It is nice to know that we are not alone in this, so let me tell you our story.
Background: we are following the HN community for good 4 years now and it inspired us even more to start our own business. We are loving it and it is a dream come true.
To the topic: yesterday we launched our first own product, iOS game Tap4Two. That made us very proud - we shipped! But what would make our day is - if it sold.
We found a niche - there are very few games for 2 players to play on one device. Real gaming has always been about few friends coming over to play on a console/pc. And that's exactly what we were missing on
the App Store. We made a game, in which two players compete simultaneously in a series of challenges - who will be first to spot the right solution. If you get it right - you get +1 point, if you tap
your button when the wrong solution is shown - you lose 1 point.
We hired an art student to draw a nice logo for Tap4Two, but we have drawn and polished the graphics and the landing page ourselves. We are happy with them. When the first version was ready to ship - we
launched the landing page, pitched it everywhere we could, made a gameplay video (homemade tripod for iPhone 4 - great fun, take a look: http://tumblr.com/x1a1pmizw9), submitted the app to review. Then it went a bit downhill: we set the availability date to 24th March, but the game has gone "Ready for Sale" on 21st. As it seems, this "feature" of App Store has not been changed, even though lots of people are saying otherwise - game has gone live on 24th with the release date of 21st, which made it debut on the new releases at 81st position in puzzle category. Not a very good start. As expected - it has not been found by almost anyone - it was bought by all of our friends and just a few real customers. It made 30. position on the Polish App Store (as it's our home country) - but Poles are not buying much. Actually the only review we've got comes from a real customer, and it's very heartlifting.
We've pitched the reviewers, posted on forums, facebook, twitter, everywhere - without luck so far.
Any suggestions guys? Do you think the graphics could be more polished? Any tips with marketing strategies?
Today: zero sales so far.
TL;DR: Made, pitched, shipped, did not sell all that well.
Here are some promo codes, if you would like to try it out:
Y4YK743NXXNX
YXH3X7FXARF4
4JYKM7AKWWHR
APK74H36NETW
YNYPAFJ66HXA
OK. But who's your target market? How do you envision people using your game? In a game that is strictly multiplayer, I think you really have to understand the social context.
While I quite enjoy playing board games like Carcassonne or Arkham Horror with friends, or even stuff like air hockey on the iPad, I don't really see much lasting appeal in a game like this which is quite simple and so directly competitive.
In short, I think you need more interesting game modes.
Background: we are following the HN community for good 4 years now and it inspired us even more to start our own business. We are loving it and it is a dream come true.
To the topic: yesterday we launched our first own product, iOS game Tap4Two. That made us very proud - we shipped! But what would make our day is - if it sold.
You can see the screenshots here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tap4two/id424411131?mt=8
Landing page: http://www.tap4two.com/
We found a niche - there are very few games for 2 players to play on one device. Real gaming has always been about few friends coming over to play on a console/pc. And that's exactly what we were missing on the App Store. We made a game, in which two players compete simultaneously in a series of challenges - who will be first to spot the right solution. If you get it right - you get +1 point, if you tap your button when the wrong solution is shown - you lose 1 point.
We hired an art student to draw a nice logo for Tap4Two, but we have drawn and polished the graphics and the landing page ourselves. We are happy with them. When the first version was ready to ship - we launched the landing page, pitched it everywhere we could, made a gameplay video (homemade tripod for iPhone 4 - great fun, take a look: http://tumblr.com/x1a1pmizw9), submitted the app to review. Then it went a bit downhill: we set the availability date to 24th March, but the game has gone "Ready for Sale" on 21st. As it seems, this "feature" of App Store has not been changed, even though lots of people are saying otherwise - game has gone live on 24th with the release date of 21st, which made it debut on the new releases at 81st position in puzzle category. Not a very good start. As expected - it has not been found by almost anyone - it was bought by all of our friends and just a few real customers. It made 30. position on the Polish App Store (as it's our home country) - but Poles are not buying much. Actually the only review we've got comes from a real customer, and it's very heartlifting.
We've pitched the reviewers, posted on forums, facebook, twitter, everywhere - without luck so far.
Any suggestions guys? Do you think the graphics could be more polished? Any tips with marketing strategies?
Today: zero sales so far.
TL;DR: Made, pitched, shipped, did not sell all that well.
Here are some promo codes, if you would like to try it out: Y4YK743NXXNX YXH3X7FXARF4 4JYKM7AKWWHR APK74H36NETW YNYPAFJ66HXA