On timers, ads, and other IAP's we hate. Is this approach better? (Game of Loot)

Discussion in 'General Game Discussion and Questions' started by SuperUltraHyper, Aug 4, 2015.

  1. SuperUltraHyper

    SuperUltraHyper Well-Known Member

    Feb 4, 2015
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    #1 SuperUltraHyper, Aug 4, 2015
    Last edited: Aug 4, 2015
    I released my game last week and it, of course, received the usual community criticism for having a life / timer system. In a nut shell it is a stamina timer that essentially acts as number of tries per X minutes... The game is monetized like Candy Crush for the most part. If you don't play the game for more than 20 minutes or so at a time you may never see the stamina timer. There are Candy Crush like bridges / gates though... Play one dungeon, wait a day, play another.. You'll have to pay to cross those. But they are few and far between. And 2$ will get you through all of the ones in the game currently. I think thats a lot of gameplay per $.

    I also understand the players desire to remove the timers with an inapp purchase. I hate them too. However, it is a proven method of getting people to spend money and we all need to eat. The good news... You can permanently increase your stamina by +200, enough for an additional life or so, per $.70. I've tried to design this so dropping 5$ or less (depending on session length) and spending it all on permanent stamina increases should completely remove or at least seriously decrease the amount of waiting you'll need to do. I really think this will be true for all except the marathon player. And even if you're the marathon player, refilling your stamina meter after all that additional stamina will afford you tons more play time. I really feel like this is a good compromise to a hated system that is, honesty, a necessity for a game like mine.

    All this said, there are no artificial walls, progression blocks, or crazy grinding elements. I'm not trying to be greedy but food is as important to me as it is you.

    So the question is, is it a good compromise? How would you monetize a game like mine? Or Candy Crush if you haven't played / don't want to play Game of Loot...

    Links to my game (Game of Loot) on Google Play for Android and the iOS App Store are here.

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  2. ackmondual

    ackmondual Well-Known Member

    Dec 25, 2009
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    #2 ackmondual, Aug 4, 2015
    Last edited: Aug 4, 2015
    Did a similar topic here about which freemium games folks thought were done well as far as the monetizing part of it goes....
    http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=267169

    I'm still not sure what paying 70c does... specifically, is it a 1-shot deal to remove the need to wait, does it only do it for a certain region, or only in effect a certain time?

    Where's My Water 2 had an "energy meter" that forced you to wait or pay. IIRC, a reviewer paid $16.50 to play the game normally. I put it down in disgust. Later on, they removed the freemium model, and made it such that $2 (or was it $1?) unlocks each region of the game. I happily spent enough $$ to unlock all 6 or 7 regions or so.

    Plants Vs. Zombies 2 makes it such that some plants cost real $$, as well as some of the upgrades. Many other plants and Upgrades are available normally, or through "farming gems". The way I see it, you pay about $4 to $10 for some of the really nice upgrades, and you're set. I just play the game with the "understanding" that I won't have the full repertoire of plants.

    However, you seem to be a MUCH SMALLER shop, as the WMW2's done by Disney, and PvZ 2 has (according to them) 100 million downloads. I'm sure they have better options with those sheer # of DLs. I haven't crunched the numbers, so I don't know if something like $1 to $3 to unlock a "region" will work for your business model.



    Read a review for Angry Birds 2... it's freemium which is understandable, but by not giving folks an option to pay premium pricing to do away with all of those freemium hassles was a turn off according to the reviewer. Some users were saying they'd gladly pay $2 to not have to deal with any of that, but I'm not sure if $2 would be enough. It may have to be 3x that, and then you'd get complaints now that it's too much :x Suffice to say, it's a jungle out there on the iOS AppStore.
     
  3. SuperUltraHyper

    SuperUltraHyper Well-Known Member

    Feb 4, 2015
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    Pay .70c and permanently add 200 points to your stamina meter. That equates to a bit more than 1 additional dungeon entry / try. It'd be contextually similar to and IAP that would permanently add an additional life slot to Candy Crush. The additional stamina is permanent and will give you one more "play."
     

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