Please tell my why my game sucks

Discussion in 'General Game Discussion and Questions' started by Nicolinux, Aug 7, 2012.

  1. Marketing is a big problem with newer games, but your art style is hard on the eyes. It seems very confused. The game is fine, just looking at it is weird.
     
  2. GeekyDad

    GeekyDad Well-Known Member

    Jan 14, 2012
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    • I get the sense the game was made with the intention of making a solid game to sell, rather than being a creation born of inspiration and passion.
    • If you're going to publish a casual game like this, you're going to need marketing. I never heard of it.
    • The game doesn't do anything better than Tiny Wings, just something a little different. The reason Ski Safari did well is because it built upon the formula, but was chock full of its own life, inspiration, fun new mechanics, and also did something different.
    • The physics don't work great. Even if you bounce on the grassy areas, sometimes you go high instead of far, and you end up getting caught by the cold air (or whatever that's meant to be).

    The game is cute, polished, and functional. It's also lifeless, uninspired, and has no draw. This is coming from someone who gave your game about 60 seconds playtime. But you know what (and I know you do know this), that's about all you get on the App Store. If you don't make me fall in love in those 60 seconds, I move on, and so do most other iOS gamers. It might be cruel, unfortunate and unfair, but that's just the reality.

    Hope that helps.
     
  3. ToySoldier

    ToySoldier Well-Known Member

    Aug 16, 2011
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    I guess I'll have to answer your question with more questions-

    What is the story of your game? Not like how many modes, features and characters (although that is important) but like if you stayed up 48 hours re-doing an element, the game was thought up at a game jam - stuff like that. I see it was covered in the blog post you made, but stuff like that is important to the story and history of the game.

    What were your goals? I played the game some and it is a very nice app. There are things that could be improved but that's just apart of games development. It's really easy to get your hopes up about a game and be determined it will be a run away smash success. I've been there. It sucks. That's what goals are there for - to measure success and keep yourself in check.

    It's great you got PR help, but do you know what the specific plan was? The person in charge of the PR is going to do their best to let others know about your game, however, it's important to be involved as well.

    Other platforms in the works? Sometimes a game won't get picked up on iOS like it will other places. While I'm not familiar with the game engine you are using, look to see if you can port it to Android devices. It might do better there. Alternatively, you can look into partnering with a publisher on other platforms to gain exposure for the game.
     
  4. tblrsa

    tblrsa Well-Known Member

    Nov 10, 2009
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    #24 tblrsa, Aug 9, 2012
    Last edited: Aug 9, 2012
    After looking at the video and playing it a bit, I can only say that it is maybe too much of the same old. You know every time some developer scores a huge hit in the App Store, we see hundred copy cats. I think it just gets repetitive. One "Tiny Wings" Game is enough in my opinion.

    I´m not a developer, but I would have used my resources to create something unique, or something that is so old that no one remembers it anymore. Check out Atari / C64 / Amiga / NES Games. You will find that they provide a treasure trove of ideas. Look for unknown games, not the big hits. Maybe you dig the concept of such a game and can build and improve on it without ripping it off?

    Just to give you an example: I always found that "A Boy And His Blob" on the NES was a pretty clever concept, but they pulled it off very poorly with a lot of errors and glitches bogging down the game experience. It did not feel polished overall, but the idea behind it was very smart and unique. I think they remade it for the Wii and it had quite a success this time around.
     
  5. psj3809

    psj3809 Moderator

    Jan 13, 2011
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    Thats a great idea, i think back to games in the 80' and 90's, many of which are just hidden away gathering dust yet theres a lot of good ideas to 'borrow/build on'.

    The games back then had poor graphics/sound but playability was brilliant, can build on that now with better graphics/sound, as long as the gameplay is good it should be a decent game.
     
  6. Yeah, someone please bring back Robotron!!! Pretty please!
     
  7. Z444

    Z444 New Member

    Dec 7, 2012
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    www.appepic.com offers services that can get you detailed feedback about your game from your target audience, make sure to check out their focus groups if you're still struggling. Good luck!!
     
  8. Tannorexic

    Tannorexic Well-Known Member

    Dec 5, 2011
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    Somewhere in the spiritual realm
    #28 Tannorexic, Dec 8, 2012
    Last edited: Dec 8, 2012
    I love the art style. It's cute and kawaii. I love the sounds too, and the character. I think that's all fine. One of the hardest things about releasing a game isn't the actual game, alot of games are absolutely brilliant and don't get the attention it deserves, like Grooh, for example.
    It's marketing. Send some promocodes off to some review sites, talk about your game on forums, do some giveaways of $10 iTunes cards for people who leave a review in the AppStore, etc
    The gameplay is a little uneventful.. I like simple games, it worked for tiny wings..however there's simply not enough interaction.. You bounce on the ground and that's about it. You need something else to do.. Could we collect little buddies along the way.. If you bounce into a buddy you pick him up and he pings along with you? It needs something..I'm just not entirely sure what..maybe you could tweek the game and make it in the style of "how far you can fling" like burrito bison, doodle fly, and many other games on the AppStore.. Basically you get flung but then you have to collect items on your way to keep you going as far as you can.

    Edit- oops just resized this is an old thread that was dug up by a bot, my mistake, though I still really think you shouldn't give up on this game! It's so cute and catchy! I love the sounds and colours .. You shouldn't give up on it.. With a few small tweaks it could get more popular, it's already awesome to me. If you could find out a way to market this to females, it probably would be popular!
     

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