Ask HN: Our iPad game hit top 30 in free games, how do we keep the momentum?

#1

Post by arbesfeld » Mon, Jul 21, 2014, 2:37 PM UTC

We are two MIT students who just published our physics-based puzzle game "Marble Drop" (http://www.marbledropgame.com) for iOS and Android (originally created for MakeGamesWithUs` MIT iOS games competition). The game has been a huge success in its first week, and we are now pushing the top of the App Store rankings in all of the relevant categories. At this point, we really have no idea what we should be doing as we try to grow our user base. We have been doing obvious things like talking to press, updating content, etc, but I suspect that there are a number of key strategies that are missing from our plan.

Do any HNers have advice on how we should spend our time and resources as we grow Marble Drop? Thanks in advance!

Re: Ask HN: Our iPad game hit top 30 in free games, how do we keep the momentum?

#2

Post by spyglass » Mon, Jul 21, 2014, 2:45 PM UTC

Launch limited-time promos. People love these things. I don't know why. I think it caters to the hoarding instinct.

Give people exclusive levels or badges or other bonuses if they download within a time period. These don't have to be prepackaged with the installer, they can be delivered later, depending on the installation date.

Re: Ask HN: Our iPad game hit top 30 in free games, how do we keep the momentum?

#3

Post by bellerocky » Mon, Jul 21, 2014, 3:06 PM UTC

> com.arbesfeld.marble_drop_test

The game's humble Android start are still evident in the link to the Google Play store.

Re: Ask HN: Our iPad game hit top 30 in free games, how do we keep the momentum?

#4

Post by genderup » Mon, Jul 21, 2014, 3:35 PM UTC

take a minimal amount of funding from a high profile angel investor (Kevin Rose) or vc who can help market it with a tweet etc

Re: Ask HN: Our iPad game hit top 30 in free games, how do we keep the momentum?

#5

Post by Dorian-Marie » Mon, Jul 21, 2014, 3:38 PM UTC

Your buttons doesn't work for me on Chrome 36 / Mac OSX:

http://www.gfycat.com/OptimisticGrossAegeancat

Re: Ask HN: Our iPad game hit top 30 in free games, how do we keep the momentum?

#6

Post by jarofgreen » Mon, Jul 21, 2014, 3:49 PM UTC

I use Ghostery in Firefox (17, that's what Debian Stable has). I click on the link to the Android play store and nothing happens. Ghostery is blocking it somehow, if I disable it it works. No idea why tho.

Re: Ask HN: Our iPad game hit top 30 in free games, how do we keep the momentum?

#7

Post by jarofgreen » Mon, Jul 21, 2014, 3:49 PM UTC

Well, the first question has to be what's your aim and ambition with this game?

Re: Ask HN: Our iPad game hit top 30 in free games, how do we keep the momentum?

#8

Post by sillysaurus3 » Mon, Jul 21, 2014, 3:55 PM UTC

Dorian-Marie wrote: post #5

Your buttons doesn't work for me on Chrome 36 / Mac OSX: http://www.gfycat.com/OptimisticGrossAegeancat

Offtopic, but which tool do you use to capture videos like this? I've been meaning to find one.

EDIT: I'm getting the feeling there might be a niche market for a cross-platform program that does this. QuickCast is slick, but Mac-only. Simplescreenrecorder works, but it's Linux-only. Running ffmpeg console commands might work, but it's a bit esoteric. Nvidia has a tool, but only for Nvidia card owners. And QuickTime is, well, QuickTime. Interesting...

Re: Ask HN: Our iPad game hit top 30 in free games, how do we keep the momentum?

#9

Post by bww » Mon, Jul 21, 2014, 4:01 PM UTC

I developed a short-lived minor hit game several years ago which topped out at #3 on the U.S. App Store overall free chart, right behind the Facebook app. At the time that represented about 50-60,000 downloads a day; I assume it would be considerably more now.

That app was languishing in the nether regions of the App Store until we got press on some Gawker properties at which point it absolutely exploded. It was then picked up by other outlets which only helped.

There's a million apps out there and media outlets are not going to talk about all of them, so the way we got that press was by making writing an article about us more valuable to them: we gave them something to give their readers. This was a $0.99 app (these were the days before it was clear that charging money up front for apps is not a viable strategy). We scheduled a weekend giveaway about a week out, emailed media about it, and they got to offer their readers more than just pointing out an app they might like, they got to give them a deal on it.

So, in my limited experience, a good way to get traction is through some combination the media (they have the eyeballs) and a deal (people love deals). And the best way to get the media to talk about you is to make talking about you more valuable to them.

Re: Ask HN: Our iPad game hit top 30 in free games, how do we keep the momentum?

#10

Post by geuis » Mon, Jul 21, 2014, 4:03 PM UTC

Just tried out the first few levels. Fun little game. The add ons for hints is an easy standard way to monetize a free game. I can't offer much advice graphics, but you might want to look at making the marbles look like marbles. Polish up the visuals just a bit. Feels like it's 95% of the way there.

Other ideas: Look into some way to compete with other people. Some way to share it.

Add the ability to text a link to the App Store to a friend. Only ask for the contacts permission when someone initiates that feature.

Just keep iterating on the game and polishing it. You guys will get more ideas as time goes by.

Expect the popularity to fall off at some point. That's normal.

Apple looks for apps that really show off the platform. Being in the top 30 is great. If the visuals and sounds were a little more polished there's a better chance your game might be featured. This can be really great for boosting you higher, though it's not a permanent bump.

Apps have life cycles. Do the best you can now and learn from it. Invaluable lessons for doing more apps in the future.