Simple things are beautiful. Simplicity is an art form hard to achieve. The answer to the benefits of a Lite version of an app are in plain view. The simple math customer being able to try before buying = customers willing to buy with out trying. or customer buying app because they liked the lite version = customer not buying because they didn't like the Lite version. Just to nail this theory home if you took all the free/Lite apps up on i tunes right now and averaged out all their ratings ..... The simple math would equal an average rating of 3 exactly (educated guess) Now is a Lite version worth having? Again a very simple answer. Good unique apps benefit the most from Lite versions. Please have a go at ripping this simplicity apart!
Some lites, I'm guessing screw the dev. Others makes sales. From my personal experiences: Charmed: screwed. I enjoy the light and been playing a lot. But don't need full version, as the light is perfect for small bursts of play. If the app was .99 I might buy, but at $3 I'm plenty happy playing the lite. Blades of Fury: made a sale. After I couldn't play the demo anymore(it stops working after excessive play), I just bought the full version. I think the second example works very works well. Showed me how great the games was, got me hooked, then left me with the option of buy or have nothing.
Glad you like it! Charmed was actually $0.99 for most of December. Guess you missed it. BTW, the full version actually has quite a bit more going for it than the lite version: 35 unique game boards 32 OpenFeint achievements OpenFeint leaderboards 3 Game Modes Preview the level layouts Start a new game from any previously unlocked level
Actually it is pretty interesting that you think I've given away too much. I've received emails from people telling me the opposite. One guy went as far as telling me not to be such a "cheap dick" for only giving 3 levels, because it made the game useless in his view.
I have had lite versions with restricted game play - [app]Billionaire Lite[/app] I have lite versions with the complete game it them - [app]GumDropsLite[/app] and [app]Upsi Looper Lite[/app]. Changing these from a restrictive lite version to the full game with an up-sell screen after game over hasn't changed the sales of the full version. My thinking was that they are fun and engaging games, but no one normally gives them a chance. So I let people play the full game, and if they like it enough to chip in a buck to get rid of the nag screen, great! I also have a game with no lite version at all - [app]Upsi Runner[/app] All the full games seem to sell about the same (around 0 - 2 copies a day). GumDrops is the best seller, sometimes selling 5 or 6 copies in a single day. I've got 2 full games that are free - [app]A Snake[/app] and [app]Upsi Slider[/app]. They have no advertising or restrictions, but hopefully people springboard from them to my other games. It is hard to tell if that is working, since A Snake came out just before Christmas, so all my numbers were increased by the Christmas influx of new devices + customers. Upsi Runner is on the top 100 kids and family lists for a bunch of small countries. A Snake is on a bunch of top 100 lists for kids and family as well. #90 free family game in the USA. Here are the download numbers from yesterday : A Snake - 1076 Billionaire - 1 Billionaire Lite - 16 GumDrops - 1 GumDrops Lite - 86 Upsi Looper - 0 Upsi Looper Lite - 12 Upsi Slider - 19 Upsi Runner - 2 Make of that what you will.
A Snake is yours? WOW. Great game! I play it only for the OF achievements (already got them all)! I think including OF was a great idea, because some people like me would not have even looked at it otherwise.
If you have a free version, the ideal is to get at least a 10% conversion Free-->Full. While Billionaire is close, GumDrops is a huge miss. There may not be enough data for Billionaire, so you may actually be hitting 10%. With GumDrops, you really need to assess what is going wrong there. Maybe the Lite version offers too much and not enough incentive to upgrade? If your conversion factors hold true, then you can easily assess how many Free Version downloads you will need to achieve X-Number sales. For GumDrops, you would need almost 1000 Lite Version downloads to get 10 sales. In comparison, 1000 downloads of Billionaire Lite *should* convert to about 63 sales. If you can get your Lite downloads up, your sales should follow accordingly. This isn't absolute, though.
Hey guys, Some really helpful info in this thread -- just wondering if I could get your veteran opinions on a few things. I'm still quite new to iPhone development -- first app approved a month ago or so. It's a $0.99, side-scrolling platformer game. Obviously, the hardest part for me now is just spreading word. Since I'm a brand-new developer, I'm basically starting from scratch in the App Store trying to build a name for myself. I've been considering releasing a lite version for my game, Diaballic, and have thus far hesitated due to some mixed stories I've heard about impacts on sales. If you were in my position, would you recommend releasing a lite version? If so, what limitations do you guys normally use to differentiate versions? For Diaballic, I've planned on having one difficulty (easy; three other difficulties in full version), a few banners to buy the full version, and maybe some ads. I'm a bit wary of Apple's rule against "disabled functionality," so I'm afraid to do anything too drastic... Any suggestions? Thanks for your help! Tom
In my opinion a lite version of a crappy game (no offend to anyone!) hurts the sales of the full version...simply because anybody can see how "crappy" the game is...for free. But - a lite version of a good and polished game will bring additional sales. If you dont give away to much. So ask yourself: are you proud of your game and do you like to play it by yourself? Than go on with a lite version. Simply as that.
I've just had a look through the past sales data for GumDrops. The conversion rate for was around the same (5 and a bit %) when the lite version was a more restrictive version as well.
tmsquasher Fancy Factory is right on the money . If a light version of your game is able to grab your audience, then definitely go for it. Just remember this, you are hunting for a very small percentage of the players who download the light version. 2-10% might be inclined to buy your paid version. If your lite version isn't appealing enough it does something very drastic. It gives someone who might have bought your paid game the chance to test drive it. If the gas tank is leaking that customer moves on. You only have one chance to make a good first impression.
It's like the first track of a cd album from a unknown artist. If you put the good tracks at first, you have more chance that the customer buys your CD. if you put the good tracks at the end and the bad one or normal at first, the customer can skip your album. It's a shame because, you have good potential and you miss almost everything for nothing. Remember that a customer don't know your game. It maybe good, really good but only you know that. (and some good reviewers of course )
Hey guys, thanks so much for the responses -- some really good insights. I think I'll put a lite version together after all. Hopefully I'll get a reasonable conversion rate as I really do think the game is fun (I play it often myself!). Even if I don't, it's all part of the learning process anyway. Thanks again for your thoughts!
The trick of the lite game is to give a taste of the gameplay without giving it all away. The single best example I can give of a lite game done *perfectly* is sword and poker. First off, it knows it's audience: not just poker / casino fans, but specifically, RPG players. It introduces you to the combat system, let's you start to get comfortable. It also seduces you with a rather comprehensive list of items you could buy, if you purchased the full game (represented by silhouettes with locks). After you have gotten enough coins to purchase a weapon / larger coin purse (RPG players will feel familiar and comfortable with such upgrading), it throws a final loop at you- a "boss" fight with brand new mechanics. It leaves you right after, drooling for more mechanics, more "weapons" (With new effects), more bosses. The best way to structure a lite game is to accentuate every single addicting element and increasingly feed crumbs to the player, only to pull back the curtain and reveal the expansive world only a purchase away.
I went for the release a full version first, and then release a lite version later approach for my first game. I think it's sorta working, however it's hard to tell because it's my first game. Downloads for Squism & Squism Lite yesterday: Squism: 37 Squism Lite: 1081 However it's hard to tell at the moment how many of the Squism Lite users have unlocked the full version because it's done using an In App Purchase. It is clear though that Squism Lite has help the full version, because last week it was only getting 2 - 3 download a day Cheers, AggroPanda P.S. @Syndicated Puzzles my dad is a used car salesman, i'll ask for his advice next time
What's the general view on lite versions that do something different? Like HornetSmash as the free Spider? My own game - Alien Swing - goes on sale. For now, I don't have a free version but I've an idea for putting together a free game which uses most of the same art assets and code but does something completely different with them. In fact I have half a dozen ideas for little mini games using the mechanics so I thought I might put out a free game with one of them that offers the others as in-app purchases.
One of the search functions on the sales reports is "Monthly free" When you click on that button the accumulative effect over a one month period is staggering. A lot of exposure to almost every corner of the world.
