There is also luck involved. You shouldn't expect that if you research the strategies used by successful games that yours will follow the same pattern. Look at Flappy Bird, I think that game was on the App Store for about 8 months before it got more than a few hundred downloads. Then suddenly, for an inexplicable reason, every device on Earth had the game. It may just take the luck of the right person at the right time to come across your game and it can spread exponentially. The market is very unpredictable.
This is a serious question. Did anyone do well releasing an app similar in quality to these on the app store? I am trying to figure out where this myth comes from. I can only think of Prism and Trainyard that were AppStore ( 1 person team ) hits and both of them where well made games that their creators spent a lot of time polishing.
By moving to another "Market" what do you hope will change? You are better off learning to produce higher quality games first. Then if you do choose to change to PC/Console/Web games you will have learned the skill of making good games to take with you to these platforms. Take a look at "Thomas Was Alone" as a game that just uses shapes and audio commentary to create a compelling game experience.
I think a lot of 'gamers' are now leaving iOS because freemium and iap riddled trash have totally swamped the App Store and it makes it very difficult to find much else. I have to admit to being one of them, back when the ipad2 was new the App Store was awesome and almost each week brought great new titles, sadly I think in the last year the quality of App Store games have mostly plummeted as 95% of the devs want to cash in on a quick buck and good devs are hidden in the sea of crap. I've not bought a game for months and now I mainly use my iPad Air for browsing as it's no longer my device of choice for handheld gaming purely due to being sick of wading through mounds of freemium **** in order to find something good.
I think most of what you say is true but there are still great games you just have to find them. The problem is you need sites like toucharcade where the players drive game popularity rather than just seeing paid reviews on other sites.
Only the worst type of "gamer" is "leaving iOS," and it's hard to say that's a bad thing. The glass half empty crowd loves crying over how IAP has ruined the App Store and all this ridiculous stuff while straight up choosing to ignore the fact that more great games than ever before are being released on a weekly basis. Comparing iOS to quite literally any other platform makes these arguments straight up laughable. Compare the games that have come out this year to another portable platform like the 3DS. This week alone on iOS we've got two absolutely classic games that have been ported over, two totally unique RPG's, some great strategy games, some interesting puzzle games, and more. If you "leave iOS" to play your 3DS instead you'll be sitting there with your finger up your nose for the next two weeks waiting for Majora's Mask to launch on the 13th. After that, the release landscape gets even more bleak. But, it's easier to ignore all that and focus on the fact that millions of people love playing Clash of Clans, because it's a very easy argument to make backed up by an echo chamber of countless like-minded individuals who love circle jerking themselves raw over how IAP has ruined everything. The more people like this who "leave iOS" the better, as this echo chamber is terrible, factually incorrect, but somehow loud and obnoxious enough that other people believe it. I just wish people with this ultra-toxic mindset actually stuck to their guns and left the iOS scene instead of deciding they've "quit" iOS gaming yet somehow mysteriously can't stop posting about it. When I don't like something, I move on and focus on something I do enjoy instead of taking up residence as a complete dingleberry constantly tugging at the butt hairs of anyone who is actually excited about playing video games on their iPhone or iPad
Wouldn't be similar in quality to the OP's apps. But yes a good example of a quality 1 person app that has become a hit.
I think with the likes of Radiation Island hitting iphones its a huge plus to show what amazing games you can get for just a few dollars to play on your phone. Again you get all types of games, more basic ones, retro ones, stunning 3d ones like the one i mentioned. Yeah theres the whole freemium thing but for every freemium game theres a Leos Fortune, Monument Valley, Radiation Island and so on. Plus with so many iphones still being sold we're going to be good for a while yet with some great games coming out. I must admit i'm not buying as many as i did about 2 years ago (seemed about 5 games a week i was buying easily) but theres still a lot of quality premium games out there (and freemium ones to be fair) Still my favourite gaming platform since the great 8 bits of the 80's
10000000 was also made by one guy, but again, in both of these examples we're talking about truly exceptional games which have become instant classics. With how crowded the App Store is getting, if you're releasing something that isn't of that level of quality, you might as well not even bother. Just go buy a lottery ticket instead.
This thread is interesting, and looks like it could go south quickly. My two cents from my recent game release: I made my game, BattleMage, as a one man team. I iterated on it multiple times to get the level of polish to a point that I felt was close to competing with the best of it's kind. The game was reviewed by multiple mobile (not TouchArcade, but others),and indie sites and scored very well by those that reviewed it. Additionally the users at TouchArcade all gave very positive feedback. That said, the game didn't do well at all. Truthfully, I was probably still short of that next level of polish required to get an Apple feature or "big" media coverage, and my gameplay wasn't anything new or innovative. Releasing during a big week for new games probably hurt as well. Anyhow, I think really getting noticed comes down to a few things: 1. Level of polish on your game has to compete with the very best 2. If you're a nobody (in relation to game dev), your game better be something people haven't seen before 3. With both of those top two covered, you'll still need some luck, but it will be better mitigated
This is the most creative well written burn that I have ever read in my life! Sorry, mene, no offense.#
It's very hard to get traction these days, and the sad truth is BattleMage might have performed exactly the same even if you'd labored to further polish it. Some feedback on it for you: it looks pretty cool in action, but weak in screenshots. Your 34 minute game trailer could also badly use an edit. But I can tell you put a lot of love into it, and I hope you enjoyed the process. While I'm sure there's the occasional exception, these days apps need an Apple feature to have a chance at charting. Given that Apple decides what's featured the week(s) before release, post-release marketing isn't going to do the typical developer much good. Best bet is to come up with a game concept and aesthetic that has lots of online anticipation and excitement weeks before release, and hope that catches Apple's attention.
Thanks for the feedback! I definitely messed up the release date stuff, releasing my game pretty shortly after submitting to Apple. I completely agree on your point about building hype. If there is one thing I learned from BattleMage, it's to build a following early. Oh and that 34 minute game play video wasn't made by me lol, my trailer is only like 1 minute long
What he said is right. If it's a pixel game you are going to need the catchiest gameplay to get downloads. Something like Flappy Bird happens once a year and needs quite a bit of luck. I also read your other thread regarding an internship. You said you made 15 games in the last year or so, that's definitely not enough time to create a game with value. I suggest taking a bit more time to develop your next game. Think of an idea that would take at least 6-12 months before you can release it. In my opinion its better to release 1 quality game/year than 15 bad ones that get lost in the abyss. I am new to game development myself, I started learning last year in April and started my first game in June/July. 7 months later I am still working on the same game and it is almost ready to be released.. It's not amazing with crazy graphics as it is more of a hobby and my budget for this is limited.. But its certainly not a terrible game and has many features.
TA is a great site to promote games (I guess) but I never got a single response to needing testers or reviewing my games when they were available. I swear every single thread had at least one comment but I got absolutely nothing. So I don't know what I'm doing wrong or what people want these days but I feel like I should move on to other markets
It would be if the same post didn't also contain this gem: IAP is seen as the root of all evil by some. It isn't, but it can be used in nasty ways, just as freemium games can be. Remember how licenced games used to dominate on consoles, sometimes cheaply and badly put together to appeal to the grandparents for Christmas presents? The kid would know straight away, but the publisher already has the money. I would rather make freemium games as it is a lot easier not having to mess around with all these monetization tools, but that is not what the market wants, and I don't see any ethical problems with using IAP if applied correctly. So my future games will be "Get". While the dingleberries spend their time tugging, I will be enjoying the most diverse range of interesting games I have ever experienced. And I can afford to do that despite being a struggling indie, because I can try so much before paying.
I think one common misconception with game development in particular is that people often think: "I like to play games, so I know I'll be good at making them." Which is really quite strange imo. For ex, just bc I like movies or music doesn't mean I can make a great song or film - not even close. Game design and knowing how, why, and what makes a game fun is really a difficult, rare skill - and its usually a skill that developers of hit games have. And that's just the beginning. Having an eye for graphic design, sound design and everything else in between is another layer of talent that is needed. A lot of that is either "you have it or you don't", unfortunately. And that's not even getting into the whole marketing thing... which is yet another skill indie developers need. In this day and age with all the assets available for sale, plug and play engines like Unity, etc, anyone can theoretically make a great game - its just that knowing how to put it all together is what really makes someone good at developing games. Granted, there is definitely luck involved as well... someone can stumble on an awesome game idea by accident, and there certainly are games that have risen to the top that have been a bit schmeckmans (no one knows how the masses will react to any particular game). But still, you have to start with a good core, at the very least, as its the only aspect of development that is in your complete control - even if it is only part of the equation. So, in the end: is iOS game dev dead? imo no... the bar has just been risen enormously over the years. I think its safe to say that for the most part (of course there are still the rare exceptions), its now an industry mostly for professionals (which does still includes indie developers, mind you).
