Looking for honest feedback on Tumblebugs

I played this game on the Mac and remember being really addicted to it. It's a great game. The reason I haven't gotten it is because I've already played this on the Mac and I already have 3 of these types of game for my iPhone all of which I've played for awhile and then removed. I just can't justify buying a 4th when there are so many other games (and more original game types) that I haven't played.

 

Please don't take this the wrong way. I don't know anything about the gameplay of Tumblebugs, but other games in the genre are priced at .99. I know developers hate to hear that, and I have a job, so I don't mind paying $3 every now and then, but there are many cheapskates that found the money to buy their device, but somehow can't scrape up a few dollars to buy a decent game. I don't have any of the marble shooting games, so I'll give the Tumblebugs lite a try. It looks like a solid app and I'm sure it's fun!

 

I would tend to agree with Chumbake and Prab (well, except for Prab's comment about not liking Luxor). There are a lot of this genre of game on the App Store right now, and despite the fact that a lot of the games are definitely worth more than 99 cents, consumers have really done a good job of dictating sub-par prices for games. Right now, for example both Luxor and Stoneloops are 99 cents, and both of those were a lot of fun. As cool as Tumblebugs looks, it's hard to justify paying $3 for it when others of its type are so cheap. Worse yet, when I can buy a game that I might get 20 hours of play for 99 cents or $1.99, why would I want to pay $2.99 for a marble popper? Again, I'm not saying at all that it's not worth it, but right now the App Store is just really messed up when it comes to pricing. By the way, I just looked at the screen shots and Tumblebugs does look really sharp.

 

Same reason. I can wait til it is 99 cents.

 

Echoing what others have said, the problem with Tumblebugs is that, aside from a minor change to the gameplay mechanic (being able to shoot over chains) it doesn't pass my Cardinal Rule of Derivatives, which states that any game which is derived from something else must provide something qualitatively, demonstrably, and significantly new if it is to be worthy of consideration from buyers who have probably already bought its peers. In other words, if it doesn't have enough about it that's new and interesting, nobody will have any reason to pay for yet another game that doesn't provide something significant that the others don't.

Think of it like each new version of the iPod Touch or iPhone. Apple wants to give people reasons to upgrade to these new devices, and to do that they have to give people enough reason to justify spending more money on the new device in order to get those new features. If the value-added utility of the new features does not exceed the cost of the device (perhaps less whatever the customer can sell their existing one for) then people aren't going to bother upgrading to it and will likely wait until the next new iteration where the cumulative additions might finally make it worthwhile to them.

While we're not talking hundreds of dollars here, the principle is the same: If there's very little new about it, in general, nobody is going to bother with it, especially when there are other, just about equally good, and more importantly cheaper alternatives.

 

I love these types of games but didn't know about this game until I saw this thread. I just tried the lite version and think that it is a very good game. The problem is there are a bunch of similar games like this out there and several of them are .99. While I only played your game for a short while, I didn't see anything different enough to make me want to spend $2.99 on it.

Owning a PSP and DSi it seems silly that $3 is over priced for a game but I have become very spoiled buying low priced games for my ipod touch. If your game drops to .99, I would buy it. I would at least consider a price drop to see if that generates more interest.

 

I love both [app]Go Go Rescue Squad[/app] and [app]Timeloop[/app] and find them to be really great bargain gems--at $0.99. I have to agree with the others that when your competition is Stoneloops and the like for a lower price point... I know it sucks as Tumblebugs looks beautiful and fun and I'm sure it's worth $2.99

 

Great looking game, but why yours over Luxor, Stoneloops, or Atlantis Sky Patrol? As Minefield says - there needs to be enough different to justify the purchase. Unless the purchase price is cheap enough that people are willing to purchase it for no reason other than it looks really nice. I too own Go Go Rescue and Timeloops. Like them both. Would get this with a price drop, but does not bring enough new things to justify the price difference with the other games that I already own.

 

Okay well I have to tell you there is not much to justify it over others like it (after playing the lite), to be honest I find stoneloops better and a cheaper alternative. And as pluto said I own both games two and enjoy them but why this over others as I already own sky patrol and stoneloops to be perfectly honest

 

The game has shooting issues. Simply it is not fun to play it. There is nothing to do with the genre is overcrowded or the price. The game is not fun to play.

Before someone argue that it is an overcrowded genre, that is MY OPINION.

Cheers,

Bruno

 

You'll notice that several who aren't that interested in Tumblebugs own both your other games. I don't have Timeloop yet, but I do own Go Go Rescue Squad, and I find it rather entertaining. The difference between Go Go / Timeloop and Tumblebugs is, as most others have expressed, that the first two brought something new to the table, while Tumblebugs really doesn't. And, while the genre certainly isn't as saturated as some (match 3, *cough*, *cough*), there are still enough choices out there that it's going to take something besides a different theme to impress the masses.