screenshots are really really important, as I am sure you know. People will judge your game by the name, then the icon, then the screenshots - if you've not got their interest by that point, then they'll move on. Videos help but it will still be difficult to get the majority of the potential market to check out your youtube video as well (and therefore a chance to see the gameplay). In your case, it's constantly mentioned in this thread how your app "looks like a match-3" and that's likely what most folks will expect when they give a cursory glance at your game. Do what you can to make the screens as enticing as possible, then (look at what many others with similar issues have done) As for contests/prizes as some have suggested - I dd this awhile ago and thought it was a GREAT idea. Turned out to be a huge waste of money, and yes I built the contest promotion into my regular PR announcements. I'm not saying I went about it the best way in my case, but know that just "having" a contest doesn't mean many people will ever even know about it (or care). I would probably try it again under different circumstances, but it is definitely something to be wary about. I'll check out the demo as well __________________ twitter - HeadcaseGames.com Puzzling has Evolved - Get 180! FreeAppTracker.com Win ANY app you want, daily!
May I ask what kind of contest you have tried to do for your app? I was thinking for the launch of another game of maybe making some kind of contest where they have to buy the game, then post a comment on facebook game page and the one who gets the most likes would win some device, like for example an iPad.
I ran a contest where the winner had their choice of an iPad, Xbox 360, or PS3 (guess which one they chose!) For our game 180, the winner had to complete all 27 achievements in openFeint - they were difficult! Even as the game's creator, I had to work really hard to beat them myself (and I've played the game for probably hundreds of hours at that point..) On top of that we gifted iTunes certificates to the top OF scorers. I made a bunch of noise across my social networks about the competition (thousands of followers) and ran some prety good viral campaigns to spread the word, made a dedicated website to clearly explain things, spent a lot of time and energy getting the word out on here and other places as well. Unfortunately it was never enough to "catch" and ultimately fell far short of my expectations (and ultimately, a gamer found an exploit in our game which made it very easy to win the contest - that's my own fault for letting that bug slip through, however). Moral of the story, make sure you put in some serious failsafe devices to cover your butt, and don't overestimate the visibility of a relatively "small" promotion that few people will ever be able to notice.. __________________ twitter - HeadcaseGames.com Puzzling has Evolved - Get 180! FreeAppTracker.com Win ANY app you want, daily!
Interesting info there I better concentrate on making the game as addictive and polsihed as possible, and probably leave the marketing to someone who is really into it. I'm gonna check out your 180 game
After playing through the lite version I'd say the graphics are letting you down. The gameplay is pretty solid. Why I'm picking on the graphics is because there is nothing for anyone to identify with. If you look at some successful puzzle games they tend to relate to something real and identifiable. Blocks, pipes, gems, cars, tiles, doodles etc. Currently you are using very functional shapes with no real relatable properties. On top of that there is some electrical imagery along with tile flipping. These are three disparate unrelated metaphors that don't build a cohesive imagery in your game. I would suggest you pick a more cohesive theme and run with it. A simple one would be turning all light bulbs on. This would fit with the current electrical effect. Other possibilities like connecting water pipes, power grid, or whatever. Not only will this look better but it'll also tell someone instinctively what their goal is. Making "all the buttons light blue" isn't so self explanatory or pretty. So I think if you pick a theme that relates to the mechanics and or creates imagery people can relate to, and are familiar with, you might be able to trigger some more nuerons in peoples brains and get them to part with cash.
@JChurch Thanks for pointing that out so clearly. The theme was always like a splinter inside my head and I think you really hit the nail on it's head P.S. I'm flattered that your first post was to reply to my thread
