Looking for some honesty. Has this game been criminally overlooked?

Discussion in 'General Game Discussion and Questions' started by feedtank, Jan 9, 2013.

  1. feedtank

    feedtank Well-Known Member

    #1 feedtank, Jan 9, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 9, 2013
    This is the game: Pangolin

    Note – I am the developer. This is not in Developer's Discussion because I'd really like the opinion of gamers, not developers.

    I think it's a game that deserves attention. It's is a physics-based arcade game that turns the classic platformer on its head. Instead of controlling the character, you control the platforms.

    I say it's overlooked because no large site has reviewed us. The game currently has 48 ratings in the App Store. They are all 5 stars. Almost every forum we post in, someone says it deserves more attention. We've gotten 7 smaller sites to review us. Here are snippets from all of them:

    "Easily one of the best mobile games of the year." – SHORT AND SWEET REVIEWS
    "Quite simply astounding." – ALEX'S IOS REVIEWS
    "Sonic the Hedgehog would be jealous... extremely well crafted and addictive." – INDIE LOVE
    "Downright beautiful... production values as high as anything else on the App Store." – POCKET TACTICS
    "Very different, very entertaining." – JAYISGAMES
    "A loveable iOS anti-platformer." – INDEPENDENT GAMING
    "Simply beautiful, well polished... keeps you coming back." – THE INDIE DEVELOPER

    Are these smaller sites just being nice? If the responses we're nearly as good I wouldn't be posting this. Why hasn't any large site reviewed our game? Should they? What do you think?

     
  2. leonard_dabinski

    leonard_dabinski Well-Known Member

    Jan 7, 2013
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    Get the game up to Google Play and I'll give some honest feedback cause I don't really buy games on my iPad.

    Edit: Saw it is free. Will tell you something later on. But 48 reviews, with an avg of 5 stars, seems fishy. Did you buy them? If so, shame on you.
     
  3. strivemind

    strivemind Well-Known Member

    Having a link in your app description to a video that shows gameplay would help.
     
  4. Primoz

    Primoz Well-Known Member

    Aug 14, 2012
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    May great games have such issues. The players who checked them out give 5-star reviews and many app-review sites give good reviews too.

    The problem is mainly in bad marketing, advertising.
     
  5. psj3809

    psj3809 Moderator

    Jan 13, 2011
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    I'm not a huge fan of puzzle style games, BUT i must admit i'm a huge fan of indie games, this doesnt seem like its got a huge corporate company behind it, seems like its more an old skool 'bedroom coder'.

    Graphics look good, seems a decent 'puzzle' type of game, i may give it a go. I prefer the classic platformers. If this had left/right/jump i'll be there ! ;)

    But watched the video again, does look very good, price looks good also, i'll pass this onto my friends who like physics puzzlers and i may give it a go myself to be honest.
     
  6. feedtank

    feedtank Well-Known Member

    We did not buy them! A lot of them came from reddit. A few say so in their review. Most of our downloads came from posts there. You can see discussion here and here.
     
  7. feedtank

    feedtank Well-Known Member

    Thanks! I appreciate it.

    You're correct. We're just two dudes who've never released a game before.
     
  8. feedtank

    feedtank Well-Known Member

    It's ain't easy for two dudes w/o a marketing budget or any contacts in the gaming world. Thanks for the honesty though. It hurts so good.
     
  9. Primoz

    Primoz Well-Known Member

    Aug 14, 2012
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    I know, I wasn't trying to offend you. It's a problem all indie-devs encounter.
     
  10. feedtank

    feedtank Well-Known Member

    No worries. None taken. I really do appreciate the feedback.
     
  11. Tannorexic

    Tannorexic Well-Known Member

    Dec 5, 2011
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    Somewhere in the spiritual realm
    It's probably because its a physics puzzler.
    I'm a puzzler addict and even I generally steer clear of anything with the label.
    Physics puzzlers have been overdone to death.
    While is one of unique, I think most people would see the label and skip it.
    There's already a huge abundance of puzzle fans on the AppStore.
    Over the past few years I have sat and watched some of the most creatively innovative games get completely ignored.
    I can understand your heartbreak. But there's a quote that goes "finishing making your game for iOS is only 40% of completion, the real hard work comes AFTER release".

    Even huge companies struggle with advertising. Everyone wants more bang for their buck, they want it for free. It's getting unbelievably hard to convince the consumer that your game is worth a buck when look at the huge variety of games you can already purchase for a buck.

    Someone said earlier its free. Is it always free or have you been having price drops? I'd probably do price drops if I were you, atleast it'll show up on appzap and other price reduced sites. I often scan through appzap but lately every man and his dog reduce their game every few days and its extremely annoying.
    I haven't played the game yet, but I may pick it up. I do like games in which you control the platform instead of the character. Bumpy road and this other game that's been removed and released under a new game (spring me?).
    I do believe they can be done well. But as I said before, even absolutely brilliantly polished games released from well known publishers have the same issues.
    To name a few:

    Grooh-
    grooh got featured 2 weeks in a row by apple, yet still struggled to get downloads. I wouldn't call it a complete diaster, as atleast apple recognised their great efforts, but the player base was small, and the game recently went free, which isn't a good sign. It's probably the best puzzler I've played on iOS.

    Twingo- twingo is so polished, and is such an awesome concept, chillingo even released it. You'd expect it to be an absolute HIT. I thought it'd be the next cut the rope. But instead.. Crickets and balls of hay fly by.. I haven't seen its name mentioned since release.

    Munchies lunch- a unique puzzle game published by big fish games, was also completely ignored. In fact, I don't think I've seen anyone talk about it..ever. I don't even think it has a thread. Just got buried under all the crap in the AppStore.

    Save the puppies-
    Was released by quite a popular company, they have a few hits on the AppStore,but it didn't help them find success in the puzzle realm.. It got completely ignored. A few places reviewed it, appspy did, and gamezebo did a preview article on it, yet again NOTHING but crickets. It wouldn't have made back its production costs. And like grooh, it's one of my absolute favourites on iOS.

    Joining hands- another great innovative puzzler by a well known company, 10tons. They have many hits on the appstore and android, but they struggled to get attention for one of my favourites, joining hands.

    Juice belts, puddle puzzles, liquidsketch, blendamaze, sprinkfield, gluey, coco loco, zen puzzle garden, wriggle, Qink, are all some more examples of great unique, polished puzzlers that for ignored.

    I could seriously go on and on. Each week a great app would come out, and I'd usually have to actually post the thread on the game, because it was totally ignored, and even then it'd be ignored, maybe I could convince one or two puzzle fans of TA to download it, and they'd enjoy it and write about how great it is, but that's sadly as far as it'd go.

    You truly have to BEG consumers for a download. Even if the game is free. And even if the game is 3.3mbs. Seriously, it's a dog eat dog world. The lack of puzzle fans on iOS make me wonder.. Is it because logic lovers are too busy at their job to play silly games on iOS? Or is it because 90% of apple owners are sheep and don't like to use their mind? We'll never know.

    I've actually pondered about the idea of making a PR company or website for the AppStore, for all those hidden gems that get buried under crap.
    I wouldn't know where to begin. And I'd have the same problem getting exposure as the apps themselves. So it's probably pretty pointless.
    Wish I had the means to do so though, I don't understand why someone/anyone from any big sites like TA, pocket gamer, gamezebo etc don't give these great games the time of day.

    I think no one wants to think anymore. They're busy with work. And when they get 5 minutes spare they just want to unwind with some stupid game that requires no logic or skill, like angry birds, which is pretty much based on luck.
    It's understandable. When I've had a big day I want to rest my mind too. That's when easy puzzle games come into play, cut the rope, pudding monsters, where's my water etc are all mainstream "puzzle" games, but they require no logic to play. People like the feeling of success, passing a level or finishing the game, but its really just a false sense of achievement when the levels could be passed by a toddler just pushing random buttons.

    I haven't play your game, so I don't even know if this is the case, but I just wanted it to be known you're definitely not the only one. Even big companies struggle with puzzle games. The market is flooded with them and there's only a certain around of puzzle fans. I fear someday real puzzlers will be a rare treat on the AppStore. Surely someday devs will learn how hard it is to make a successful puzzler on iOS. Angry birds, cut the rope, pudding monsters, where's my water and where's my perry are the only "puzzle" games that have gotten recognition, and sadly they don't deserve it

    Maybe someday ill make my hidden gems website.
     
  12. I think one mistake is that any small indie needs to make a game universal. A lot of the seniors here play primarily on their ipad if they have one. Not having that kind of support is really tough for an indie. I've seen a lot of indies that come out iphone only do terrible. Remember the review sites reviewers, serious ios users, etc, mostly use ipads for gaming.

    Puzzle games nowadays are tough to break into nowadays unless you are a big name or have a great game. So many good 99 cent puzzlers, if your game is in the same field, not universal, and not supporting fancy graphics, it'll have a real hard time competing. I'll leave it at that.
     
  13. feedtank

    feedtank Well-Known Member

    #13 feedtank, Jan 12, 2013
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2013
    Wow. That was quite a post.

    I hear you about about the marketing and attention problem. That's probably just the reality of being a small developer with no contacts. I feel like we're finally, very slowly, starting to gain some traction. I don't want this to be a conversation about marketing though, I'm more just curious if people think it deserves those reviews we've gotten.

    You definitely piqued my interest re: your list of games. I'm going to try some of them out.

    I think a hidden gems website is a great idea. I was thinking about something similar, actually. Separately, I also feel like a lot of these game sites are overwhelming to the average casual gamer. I think they'd rather just get a tip on one quality game a week rather than destroy their RSS reader with 5+ posts a day. Maybe I'll develop the site and you can write for it ;)

    Anyway, I'd love any feedback about the game and thoughts on whether it deserves those reviews.
     
  14. Tannorexic

    Tannorexic Well-Known Member

    Dec 5, 2011
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    Somewhere in the spiritual realm
    I really think apple is huge part of the problem, apple wants to control what goes mainstream by their featured list. Everything else barely even shows up. They took away the most recent list for gods know what reason. I used to always browse the recent releases. There's no valid reason to remove them whatsoever, I don't understand. Apple gloats at keynotes about their huge catalog of games but what good are games if you can't find them and are constantly just been spoon fed the sheepish angry birds crap? I wonder if apple removed the recents list because they wanted to hide the crap apps. Instead they want to feature angry birds every week and everyone else can try to claw their way up the charts, or get buried under the junk. That's really the two only options. I don't think I've ever seen a game get decent attention without first being featured. Even if mario bros came to the AppStore under a new name like Marishio bros, and it wasn't featured. No one would find it. It'd get buried under the crap. It's absolutely ludicrous. Apple dont care. Some day there won't be any good indie developers releasing iOS games because after so many failures they give up because instead of making money they're losing it. Indie developers are often just doing it from their bedroom, not a big company with thousands of dollars to spend on marketing, and these days your going to need it if you want to get anywhere.. A few ears ago it was easy to get recognised on iOS. Now it's virtually impossible. Overpopulated by crap sadly. All I'm saying is, don't take it to heart, it's not just you. There are MANY in the exact same boat. It doesn't mean you are a bad developer. It just means apple is a bad feature-er.
     
  15. feedtank

    feedtank Well-Known Member

    I think a lot of what you're saying is valid. Taking away the most recent list makes absolutely no sense. What they really need is a better way to discover apps, and perhaps a second tier list down from their featured lists.

    Also – I completely agree about indies. Apple as a brand is all about creativity and empowering artists. There is an opportunity for them to value the small creatives. If they don't start making an effort to do so, the risk-taking games made by smaller studios won't stand a chance against the EAs and Gamelofts of the world. Then it's derivative first person shooters, branded games and match three clones for all.
     
  16. feedtank

    feedtank Well-Known Member

  17. MasterChief3624

    MasterChief3624 Well-Known Member

    Oct 11, 2009
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    Hm... well I am no good at analyzing the business of app marketing, but after playing your game I have to say I am quite impressed. Very interesting concept. I swear I've seen it before, though... But the presentation is very unique here. Curious, indeed.

    I don't like the in-app purchases, though. I'm biased, however, because I make it a point to never utilize in-app purchases... with some exceptions (coughcounterfeitcoininjetpackjoyridecough) :cool:
     
  18. Gabrien

    Gabrien Well-Known Member

    Nov 24, 2009
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    Here's some honesty for you:

    -Your game graphically resembles Tiny Wings to a point that's past plausible coincidence. (Even down to font.)

    -Your game contains highly intrusive (and offensive) IAP.

    I don't know to what extent you are sincere in your request for "honesty" as opposed to just attempting to drum up publicity for your game, but I can tell you that the two factors above were an immediate turn-off to me personally.
     
  19. feedtank

    feedtank Well-Known Member

    I appreciate the honesty.

    I love Tiny Wings, and I'm proud to say it had an influence on the game's style. I'm not sure any game isn't influenced by another, graphically or otherwise.

    The font though?

    [​IMG]

    Which of the IAP's do you consider intrusive? We used IAP's for the additional levels so that people could try the game's first 10 levels without purchasing it. Like a throwback to the shareware days. We also use them for extra shots, just in case someone gets really stuck and frustrated, like Angry Bird's Mighty Eagle. We tried to make it only something you could find if you searched it out, though.
     
  20. Gabrien

    Gabrien Well-Known Member

    Nov 24, 2009
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    Rules in a game must mean something or you may as well not have rules. Saying you must complete a level in "x" amount of moves, but you can have more if you pay us real money, cheapens the experience way beyond a point where I wish to have anything to do with it.

    Frankly, if you cannot see this all by yourself, I am not interested in playing any game you make. And if you can see it, then you are just playing dumb. In either case, I don't see the point in debating the issue further.
     

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