Why does this sell like crap?

Discussion in 'General Game Discussion and Questions' started by obiwahn, Dec 14, 2010.

  1. obiwahn

    obiwahn Well-Known Member

    Jun 6, 2009
    101
    0
    0
    Hi there,

    most of my apps do quite good in the App Store. But one app does not sell at all. Any ideas why? Do the screenshots look terrible? Awful description? Ugly graphics/icon?

    Thank you so much for your opinion in advance.

    This is it:

    Fling Cube Style

    A NEW KIND OF GAME
    Herp Games introduces a new game experience: Fling Cube Style, a highly addictive action puzzler.…
    $2.99
    Buy Now
    Media
    Details
    A NEW KIND OF GAME
    Herp Games introduces a new game experience: Fling Cube Style, a highly addictive action puzzler.
    Fling your cube to clear the 100 exciting and absolutely unique levels.

    GLOBAL LEADERBOARD
    Rush to high score and challenge your friends! Fling Cube has a detailed global leaderboard for each game mode.

    EXCITING GAME MODES
    Play in Classic mode, enjoy the relaxing Zen mode, race the clock in Action mode or beat the incredible challenging Champion mode. It's endless hours of fun!

    HD GRAPHICS
    Fling Cube Style brings crystal crisp graphics to your iPhone and iPod Touch. Its high-definition graphics are optimized for both the Retina display and the regular display.

    Go bust'em cubes!
    Information
    Seller:
    Genre:Arcade, Puzzle
    Release:Nov 08, 2010
    Updated:Nov 30, -0001
    Version:
    Size:0.0
    TouchArcade Rating:Unrated
    User Rating:Unrated
    Your Rating:unrated
    Compatibility:HD Universal
     
  2. Balu`

    Balu` Well-Known Member

    Aug 4, 2009
    3,949
    0
    36
    Hungary
    Wrong forum, still.
    Icon: Barely acceptable I'd say, doesn't get me interested at all.
    Screenshots: Good, definitely good.
    Describtion: Very, very short. I'd give some more details about the gameplay.
     
  3. Planetshooter

    Planetshooter Well-Known Member

    Well, maybe it's just me but I think it's impossible to tell what the game is about from the screens and the graphics look very flat and untextured. This for $2.99, I'd personally avoid it. Hopefully this is helpful...

    Better screen pics, lite version, price drop, don't know what else to suggest as I can't tell anything about the game.
     
  4. BeefJerky

    BeefJerky Well-Known Member

    Jun 4, 2009
    392
    1
    0
    Yeah my biggest problem would be that I have no idea what it is. The look seems very functional so there's no real curiosity draw there either.

    If you really gave an impression of what the game is, some people might take a punt on it but, if it were me (and it's not and I'm not a dev so what do I know?), I'd try to attach some snappy art style or character to it to draw people in.
     
  5. obiwahn

    obiwahn Well-Known Member

    Jun 6, 2009
    101
    0
    0
    Thank you all! Very interesting opinions.

    @Balu: Sorry for posting in the wrong forum. Where is the right place to put it?
     
  6. Archimedes

    Archimedes Well-Known Member

    Oct 7, 2010
    98
    0
    0
    Well, I'll give you my take. From the screen shots, it looks great. Sure, you're icon could be a bit more polished. A simple graphic of a cube being tossed like your first screenshot. Still, I don't see that as the main deterrent.

    Three quick suggestions:
    1) Create a lite version
    2) Leader board integration with Openfeint (or whatever your preference) and Gamecenter
    3) Mark it for $.99 sale over a weekend.

    Hope that helps.

     
  7. Balu`

    Balu` Well-Known Member

    Aug 4, 2009
    3,949
    0
    36
    Hungary
    General Game Discussions would be the right place, mods will move it though. :>

    And yes, you need to make a lite version (or holiday promotion one like lately some people do).
     
  8. ipod_david

    ipod_david Well-Known Member

    May 3, 2010
    1,332
    0
    36
    screenshots FRESH! I love the typography, well done, mate!

    BUT: What is the user supposed to do here!? $3 for a cat in the sack (german idiom)? The Appstore customer needs to see the screenies and must get a clue what to do, I think most of them are too lazy to read every description...
     
  9. GSnyder

    GSnyder Well-Known Member

    Nov 11, 2010
    48
    0
    0
    Obi, it looks like you already have a Lite version out, so you should have data regarding conversions. Is the problem that nobody buys the game after trying the Lite version, or is it that nobody even tries the game?

    I'm not familiar with this series, but here are a couple of initial impressions:

    1) This appears to the be the third game in a series that differs only in visual style. All the titles have "Fling Cube" in the name, yet the icons and art are completely different. It's confusing and a bit overwhelming. If someone told me they "liked fling cube" and this long smorgasbord of titles is what I found after searching, I wouldn't really know where to start.

    2) The icons for the previous games in the series are nicer. If someone chooses a fling cube game "at random", it doesn't surprise me that they might pass over this one in favor of one of the others.

    3) The art style on this one is rather spare, and although the game itself seems quite polished when you play it, the value isn't communicated by the screenshots. It looks like you're charging $2.99 for a game that essentially consists of drawing a bunch of rectangles.

    4) I don't know if this is different from other games in the series, but the control scheme doesn't demo well. The cube often fails to respond to touch at all, and even when it does, the heavy gravity blunts your ability to flick the cube. From the description and initial impression, I was expecting something more like air hockey, where you could really ram the other cubes. But the actual game denies you this pleasure. It also seems that you must learn to catch the falling cube even when the level objectives are complete - otherwise you fail the level and have to repeat it.

    5) Despite the evident polish, $2.99 seems like a stretch to me for the iOS ecology. As incredible as it seems, I now think of this as a "premium" price point. But you have other games at $2.99 and I guess they're selling well, so take this comment with a grain of salt. I'm not an iOS developer.
     
  10. YouSuckDude

    YouSuckDude Well-Known Member

    Nov 18, 2010
    392
    0
    0
    Above My Postcount
    It's not worth 2.99

    Sell it for .99 cents and you might make a profit
     
  11. TiltMyTouch

    TiltMyTouch Well-Known Member

    Jun 10, 2010
    3,088
    0
    0
    I stopped reading after I read the developer name. So pretty much, I read nothing at all.
     
  12. obiwahn

    obiwahn Well-Known Member

    Jun 6, 2009
    101
    0
    0
    @ GSnyder: Thank you very much for this in depth analysis. I will go trough each step and'll try to implement as much as possible.

    Expecially point 4) seems quite important to me. There has to be a real game flow and it should be fun to flick the cube. But: actually it should be possible to flick the cube like in airhockey. Maybe I have to reduce the gravity a bit.
     
  13. dumbname

    dumbname Well-Known Member

    Oct 22, 2009
    718
    0
    0
    ok bud right off the bat i saw 2.99, then i saw typical .99 worthy screen shots. (and if it was .99 it would go on my radar which means wait till its free)


    sorry but for da amount of apps i check out in a day, its the most efficient technique
     

Share This Page