Extremely poor sales, what's next?

I think the problem with 'Vector' is that it brings to mind the idea of 'vector graphics' to me, not strategy.

I'm buying the game in a mo, once I've had a play I'll try and come up with some awful suggestions to make any you come up with look good

 

With regards to the name change - its partially dependent on how much penetration into the target communities your current name has.

IMHO it IS possible to handle a name change regardless though, especially if you don't mind putting in a bit of effort into ensuring people hear about it.

PS - For some reason I was thinking of a name which included the word 'strategy' or 'strategic' as thats one of the core appeals to the game for me - its the fact that its not a 'twitch' game ....

Say: Strategy Racer or something similar ...

 

I think that's a very good idea. If you're going to change your app's name, make it something meaningful to potential buyers. As I said before, not many people know what a vector is, so that word tells them nothing. Also I don't think the pen&paper game is that well-known either, so naming your app after it isn't probably a good choice.

"Strategy Racer" is a bit generic... but captures the idea of the game really well. You should think of something along those lines.

 

In case you didn't notice, generic sells. Look at the uninspired names in the top selling lists. Fighting for a name in the App Store will soon be as frustrating as finding a URL.

And so here goes my prediction: Name squatting. People will be hoarding names in their Apple Developer accounts, and selling to the highest bidder.

 

I have heard some stories of insane success after name changing.

I think iLaunch got changed to Sheep Launch and it skyrocketed up the charts after completely stagnating, not kidding!

So it's not a horrible idea (though I do like " vector racer..."I think vector is a cool-sounding word, though...)

Seriously, one of the most important parts of the process is coming up with a good catchy name, a compelling icon, keywords, one-line description, all of that stuff. It won't necessarily make-or-break you but you never know, and the extra effort can definitely help.

"Racer" is a good term but what else does it bring to mind? pit stop. speedway. throttle. victory. action. thrill. ride. sometimes it just helps to let your mind wander a bit and start letting your words drip out. "Danger Racer" it sounds pretty juvenile but it instantly conjures up an image of a cool red logo over a checkered background. Short and easy to spell, sounds totally like something you'd see on the appstore. "Road Hogs," "Pocket Runners" Even if it is not necessarily completely representative of the game, so long as it sounds cool it is probably giving you a huge leg-up on the competition when they don't put any thought into the psychology of naming things.

If you've got a solid game put together that people like, and it's something that you can tell has some marketability, then you need to change some of this exterior stuff and you might be surprised how far it can get. At the same time, there's so much competition out there that unless you have a slick plan, it can be hard to break through no matter what you try.

Keep at it

 

There are so many factors that drive why a person downloads something. Free or paid. For every example you can come up with, there are a slew of other examples that contradict it. But trying to get the fundamentals like naming, icons, screenshots, should always be done.

I took a gander at the game, and on the first look at the screenshot I thought "weird why are there dots". I was looking at it on my Mac, so all I could see was the 50% tag line so I had no association with pictures and desc.

After reading the description, I get why you are calling it "Vector Rally". And i've never ever played the pencil and paper version of the game.

Why not call it something that people can relate with more. Maybe something like "Line Racer" or "Dot Racer" (Point sounds too nerdy).

 

I looked it up prior to mentioning it. It isn't gone ... at least on the App Store. If you really do like it and want to move forward with that or any other title, you can always create an instance of the app in iTunes Connect and then not submit the binary.

I only recommend doing that if you really intend on moving forward with a title you really intend on using tho.

 

I quite like Pen and Paper Racer (or something along those lines). I think it's got charm to it.

 

Wow! Congratulations! Hopefully you will see a major sales spike!

 

Thats fantastic - congrats ...

 

I've been following this thread (and feeling your pain!) and I just saw that it's featured not only in iTunes under "new and noteworthy" but also on the iPhone App Store under "hot new games". Being listed in "hot new games" is especially huge in my experience (Giant Moto was there for a week). I can't wait to hear how this affects your sales!

 

Yep I'm looking at the US store. I hear it takes a while to propagate around to other stores. Open the App Store --> touch the Featured tab --> touch the Hot New Games button (upper right hand corner). You're about 1/2 way down the page. This is about the best visibility you can have on the app store other than actually being on the main Featured page.

 

Yeah its in the US Store ...

I'd recommend using something like AppAnnie to track basic sales stats and suchlike, it also lists when apps enter categories and suchlike.

Here's the history for Vector Rally so far:
http://www.appannie.com/vector-rally/ranking/history/
(you can also view pretty much any store through it)

 

I've never heard of AppAnnie before, thanks for listing this here Marc.

eJayStudios, congrats on the Vector Rally success! Let us all know how the news affects the listing/sales. I'm always curious to see how any sort of publication/news affects apps sales.