You should just come and live in crisis-struck Iceland. With the current exchange rates to the dollar it would make your one sale look a lot bigger Good luck to you, anyways.
Well, I just gave it a try. It's a solid effort. I suspect you may suffer from being identified with the "Farting Boobs" app.. You audience is the puzzler crowd. You must reach them if you want to overcome "Farting Boobs". In a way your sense of humor might have become an obstacle.
Thanks, Scott. I agree that the existence of Farting Boobs is probably not a selling point to the demographic I was hoping to attract for Fumbers. I think however that you might overestimate people's general awareness of "Farting Boobs"(?) @YmirMobile Really? I thought you were all coming over here to work these days.
You may be right. However, when I search for Nor Eagle(on the iPhone), four apps pop up. Fumbers looks like the only one that is serious. That's only after I've played Fumbers.
Which is fairly accurate actually. I don't believe anyone but myself (and you apparently) actually searches for Nor Eagle anyway. I belive the reality is that the majority of people have no interest in who created the app anyway. They might recall a name like EA or Gameloft but apart from that I think we're mostly invisible.
Maybe I'm anal, but I always see what other apps are made by a dev before I buy something - to see what sorts of apps and what sorts of ratings they've gotten - showing what sort of "track record" the dev has and/or what sorts of things they're known for/good at. (Less concerned about money wasted than time/space wasted, I've got way too many apps and not enough time to play 'em... )
May not be worth anything, but would suggest you somehow separate (diff. brands?) your product types. Shoppers may be looking at your other products to get an idea of what you make. Right now Fumbers(which is very good) is sandwiched between a foulmouthed monk and a rack with a suprise. As an example, I really enjoyed Crusade of Destiny, but I almost didn't buy it. When I looked at what Dvide Arts produced, it seemed out of place. I had few games at the time so I risked it. Dvide Arts' other products almost convinced me not to buy.
Well it should be fairly obvious by now that I haven't got a clue about the market. ;-) I have actually thought about removing F. B. From the app store alltogether. It seems that for every person "getting it" there are at least two people taking offense and I don't really care to have "the farting boob guy" engraved on my tombstone. On the other hand I'm not sure just how representative ta-regulars are of the public at large. It's fairly obvious that anyone spending their time in a forum such as this have much more than a casual interest in the iphone gaming scene. I really welcome your input and would love to hear what others think about the atter as well.
Yeah, knowing the market would be worth it's weight in gold. With puzzlers I wonder how much of you target audience might be women. It's possible that they may not appreciate the subtle humor of "Farting Boobs". Anyway, this is just my personal observations. Hopefully others can be of more help.
I agree with drelbs. I check to see what other apps a dev has out there, and, honestly, what I see can influence my decision to buy.
Try not to worry about it nick, my last game was epic fail, im 5k down on it ( 2k in real money ), but what ive learned over the last year.. you could pay that for a course. there seems to be a bigger move toward higher quality titles around the 1.99 / 2.99 mark ( more than 1 main game mechanic ), rather than 99c, going in at the lowest tier means you have nowhere to go and the kids love a sale. for your next game try ripping off another succesful title, so many people have done it, the botttom line is sales as much as everyone seems to say we just make these for fun, fun doesnt buy food. so, go for it, ragdoll zombie pirate control.
Don't feel too bad. After a year and 5 attempts I've got an app in the charts, almost by accident. After I did Skull for Hallowe'en and having it approved way too late, I decided to take the voice processing engine from it and release it as Voice Changer Plus. It was getting some downloads, so I reworked the UI (which admittedly sucked), added a bunch of new voice effects, and now it's #1 in the entertainment category in 40 countries, and it's #1 overall in the Netherlands! I guess my point is, be flexible, listen to feedback, and be patient. And don't quit your day job :-\
I really don't worry about it, it's all part of the learning process. However: If it is true that my crap-apps actually hurt my business it is something I will have to deal with...
Well I am a woman and a puzzle nerd and I would not be too offended by your farting-boobs But I also dont check out the developers protfolio before I buy an App. Anyways I think the puzzle-market is just one of the hardest. We are also really struggling to get Ringo out there.
Hi NickFalk, I see your Flumbers ads on TA website and forums. How this ads change situation with your game? Of course if this not a secret.
Way too early to tell. The click-through rates are not stellar, but I figure Fumbers chance of making it big are long since gone. As I had already secured the ad-space I had to use it for something anyway, and my hopes are that it might help build some awareness of "nor eagle" in the long term. (Which is why I link to the website rather than the AppStore).
i like that you are going for the sympathy vote with the ad here. made me think about it. many devs have improved poor sales by making a joke out of it.
I don't think these adds will help, honestly. I understand your humor and appreciate it, but... most people want good games, not games that are "not completely crap". And your game is a reasonably good casual game. I'm still playing it from time to time. I also suspect that the majority of people won't be appealed by knowing that it was a big failure and you shouldn't highlight it. You probably think you've nothing to lose trying this approach, but since I believe you're spending money for the banners, I just wanted to say that in my opinion "traditional" advertising might have better chances to change the things.
