How to catch a break?

First of all read this thread, it was written by the funniest and coolest guy ever. Okay, it was written by me:

http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=47415

If you have already posted, look at your views. If you have between 0 and 800, I would say that your chances of getting a review are extremely slim. Up to 2000, you should see at least a couple reviews and up around 5000 you should easily have several reviews.

I'm only pointing out the above thread so that you can see where your potential is, based on current promotion and marketability of name alone.

 

I think it may just be too late for "broken". Not trying to offend you in any way, but the app store has certain genres that have been virtually done to death, and unless you bring something to the table that is unbelievably great the chances of gaining traction are slim to none.

If you really feel strongly about your game, it's time for an extreme makeover. Pull the game from the app store. Retro graphics are fine (I should know, Rogue Touch has no trouble selling with its looks ), but give the game some color. Add in leaderboards- custom made, OpenFeint, whatever. People love competition! Fix whatever your crashing issue is, stating in the iTunes description that the game may crash when run the first time does not inspire consumer confidence. Finally, modify the name, slightly or drastically. Then resubmit as a new game... have an upcoming thread here, create a youtube gameplay video, post often!

That's the bare minimum I recommend for you. If that sounds like too much work... set this game to "free" and move on, start working on your next game.

 

1.19 perhaps a tad overpriced for a breakout clone?

 

Don't advertise it as "a new take on [genre]". You'll associate it with the old game which will negatively impact your sales. People have eyes and can see from the screenshots what genre it is. Better to play up its newness.

e.g. "Make your head spin 360 degrees in this fast-paced arcade game!"

That's not particularly good copy, but it should give you an idea of the direction your advertising should be going. If you find yourself struggling with creating gripping text, you can always consider hiring a professional copy writer. (i.e. A person who writes advertising text. Not to be confused with a copyright owner. )

You can always advertise for a partner in the Dev section. There are plenty of young-uns looking to make a name for themselves, and several artists will work for a share of the profits. Just don't expect the *top* of the line artists unless you can pay up front.

Another option is you can look into free libraries like Ari's SpriteLib! Though be careful with these or your game will look generic! You'll need to make sure you develop a consistent and unique usage if you do use such a library. Otherwise players will spot the source of the graphics a mile away.

 

First, we're still talking about a brick breaker. A new mechanic goes a very small way to making it feel fresh again unless it's so revolutionary and different in an intriguing way that people can't help but sit up and take notice. The last game do to that I can't recall the name of (there have been so many brick breakers that you just can't keep track of the names anymore) but it involved drawing a line wherever you want the paddle. It was different, innovative, and very well executed, and it really did refresh the genre enough to make people take notice. But now that's been copied several times, and no offense, but making a brick breaker 360° just doesn't cut it.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, this isn't a new concept, not even on the App Store. Just have a look at Radial 50. Same concept, and possibly a better execution depending on whether you prefer flashy or retro graphics.

Second: Leaderboards could work, maybe of cumulative score across all levels. It could be worth a shot.

Also, if you're interested in 2D graphics I've seen a couple of people here in the Developer Services and Trade forum who offered 2D sprite graphics for free just to get the experience. Have a look at the forum and see if anyone wants to team up. You might also find musicians and FX designers. You can always offer a profit sharing plan as a means of payment, too. I did that with Tesla for the Galactic Chill app; I wrote all of the music and we share the profits down the middle. Worked out great for both of us.

Bottom line though is that you have to do a little research if you want to try and come out with something different -- and not just a well-established genre game that's different for its own sake.

 

Use OpenFeint! It really helps because lot's of people buy apps just because of OF. Also, they make it SUPER easy to add leaderboards to any app! Just 1 line of code and they take care of the rest!

 

Hey, you're only 17 and this is your first app right! That is a terrific place to start. It wasn't until a few months after I finished Super Juicy that I found a couple other games that are somewhat similar to it. There are just so many games out there that if you've thought of it; probably someone else has too! Even the legendary doodle jump is an evolution from papi jump (apparently)...

 

You can also try Agon, its really nice too and gives you achievements, leaderboards, etc. Definitely use one of these before rolling your own unless thats your "thing"

 

I agree that AGON is nice, but OF just has the upper hand with way more players. OF is the biggest social gaming network on the iPhone so I think it's better to go with OF. I still like the look and feel of AGON though, but I only know 2 apps that use it, where I have 50 OF ones.

 

That's kind of part of the problem: Apps have a tendency to get buried in the App Store, especially if they're members of an oversaturated genre. Try looking for a specific match-3 game when you can't remember the title. But therein lies the problem: You chose a genre that's oversaturated and has been for a long time now, and I'm not even sure it's possible to make a standout brick breaker anymore. I'm afraid the control mechanism doesn't do it, especially when the selling point is imprecise tilt controls, which is a contentious topic at the best of times.

But don't let that discourage you. You've made a game that's decent in its own ways and that's a feat in itself. Consider it your test run. Now you know what's involved in making an app and submitting it to the App Store. Now you can make a bigger, better, more interesting app that may not have quite as much competition. And when you do, get some play testers, gather lots and lots of feedback on the game -- honest feedback. Painfully honest feedback; the more it hurts to hear the more helpful it is, because if your play testers are saying it, so will the general public. Better to address the down sides before it's published. But the important thing is just to move on and do it. Again, if you need help with graphics, sound, music, whatever, ask around in the dev services forum, see if someone wants to join up and help you make something great.

 

I am interested in this: resubmit as a new game
Is this something that most people are trying to do with their game that sunk in App Store? I originally think the behavior is not obeying morality and thus never thought about it. And how to convince customers who bought our game to transfer their version to the resubmitted game?

Another question I am not clear: If we modify the name, will the app appears as a new app on the store?

 

Changing the name alone doesn't make it a new app. You need to go through all the hoops you'd go through in submitting a brand new app to iTunes Connect, then supply your revised binary file with the new name...

Note that I only recommended doing this in extreme circumstances, ie: you've sold less than 100 copies, have dramatically improved upon your game, and wish to get a fresh start. I do not condone spamming the store with multiple copies. If you or anyone else does this, remove your old game from sale, and leave it out of the store.

Don't expect existing customers to follow you and buy the new version of your game. The whole reason to do something so drastic is that you failed miserably. Cut any and all existing ties when starting fresh. If you had a lot of paying customers, there'd be no reason to even consider this

Last thoughts- I can see some people's desire to "go back and do it all over again" to correct all the mistakes they made initially. Unless you really had the greatest idea ever and simply botched the launch of it, you are probably better off leaving things alone and moving on to your next game project. Learn from your mistakes, but don't live in the past

 

First of all, great job. You are 17 and you can proudly call yourself a developer. That's not bad!

You hit the nail on the head in your first post. The app store is over-saturated, and you're also competing with big-name developers that have been making AAA console titles for decades. Success as an indie app developer is not an easy thing.

My suggestion is that you start working on an entirely new game. While Broken looks like a decent effort, nothing helps you get noticed like an outstanding idea. Go to the app store and check out some of the games that have thousands of positive reviews. Download as many lite versions of games that seem to be successful as you can. Play them to death. Take note of what they do well, and what they don't do well. Now use that knowledge to try to find yourself a nice little niche. If your idea promises an experience that's truly different than what's already in the app store, you may be on to something.

There are countless other things that can contribute to a game's success. Make sure your icon pops. Try to find a way to give your game some degree of graphical polish, if you possibly can. Post screenshots that demonstrate your game's unique features. Start hyping your new game early, make a couple of YouTube videos that show us how exciting the gameplay is. Touch Arcade is a great place to find beta testers, so when you're ready, find a handful and listen to what they have to say. But all of these things work best if your game starts with an outstanding idea.