Why is my game not selling as well as it could?

The answer lies in the top 50 games list. Count how many of those are developed by major game devs. Look for big brand names like sonic 3 and street fighter still not even in the top 10. I hate to be blunt, but the games market is dead to me. All the major game developers have jumped on board. Unless you have a massively original game, or a team of developers backed by corporate support and a big brand name, your changes are slim to none of making any decent money in the games category. This is more true on iPhone than iPad. If you're trying to make it on iPhone, you have even less of a chance.

you could try a press release, but I'd imagine by now that the press companies are sick of covering the 100,000th indy game to come out. My press releases on my games gave me 0% increase in sales both times. My other non-game app however was a different story.

 

I don't know if games need to be massively original. It's more about execution and polish. If your overhead is low why not continue. Don't give up too easily. This is only your first game. We just launched our first game and despite it not doing well as we hoped we have other plans and other ideas.

It doesn't matter if an idea has been done. Just do it better. I didn't play your game but I did read the 3 star review you got from UrbanHim

"It's ok, but at only 9 levels the difficulty soon becomes intense, rather than add 50 levels and increase the difficulty gradually, they give you 9, first 4 easy, 5th a slight challenge, and the rest are a nightmare! You'll throw your phone in anger, but not before having one last go! Personally I deleted this, as I have better and more enjoyable games to play, this really should have been free though!"

Maybe your first update should be to pace the game out more. Also reviews take awhile to trickle in. Sites like TA are slammed with submissions. Just look at how many games gets listed on upcoming forums and how many actually get covered.

If everything was that easy then we all be making top 10 games.

goodluck

 

I think the theme is problematic... a game about electronics? Doesn't strike me as compelling. Any other games about electronics that are successful? I can't really think of any...

 

"I have no budget to spend on advertising" - bingo

this is one of the biggest issues with putting something on the appstore nowadays. If you aren't gonna pay for any marketing/promotion at all, in some way or other, then no one will ever really give a look at your game unless there is something eye-grabbingly amazing and special about the icon/name/screenshots. And as noted above, those categories are fairly difficult to compete in nowadays unless you've got something really ace up your sleeve.

Making a game that plays great but doesn't necessarily look like much out of context is a sure way to fall flat with sales.

 

I agree. Aside from the problems inherent to the App Store itself (lots of competition, big players, etc...), you've also have a few things in your own app working against you. Your theme is one of them.

Also, the screenshots look quite repetitive. All the same backgrounds, the same pink and light blue colors everywhere, the same chips on the sides... From the screens, it looks that there's not too much to the game.

Finally, and I think this is your biggest problem, the icon. A chip with some sort of pink cogwheel on it... It means absolutely nothing. If I saw this icon in an App Store list I'd completely ignore it. Your icon is your foremost marketing asset. If it doesn't succeed in grabbing you potential customer's attention, you've lost them.

Icon + name --> Screenshots --> Description --> Sale

Unless someone (a friend, a review site) recommends the game, that's the usual path (at least for cheap games that people won't research much about before deciding to buy). At each step you lose some people. Only the ones you manage to keep interested all the way to the end actually buy the game. IMHO, your game is suffering in the first two steps.

All this is my opinion from just looking at your game's iTunes page. I didn't even read the description; most people won't before deciding they don't like a game. I'm sure your game is as fun as you say, but if you can't grab people's attention in the first few seconds, it really doesn't matter, unfortunately...

 

I read the statements here and some are good and some are tough. Now here comes the reality to everyone here not just the OP , no one knows what will blow-up. There isnt a formula unless you make something that looks like a console game , then it comes down to luck. I seen great fun simple games that dont blown up and I seen average but fun games blow up. No one knows any secrets to selling alot of copies. By asking this question you just open yourself up to critic ,some good and some bad.
The best piece of advice is to start developing another game , and market this game a lot harder when it comes out. There is no secret , just look at how you can make a better game and maybe you get lucky. Reading all this advice posted by all posters here will confuse you and you never get anything done. Just go ahead and start planning your next game now , right now. Goodluck and hope you do better next time.

 

If you're not spending any time or resources marketing your game, then you've already done a disservice to yourself and your game. The marketplace is crowded with dozens of game being released every day. Your game will not rise above the noise without marketing. Even if your game has some technical, gee whiz kind of graphics, or gang bang gameplay, you're likely not maximizing your potential if you don't have a marketing game plan.

And, putting out a press release won't get you anything unless you support it with other PR and marketing activities. Often, there is a belief that a game will sell itself. That may have been true a few years ago when iTunes first started, but that's an often huge miscalculation if you attempt that in today's environment. As you develop your game, also allocate resources towards marketing. Believe me, it's as important if not more so than the game itself.

 

icon sucks, plain and simple

 

No offense but I don't like the graphics. I usually judge games by the graphics. Also why make a game like this when we have Tap Tap Revenge. It would be best to see if you can find people interested in your game on TouchArcade and YouTube. Get some good YouTubers to back you up you AppSpy, CrazyMike, TouchArcade, AppVee, and others. Make an audience before you publish it. Try to come out with new content. What makes this better than Tap Tap Revenge? Can you improve on things? If your app was free, could you still earn money without ads? Take everything into account. If you need anymore help, please don't hesitate to PM me.

 

I think the problem with a lot of developers in the App Store today, is that many people treat it as though simply being on the store will generate sales like back in the old days (2008).

The AppStore has to be treated like any other venue in which your product will be sold. Your package (icon), screenshots, description, etc have to be appealing. You also have to generate buzz in order to get people to the store in order to find and look for your app, which is of course where marketing comes in.

Of course all this isn't guaranteed to work, but it would surely improve your chances at working. And after you have one success, you now have top blogs and a bunch of fans following your move in addition to the many emails you collected, which would make your second title all the more successful with the many eyes watching.

So i guess what I'm trying to say is marketing is a very huge part in the success of apps and games in the App Store. And for games, polish is definitely the other 50% that is necessary.

 

I have played TaptapRevenge,i think it cool~It is for amatuer electronic players.but i find it a bit difficult on ipod becoz the tapping screen on ipod is small and makes it hard to tap correctly.MAybe on ipad is good enough.Additonally,the three buttons are for which three fingers?For me,it is little dumb to control,maybe u can dev 6 buttons then our 2 hands are in full use.Moreover,I think u can add more sound music in it which makes it better!so we have more choices in it then we have more fun~

 

I think the #1 thing to having sales is making the game look clean and refined.

People aren't smart. They can't judge the gameplay from iTunes. They just see nice shiny icons and screenshots and make a split-second judgement... Is the game good?

Even though its a dollar, people still go through the same process of determining whether your app is worth their money.

 

poor guy and poor game, but you're luck at the same time becuz so many seniors give valued reviews here. For my part, except for mass recommendation, whether I would play a game or not lies in my first impression of it, so you gotta polish the icons.

 

Good post. I dont always take the reviews seriously, as you know people dish out a lot of free codes and 'expect' a 5 star review in return. Some of these comments are so obviously positive it does more harm than good as you dont tend to believe them.

But good point above, if its your first game and you dont have huge overheads then dont give up so easily. Rome wasnt built in a day. Your second or even third game might do really well, not every single game will be a huge seller. Some might start off slow, word of mouth and then becomes more popular.

Must be difficult as if you tell people about your idea someone might steal it, but 'some' people seem to design games for themselves thinking its a good idea but many 'players' might not like it. Its like theyve created a game for themselves.

Did you have beta testers who gave feedback ? That might be worth doing next time, get them to sign a NDA or something.

I personally would love just to create my own game and have it out there even if it sells 5 copies. But dont give up after this first game, many great computer games programmers (or music artists) had a rough start before finally making it.

Just had a look at the screenshots, does look pretty good. I must have missed it the first time, for me as theres sooo many games coming out all the time i check a few forums/sites but i do miss a few games. Thats where the magazines sometimes help, try to contact some review mags (Eg in the UK - Tap! magazine is one) and get them to review it. People will see it once that issue comes out later and sales might go up then.

 

When I first checked out this game I thought it looked terrible (sorry!). I had no idea what the gameplay was about, I was put off by the "It's like Tap Tap Revenge" bit (so it's a clone of another game, but it doesn't look as good?) and as mentioned before, the icon and game title don't give me any buyer's confidence either.

But then I saw this video, linked by Red1, and after skipping half way into it I finally understood the game. And it looks great! It's like Ikaruga but on a portable device. Very cool.

Some of this has already been said but:

• Your icon and app name are so important, you really need to nail these for the next game. If you're an indie, the title needs to explain what the game is about. It should do what it says on the tin!
• Your video is your strongest selling point, but even that is slow to get started and a bit drab. The transitions are painfully slow. It should grab the viewer by the balls right away. Less fancy video transitions, more game!
• It really shouldn't have taken me 5 minutes of digging to see what this game was about. Your app description should immediately state what the gameplay is. Less cheese, more substance. Remember you only have a few seconds (if that!) to grab a reader's attention.

I've probably come across a bit harsh but I think you have a good game there.

 

Especially as only the first 2 lines appear as default in the App Store when viewed on a computer. Make sure they have a good idea of what the games is about by then, and make them interested enough to open the rest of the description.

 

If an App makes it into the App store with "gang bang" gameplay... I'd be shocked...