that never make it into the top 100, and I'm wondering if that's a problem. I don't think you can take a couple successful games and simply say it's a viable market.

I'd like to think Brainsss did above average compared to other games for the simple fact that we were featured on the store for a week.

It also could be said that game like Brainsss just isn't very good and therefore didn't sell, which I can't really argue with because it's an opinion. I'm just wondering how the average developer is doing in terms of sales.
 
fooyee said:
I get what you're saying but Plague, Inc seems to be in the minority. Ski Safari is another game that was number 1 for several weeks, which is great and probably made a fair amount of money, but for every one of these games, there are dozens of other games that never make it into the top 100, and I'm wondering if that's a problem. I don't think you can take a couple successful games and simply say it's a viable market.

I'd like to think Brainsss did above average compared to other games for the simple fact that we were featured on the store for a week.

It also could be said that game like Brainsss just isn't very good and therefore didn't sell, which I can't really argue with because it's an opinion. I'm just wondering how the average developer is doing in terms of sales.
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Games that can be played in addictive and short bursts seem to ALWAYS do well on the app store. Pair that with getting a lucky hit on TA and you're gold. I'm looking on my iPad right now...

Top Paid iPhone Apps:
Plague, Inc.
Catapult King
Angry Birds Space
Adventure Time -Legends of Ooo: Big Hollow Princess
Fruit Ninja
Where's My Water

Plague, Inc. is the outlier to me. Adventure Time has a big following on Cartoon Network. The rest of those games are all games you can play for 30 seconds and still feel slightly accomplished.

The next 6 are the exact same, with Minecraft being the oddball. But it's fucking Minecraft.

I can't comment on the entirety of the situation, but iOS comes off [to me] as being one of the most brutally difficult platforms to do well on.
 
StarCreator said:
Just as a warning, for gaming there is a bit of latency when streaming content wirelessly from your phone to an Apple TV. If you're willing to play on a leash this can be resolved by using the Digital AV Adapter (Apple's name for HDMI, apparently) - the HDMI connection should be identical to what you get with the Apple TV, minus the latency.
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Oh, so that does the mirroring thing as well, out of the box? Had no idea, and I'm guessing it'd be a fair whack cheaper, too. I'll suss that out. Thanks!
 
Does anybody have any impressions on Cardinal Quest. It came out today and is a rogue like game. It looks pretty interesting, just wondered if any gaffers have tried either on on iOS or PC?
 
Ranger X said:
I don't know if this has been mentionned but...


DRAW RACE 2 is on sale 99c. Excellent and original racing game there. Grab it!

http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/drawrace-2/id433127774?mt=8

:)
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This is absolutely worth a pack of gum.

xPDZG.jpg
 
Good Plague Inc. update out.

1. New events and achievements (e.g. global warming, anarchist bombs and economic meltdown)
2. Major performance upgrade – e.g. fixes unlock + stability issues on iPad 1 and iPod 4
3. iCloud synchronisation - keep your unlocked disease types on multiple devices
4. Accelerated Unlock – Option to pay to unlock diseases faster if you don’t want to play properly :P
5. And many other game balance / AI / interface improvements

We have future updates planned – let us know what you want in them! (Plans may involve zombies!)
(note - old saves will not work with the update)
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fooyee said:
I get what you're saying but Plague, Inc seems to be in the minority. Ski Safari is another game that was number 1 for several weeks, which is great and probably made a fair amount of money, but for every one of these games, there are dozens of other games that never make it into the top 100, and I'm wondering if that's a problem. I don't think you can take a couple successful games and simply say it's a viable market.

I'd like to think Brainsss did above average compared to other games for the simple fact that we were featured on the store for a week.

It also could be said that game like Brainsss just isn't very good and therefore didn't sell, which I can't really argue with because it's an opinion. I'm just wondering how the average developer is doing in terms of sales.
Click to expand...

Well, I agree with everything you said, but one thing to keep in mind, specifically regarding my previous comment, is that the game is on my AppShopper wishlist. What I mean by mentioning that again is that is does, indeed, look like something I would enjoy, but that price point has to promise more than that, and I can't really say it does for me. It looks like a cute, fun, little game I'd have fun with for a very short while and then erase it and forget about it. At $0.99 out of the gate, along with catchy features, I think you might have done better.

You're right, the iOS market is finicky, but not necessarily to the point of being unreadable. I think some devs are making it out to be a mystery wrapped in a riddle covered with cheese topping any time they experience a financial failure, rather than figuring out where the market succeeds before setting out to make a game. At least you're asking the questions. That seems like a good start.

Don't hesitate to throw beta-testing options out there to places like TA. Those folks seem very open to that sort of thing, and if you solicit honest feedback, I imagine most will offer it.
 
Is a game usually featured for a set period of time? I remember hearing about Brainsss on here and thinking it was interesting pre release and was going to look for it. For whatever reason I never happened to see it featured and just didn't follow up on it.

IMO, if the game is good, the other thing that's important is buzz. If it were me, after being featured and a month in would be time for a .99 sale. Then after another month maybe a 1.99 sale. Sure, it gets you the quick shot of sales but more importantly it gives you more of a chance for people to play your game.

Get it into more hands, generate more word of mouth. The more activity on a game the better chance you have to get a pair of eyes on it. It'll get mentioned again in places like here, it'll get popped up on lists for apps like AppShopper, might get another mention on places like TA, etc. etc. With so much competition it would seem to me the most important thing to do is not get lost in the crowd.

I've even bought games that I may have missed a sale on simply because I saw it was well received by people who bought it during the sale.
 
So minecraft is never going to drop in price, is it?

Still need 2000 points to get that $15 iTunes gift card from freemyapps. They basically stopped adding any new gifts. Bleh.
 
Oh man, I love app update day. Checked this morning, one update (Civ Rev).
Check now. SIX! Edge + Edge Extended, InstaCRT, Plague Inc and Little Things Forever. Woo!
 
fooyee said:
Brainsss came out a little over a month ago and some stats were released on our sales:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505124_...tag=cbsnewsSectionsArea;cbsnewsSectionsArea.1

The game hasn't sold very well even though we were featured by Apple. I'm curious to hear the thoughts of the community and opinions of other developers.

This isn't a post on Brainsss, I just wanted to spark a discussion on if iOS development is viable or not.
Click to expand...

I know you want more general commentary on iOS dev viability, but some quick comments below on things you could do that might help Brainsss specifically (excuse me if I come across a little blunt)

- your icon needs to stand out more and be more polished. It is too muted amongst other icons on the store.

- the first line of your iTunes App Store text should be a creative/marketing line which tries to hook the player in and speaks to what the game is, not a compatibility warning.

- put some text callouts on your App Store screenshots that highlight the features of the game (you note screens are an issue on the website already).

- a $2.99 price point is a tough ask as a paid download. Plants vs Zombies can get away with it because it has brand recognition and Popcap's traffic behind it. You should experiment with pricing such as dropping your game to 99c or free (given you have IAP). It doesn't appear like you have done so yet via AppShopper.

- if you aren't converting many people with the IAP, consider dropping the price points of the IAP drastically.

- if you do end up switching your game to free, try to have an update out there first which includes Facebook and Twitter functionality to improve virality.

- beyond that, the paid model is in general becoming harder and harder on the App Store. You may consider moving your game free to play permanently over time. Any new apps I would design with that business model in mind.

- if you can get your game across to other platforms like Android for a low incremental cost, then you should consider doing so (I note you mention this on the website).


In general, the App Store (and mobile in a broader sense) is becoming a harder market because consumer expectations and the quality bar for entry and value for money are going up. It is becoming increasingly competitive.

In order to be successful, you need to think about your business holistically rather than one game at a time. Think about each game and how the design supports the business model and vice versa, how you can fund multiple products to build up a portfolio, think about how those products can build and share a userbase, and think about how that content can be leveraged to deliver increasing revenues over time.

You've learned a lot from your first title, so use that to improve this game and have a better start to the next.

Hope this helps.
 
Haven't played much iPad games lately, as I've bought a new laptop to play Diablo III. But that GoF2 sale was too much to pass up.

So... just need time to play it.

Anyone have a "make time to play games" app?
 
This may be a dumb question, but why do game devs put all their eggs into the iOS basket? Is the amount of work to make it for both platforms that onerous? You have this huge market of casual gamers on the PC constantly looking for new content and many different ways to get paid/noticed (Armor Games, Kongregate, etc).

You look at a game like Kingdom Rush, it had a huge following on the PC and still had great sales on the Ipad. The two platforms did not negate each other. If anything, the amazing word of mouth on the PC fed into the Ipad awareness. Granted, KR is one of the best games of it's genre .. but I'm sure there are other games that have succeeded in such a manner.


Here's an in-depth look at one devs experience trying to sell a PC flash game to the masses. This was 2010, so maybe the dynamics have changed.
 
ToxicAdam said:
This may be a dumb question, but why do game devs put all their eggs into the iOS basket? Is the amount of work to make it for both platforms that onerous? You have this huge market of casual gamers on the PC constantly looking for new content and many different ways to get paid/noticed (Armor Games, Kongregate, etc).
Click to expand...

A lot of iOS devs are small so it is difficult to support multiple platforms considering the combination of technical, support, business, and differing control paradigm challenges.

Technology like Unity helps solve some of that burden, but not all of it.
 
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