Give away contest for reviews?

[dprichard]

Has anyone had any success launching a give away contest to help boost game reviews? I've see many posted on the Touch Arcade forums but I've been unable to determine how successful they are.

Does anyone have any other ideas to help drive ratings?

[BlueSpiral]

On my game Snooker Star HD if people post a review it opens up a new game mode called Time Trial for free. Not tried this approach before, so it'll be interesting how people appreciate a free new feature in exchange for writing a quick review. The new update has only just come out, so will write more when I have time to build some stats up.

[Pman]

I would personally try browsing through the forums trying to find the people who host them, maybe they have an email associated with their account where you can contact them at.

For high gift card amounts, usually there are 20-40 people who review, and usually they are whole-hearty reviews because they want to win, and that's all the positive reviews you need for an up and coming game.

Now back to my first point, I don't think that the people who run these contests are usually browsing the forums, as many regulars do often, because they are usually developers of their own games. That being said, I could be wrong, and they might be regulars just putting out the contest our way so we can have a shot. Good luck in finding out!

[MrBlue]

Originally Posted by BlueSpiral

On my game Snooker Star HD if people post a review it opens up a new game mode called Time Trial for free. Not tried this approach before, so it'll be interesting how people appreciate a free new feature in exchange for writing a quick review. The new update has only just come out, so will write more when I have time to build some stats up.

I got rejected by Apple twice for trying something similar, so I ended up taking it out all together. I also noticed that Pocket Climber also took out their "free coins if you leave a review" button. [edit] Looks like Toy Defense also took it out. Probably no longer allow "incentivized reviews". It was in a lot of apps for a long time. Looks like I missed the memo.

Btw, I tried seeing your implementation, but it wouldn't start for me. Tried on iPad (iOS 5.0) and iPad 3 (iOS 5.1).

[BlueSpiral]

Originally Posted by MrBlue

I got rejected by Apple twice for trying something similar, so I ended up taking it out all together. I also noticed that Pocket Climber also took out their "free coins if you leave a review" button. [edit] Looks like Toy Defense also took it out. Probably no longer allow "incentivized reviews". It was in a lot of apps for a long time. Looks like I missed the memo.

Btw, I tried seeing your implementation, but it wouldn't start for me. Tried on iPad (iOS 5.0) and iPad 3 (iOS 5.1).

Thanks for the feedback. Not had any others come back with that, so will keep an eye on it. Also, I offer a chance to unlock the Time trial mode by progressing through the game as well (reaching Frame 4) which may count in my favour.

[Chaoguy2006]

Originally Posted by BlueSpiral

Thanks for the feedback. Not had any others come back with that, so will keep an eye on it. Also, I offer a chance to unlock the Time trial mode by progressing through the game as well (reaching Frame 4) which may count in my favour.

The unlock certainly sounds like a good incentive. Plus, it may encourage people to play longer to see what else is unlocked.