What am I doing wrong ?

Are you advertising your game? Has it been reviewed on big sites? Is it featured by Apple? Are you cross-promoting it with other games that have large user bases? If the answers are no, then your game isnt selling because no one knows about your game.

Also, you're competing with the thousands of cutsy puzzle games on the AppStore. That's really hard. If I want a cutsy puzzle game I'll probably get one of those popular ones (wont say the names) at the top of the free/$0.99 charts on iTunes.

 

What were your expectations?

 

The art stinks. Sorry to be harsh, but that's it.

 

The art looks cute. The itunes description is real vague though -- some sort of cute puzzle game is all I got from it.

"Some sort of cute puzzle game" + .99 is not really enough to go on. I didnt read your early thread on TA -- did you give away promo codes? Use beta testers from the forum? Describe the game better than in the itunes post?

Your youtube video has just 100 and something hits, so I dont think one can say that the video is a problem. Its a little on the short side and didnt fully illuminate the game for me, but this certainly isnt the real issue.

All of that said, I am not sure its possible for a indie developer without a pre-existing fan-base to hit gold with just a tweak on a familiar puzzle genre, however good the presentation, without a lite version or intro freebie.

 

I disagree, they are much better than what some developers unleash onto the App Store. Some of the art looks professional enough to get away with.

However, there are a few objects that look like they were made in Paint (ie, not professional). Object such as the zombie heads (especially), stretches chains, trident etc, look on the bad side.

The backgrounds look good (apart from the army background).

However what really lets you down the is the sense of togetherness (if that's a word). From the screenshots, the game looks like a load of objects put together.

There seems to not be that much differentiation to other offerings from other developers.

Is it just a simple platformer?

If not, then you have done something wrong in displaying the game. Is there something unique about your game that's unlike any other? Show it.

I hope this helps, but your game looks a whole lot better than what I have seen in the past.

Well done.

 

A few hundred a day? A week? or over the life of the game?

I have to agree with the first comment on the art too. Not only did you rip-off the pac-man ghosts, but in some cases the art just looks unfinished (ie. the clouds in the upper corners, which are simply cut off at the bottom.

It's the games that are polished to no end that end up climbing the charts.

 

I have to agree with this. While the art itself looks good on the most part (I really like the animals, especially the hippo), but it looks kinda floaty and flimsy. I'm sure making it more cohesive can't be all that hard. Also the reviews said you were using GameSalad. I know you're active in the Corona community, so why not port it? Long loading times on a phone are killer I think.

 

More dynamic screenshots may also be a suggestion.

 

yea you need to get the word out, promo codes of some sort, and more levels. a physics game with only 30 levels kinda turns me away...

 

All those things still wont make anyone know about your game.

 

lite

Ok now as a developer , I think this plan of attack will work

1) If you feel your game is good enough , make a 5 or 6 level lite version. Put the link to the full version of the game.

2) Add 10 to 15 levels to your full version.

As far as the art I have seen much worst. Your art is ok not bad , but not great. I think people arent seeing your game. With the lite version out I feel you will do much better. Also promote your lite version like you did your full version. Keep us posted on how it goes. I feel this will work for you.

 

Ok. Assuming your gameplay is actually any good: let's say I know exactly what needs to be done to your game to significantly increase sales. Now, you aren't giving the game away, right? You are trying to make money. That being the case, how much are you willing to pay me for my information?

 

Not only that, but the pacman ghosts/variations look stolen/used from the same source as this, and that game is just downright terrible.

The art does suck, but its not just the art itself. Like others have said, it just looks like you imported a bunch of random pictures. The screenshots make it look like the kind of game someone made with little effort, and doesn't tell us anything about the game.

Who are you, the appstore mafia? Why post that instead of PMing it? Why make it sound like a drug deal instead of a marketing proposal?
The easiest solution is lite version and better marketing. Also actually making the art yourself.

 

OK, I just took a quick glimpse at the itunes link, so this is not a deep commentary by any means, just a quick opinion and thought.

The game looks OK to me visually. What my eyes see: a brightly colored cutesy puzzle game. There are HUNDREDS or THOUSANDS of games like that on the app store.

So my first thought is - what makes your game special or different? Are there other games like it on the app store that are already successful? If so, maybe that's part of it.

And of course, what marketing have you done? I'm no expert, but yeah, you gotta try to get the game noticed, even if it means giving it away free for a day through Free-App-A-Day or something like that. Then you get on Appshopper too, and stand a chance of creating some buzz _IF_ the game is worthy of buzz. If it's not special in some way, it will just be another game that people download for free, play for 2 minutes, then delete because they already have too many games to play.

iOS is a really tough market now. I think quality is more important than ever if a dev wants to be successful. You can't just turn out me-too work anymore. The truth is, a lot of would-be devs will fall through the cracks, no matter how hard they tried. It's going to take a magnitude more talent, skill, creativity and luck to make it. Just like most fields, really.