Apps that rocket up the charts that are unknown?

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by TouchiMedia, Apr 14, 2016.

  1. TouchiMedia

    TouchiMedia Well-Known Member

    Nov 29, 2013
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    #1 TouchiMedia, Apr 14, 2016
    Last edited: Apr 14, 2016
    Greetings,

    As a hobbyist/indie developer - I'm always curious how some 'unknown' games sky rocket up the charts...

    The latest one, Slither.io, is now #1 in the free games chart.

    It's been out since late March? The developer only had a couple other Apps that didn't seem popular (so cross advertising wouldn't have helped), and I hadn't seen anything about Slither.io on media sites nor did I see it featured anywhere by Apple.

    Now it's got 7,000+ reviews. wth!!

    Anyways just curious how this game got so popular so fast. I haven't seen any coverage of it on this site or others for that matter!

    Guess I'm just jealous of the success.. Not too familiar with Flash games/sites - wondering if it had a following there then transferred over when it went mobile?
     
  2. Columbo

    Columbo Well-Known Member

    Sep 1, 2014
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    Wow - that is crazy successful.

    I looked on youtube and saw PewDiePie has a video about it with 3.5m views, but that came out when the app was already riding high in the charts. It must be mainly virality, there are tons of videos with really high view counts on youtube.
     
  3. TouchiMedia

    TouchiMedia Well-Known Member

    Nov 29, 2013
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    Ahh ok thanks, Pew seems to have the golden touch. Usually if a really popular YouTube player covers something then that product sales spikes up!

    That or if they've had a previous following with a Flash version of it. I personally don't pay much attention to either so it always surprises me when an App goes up fast in downloads when I don't see it on 'mainstream' media outlets or features by Apple..
     
  4. PlaidWorld

    PlaidWorld Member

    Oct 21, 2015
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    I saw a few news stories on Slither.io actually... the last few days.. that alone could help it take off if its been recent. Also its always compared to another hit game in terms of play... that does not hurt it.

    Anyhow I know what you are talking about... Im not sure Slither.io is a good example of this tho.
     
  5. LunaMay

    LunaMay Active Member

    Apr 19, 2016
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    Herald of Mobile Gaming
    Prague, Czech Republic
    I've tried to find some more info about Slither.io, but I couldn't find any relevant case study or at least some info about it's rise by the developer. Well, let's play the waiting game :p.

    Anyway a lot of success stories are a combination of a cool idea, fantastic timing and a pure luck. Don't loose any sleep over it :). Just follow some success stories and try to find that X factor for your own app. Here's one intriguing case study about Fun Run.
     
  6. TouchiMedia

    TouchiMedia Well-Known Member

    Nov 29, 2013
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    Interesting article, thanks Luna. The Twitter campaign is an interesting strategy that I hadn't heard before
     
  7. Radokhlebov

    Radokhlebov New Member

    Apr 20, 2016
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    Self-employed
    Siberia
    Seems they got insider info or good friends.
     
  8. eddag

    eddag Active Member

    Mar 31, 2016
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    Head of a small studio
    Warsaw, Poland
    slither

    Slither is extremely addictive game, such gems happen:)
     
  9. Destined

    Destined Well-Known Member

    Aug 11, 2013
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    The key to remember is people rarely have success on their first game. The on correlation of why games succeed is people who release more gradually get more success.
     
  10. TouchiMedia

    TouchiMedia Well-Known Member

    Nov 29, 2013
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    #10 TouchiMedia, May 17, 2016
    Last edited: May 17, 2016
    Weelllll... I'm on my 8th or so (Search 'Seth Henson' in App Store to get list of games) and don't think I've ever achieved more then 100 downloads. They aren't AAA quality but in my designer mind, I don't think they are terrible either. I try to capture the simple, quick high score chaser style with little to no success. Granted it's just me, myself and I and its not my primary job. I'm learning a lot as I go and do see my games getting better - so maybe success is in due time or a dream I'll keep chasing :rolleyes:

    Very competitive market so I always wonder when I don't see a game featured yet rockets up the charts- what happens.

    But I think with this particular game it was covered by a few large YouTube stars that have a massive following. Then well, the rest is history!
     
  11. TRXapps

    TRXapps Member

    Apr 13, 2016
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    Im on my first one.. haha although did two reskins before, this time I did all the coding. More than 100 downloads you will get, my issue is get more than 100 dollars!
     

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