Thanks, nice to hear some people like math puzzle, for a while I was feeling strange. Really like to hear back from you and please don't be polite with your comments. I want to know what is good and bad about the game. Every time I am on a bus or subway I find myself playing the game. I play the 3 x 3 and 4 x 4 easy level which only uses addition and sometimes venture into the deep dark scary woods of difficult to insane levels. I will try Lumosity.
No, no. I was commenting on the other guy's post there. If you see what he said you'll see why I said that.
I saw this reply first and then the visuals and I surprised as I was expecting beveled buttons, busy background images with lots of references to mathematics, cheesy character etc. What I saw was a simple clean interface, with flat UI. Looks like it does the job OK. Visuals are very subjective though, so what I see as clean and simple, could be see thought of as 'cheap'. The effort in getting a UI/UX can be underestimated though. Still not sure what could be seen as tacky though??
I love the fact that you can tell the developers who speak U.K English and U.S English on this post. As a U.K English speaker, it's really odd to see 'maths' said as 'math' As others have said, mathematics is something which people can hate. I wonder if you could promote it to schools though?
Thank you for your comments and trying the game. I was hoping it would be an alternative to Sudoku. I will take your suggestion and see if it is possible to promote it to schools.
Just download and will give it a go. I like math, which is why I like game programming really. My most "successful" app was a total math nerd app about harmonographs. By success, I mean it covers my annual fee and let's me buy a few games a week. For me that's ok as this is just a hobby. Edit: Just gave it a go, some feedback (feel free to ignore of course) I think you should have two levels of difficulty where on places the operators in their proper place. I'd like to try the levels with mixed opperators but having to place both is a bit much. When dragging, it initially felt awkward that the number wasn't centered under my finger. Another option would be to tap the thing you want to place, then tap where you want it to go. That might feel quicker. Dragging can get a bit tedious. In the menu, I thought the icons on the left should launch the game as well as using the standard play arrow at bottom. When the game finishes, it immediately went back to the menu. I didn't get to enjoy the solution. On the harder levels that's annoying.
Oh man I really love this game. Sorry for the delay by the way. I will say the visuals are nice and clean, and flat which meshes well with iOS 8. It is a real brain burner. I finished a 3x3 on easy mode and am now working on the 4x4, which even on easy really cranks it up a notch. I am going to get my wife to download it as well. I would say the only reason this hasn't taken off is that it is a niche genre. If you could find a way to target advertising at people who love math it would help drive some downloads. This game will probably never leave my phone honestly as while I am fairly proficient at math puzzles, the difficulty provided by an insane 4x4 is probably something I will strive to reach for a long time. Great work. I also left you a review on the app store.
Your comment makes it all worth while. I too love math too and find myself playing this a few times each day. Especially enjoyable when I have some quite time while enjoy a dry cappuccino
Very valuable suggestions. I will make some modifications as soon as the programmer and I get together next week. I agree the game goes to the score board too fast and does not give you a chance to enjoy the solution. I designed it with a touch and when you wanted to return a number back to the top you pressed and with a swipe it would go back to the top. It may have been changed because the math symbols are too small so you might mistake what you were touching. For sure we will review it when we get together to work on the next game. Once again thank you
UI design isn't subjective, art is. There's a difference! I think it looks tacky because: I see inconsistent spacing between elements inconsistent padding between numbers and box edges The plus boxes look like buttons The logo has white in it which looks bad Inconsistent vertical alignment of elements. There's a thin margin on the right and left of the top big blue box? That's just the start
UI not subjective? Of course it is. There isn't a right or wrong, but lots of overlapping shades. I am not saying your feedback isn't valid but I work in an environment where UI are super important and it often comes down to subjective opinion on what the best layout is. Yes we do testing with target audiences etc however in UI design there are always subjective choices to be made.
1stSpin - when you created this game did you have beta testers ? I mean external ones not your team/friends/family ? Be interesting to see what they think of it. Again if it was good/bad feedback its very valuable to get from someone outside of the app.
Most of the games we published once the artwork is done it is programmed 2 to 3 days and then the programmer spends a day uploading it to the site overseas and the ones in China. We have not and should look at having some kids in China test it then get back to us. It is a bit hard to do here but I will look into it.
Lots of devs also get people to beta test their apps here and then they get honest feedback back. The second you offer a free game or a game to beta test there'll be lots of people willing to test it for free. 2-3 days doesnt sound long though ! Depends on the market you want but be interesting to see what the chinese group think of the game compared to the west
Ah, I don't think you meant tacky. You meant that there could be some improvements in layouts and some UI elements. Definitely subjective though as I didn't think the + signs looked like buttons. If they were, I would have said they are too small to be buttons Anyhow, I get the picture what you could see so thanks for explaining
