I've seen many debates on the merits of Lite versions of games and believe it really depends on the game itself, not games in general. With that, what do you guys think about me releasing a Lite version of War 3100? I could pretty easily remove the content and put in restrictions in the code to ignore certain things so technically it wouldn't be too hard. But, with my previous little puzzle game, WallZ, I received no boost in sales with the Lite version. But, that was a completely different game that was much much more "shallow" than War 3100. If time is any indication, I've spent over 8 months on War 3100 and am thinking that with a Lite version it could give people a taste of what they would see by buying the game. Or at $1.99 is a Lite version pointless? I'm thinking I would reduce the # of missions to 2 or so, disable the map editor, and take out leaderboard uploading in it. Right now I'm at somewhat of a loss as I've submitted the game to many sites (with promo codes,) have had no reviews yet, and my sales went from 5 a day to 1 or 2 now. I've received feedback from people who like it but that hasn't resulted in many sales. I just spent several hours on another update that was submitted to Apple earlier but find it harder and harder to justify spending hours of dev time on something that doesn't even cover the power cost to run my computers. What do you guys think? Would a Lite version help sales? Do you think I should do something else?
Well if sales aren't picking up then lite version is a must. You'd still need to promote tge game a bit more to make sure those who are interested in such games do get to know that it exists.
Well, first let me say I bought the game at full price (as I almost always do). The first suggestion I would have is you need to make it clear in iTunes that it's on sale! Apple doesn't like you mentioning USD amounts, but you can say something like "Limited time sale, 33% off!" and make a modified iTunes graphic with a "Sale" banner in it like most people do. It attracts attention, and lets people know there's a deal to be had. In addition, games like this are practically screaming for a lite version, and are among the easiest to implement. You said it yourself- give the player one or two maps, no edit abilities, and no leaderboard submissions. Just enough to get a taste of the gameplay. Also, put a link to the youtube video in your iTunes description. All the third party sites that scrape the iTunes database will auto-embed a copy of the video for people to see (like Arn's Appshopper.com for example). Unfortunately you missed your initial spike opportunity if about half the people who wanted to buy could not (due to the 3.0 only requirement that you have since corrected). Now you need to start spreading the word all over again. Stay active in the forums here. Keep posting updates, soliciting suggestions for improvements and whatnot in your War 3100 thread. Hand out promo codes to prominent forum members here that are respected by others. The list goes on...
Ok, I'll put up a Lite version and see if that helps, along with some of the other suggestions. Thanks!
Good idea on putting out a lite version. Personally, I'm on the fence with your game. I love Advance War type games, but I already have Mecho Wars, and haven't finished it yet.
Could you help me to understand what would put you over that fence? I ask because I'm guessing there are others out there like you as well.
It took a few app purchases before I realized that $5 or less purchases really shouldn't be some kind of agonizing decision about whether or not to go for it. I guess getting the $25 gift card started the ball rolling for me. Think about it, you're asking people to give up the cost of a single coffee to buy something your poured 8 months of your life into. It really isn't too much to ask.
Oh, I know. It cost me $12 to buy my two kids lunch from Wendy's (when they were out of school for the summer.) But, the App Store seems to march by a different drummer.
