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Show HN: Math Attack – My side project of 3 years

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Re: Show HN: Math Attack – My side project of 3 years

#91

Post by Sanctor »

bko wrote: post #87
Majestic121 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your game looks very nice, but I'm not a big fan of ads. Is there a way to pay a premium for an ad free version?

I would go a step further and just not include ads at all. I released several iOS games and the market is just too tough to make money especially off adds. Instead of likely collecting a few dollars the first few months (literally) , you may as well have a free beautiful game untainted by ads or monetization. If it really hits off I'm sure you can build in monetization, but from the beginning it's not even worth the…

"Acquire users first, monetize later" is a strategy I might be willing to use in the future. This particular project is way too niche for this approach I think.

Re: Show HN: Math Attack – My side project of 3 years

#92

Post by maluta »

Sanctor wrote: post #90
maluta wrote: post #86

Is there any plan to enable translations in the app? I'd love help adding a Brazillian Portuguese (pt-br) version.

Yes, definitely. I don't currently have a system implemented for this, but I will. Can I contact you about this once it's ready?

Sure. Please tiago.maluta@gmail.com / I'm also @maluta at Github.

Re: Show HN: Math Attack – My side project of 3 years

#93

Post by dualogy »

Sanctor wrote: post #72
soneca wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"If nothing, it breaks the retro atmosphere I'm going for" I commented before about finding the ads annoying. But really, this is the crux of it. It completely breaks the experience, as I am playing a pixelized retro game and a modern looking clean ad appears on the screen. Tangentially, why don't you consider also publishing the same game, but with a different art style. An art style that might be more relatable for…

It wouldn't be too much work to re-skin the game. I can maybe put a selection in the settings page that could switch between retro and modern. This is the first time I've heard this suggestion. I will definitely consider this. Thank you!

> can maybe put a selection in the settings page that could switch between retro and modern

Oooh once you go that route, you can make skins "unlockable" from gamer progress! That's always fun (if the rest is, too)

Re: Show HN: Math Attack – My side project of 3 years

#94

Post by sharemywin »

Sanctor wrote: post #16
EmFl wrote: post #14

Hello, Played just once for now, really enjoyed it, love the fact that you can destroy multiple balloons having the same number ! Congratulations. Is it intentional that there is no pause button ?

It is, kind of... :) I envisioned this game to be very casual. Played in sessions, while you commuted or otherwise had to pass time. But a lot of my friends who played the game also requested a pause button. I might give in. PS: You can just press the home button on your device, and when you come back, it will continue where you left it :)

might want to have a learning start button which allows pausing and negative points if you buy an answer. I have a second grader that I think would play it.

Re: Show HN: Math Attack – My side project of 3 years

#95

Post by the_watcher »

clbrook wrote: post #85
randlet wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thirded. This game is a little advanced for my 4 y.o. but I would MUCH rather pay a couple dollars to have ad free games. Most of the free educational kids games are crappy to use for a 4 y.o. because they pop up ads over the game. Inevitably she clicks on them by accident and then ends up in the Play store and confused about what happened or how to get back to her game.

I made a math game that was ad-free. It started out with a $1 purchase price at first launch, but I decided to make it free since it was not being downloaded. I'm curious if you have any advice on how to market to your audience of "parents that will pay for ad-free kids' games".

Free to download, then $1 to remove ads or unlock the full game. I get the frustration, but I'm someone who pretty much never pays up front for an app, but the bar for getting me to pay $1 to remove ads or unlock features is extraordinarily low. I basically need about an hour or so of use before I'm willing to invest (which is unfortunately necessary thanks to the hundreds of essentially useless apps I've downloaded in the past).

Re: Show HN: Math Attack – My side project of 3 years

#96

Post by the_watcher »

Sanctor wrote: post #54
Humdeee wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've learned this the hard way with interstitial and banner ads throughout releasing a dozen or so apps. You really need a rather large user base to make them even a bit worthwhile to a developer. Scratching out pennies will have a huge downside if it lowers the experience of the app to your whole userbase. It's an art form not to make the user feel like a product. Everyone thinks they know how but really so, so few…

Thanks for sharing your experience. It's very valuable to me. I'm very much a stranger to this world, and I don't have anyone to ask for advice. I don't like putting ads in the game. If nothing, it breaks the retro atmosphere I'm going for. But I also have the dream of doing game development for a living and have to make money somehow. I'll try the paid method. I guess I couldn't imagine people willing to pay for som…

> I guess I couldn't imagine people willing to pay for something I do as a hobby for now.

I've struggled with this myself. While there might be some who aren't willing to pay, many people are willing to pay for something they get value out of. That said, the sheer number of terrible apps I've downloaded stops me from paying up front for an app from an unknown developer, but as I mentioned before, my bar is very, very low for the amount of use I need before I'm willing to pay $1 to remove ads or unlock the rest of an app.

Re: Show HN: Math Attack – My side project of 3 years

#97

Post by devgutt »

Loved the game. I don't mind about the ads. It was well thought, because when you lose, you deserved ;)

As I suggestion. You didn't need to waste time in so much detail for the first version. If you haven't mentioned about the birds and the building lights I would never have notice. It is a nice to have, but surely it would be better to ship the game earlier. Even though, I would rather like different cities. The city is destroyed, no matter what :0

Re: Show HN: Math Attack – My side project of 3 years

#98

Post by Sanctor »

devgutt wrote: post #97

Loved the game. I don't mind about the ads. It was well thought, because when you lose, you deserved ;) As I suggestion. You didn't need to waste time in so much detail for the first version. If you haven't mentioned about the birds and the building lights I would never have notice. It is a nice to have, but surely it would be better to ship the game earlier. Even though, I would rather like different cities. The cit…

Yes, in hindsight I could have released it way sooner. Even now I couldn't implement half the things I wanted to implement. It's hard make compromises and cut things out. I wanted to deliver what was in my head perfectly. Let this be a lesson to everyone out there I guess :) Release, then iterate. Otherwise you miss out on so much valuable feedback for years.

Re: Show HN: Math Attack – My side project of 3 years

#99

Post by Sanctor »

sharemywin wrote: post #94
Sanctor wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is, kind of... :) I envisioned this game to be very casual. Played in sessions, while you commuted or otherwise had to pass time. But a lot of my friends who played the game also requested a pause button. I might give in. PS: You can just press the home button on your device, and when you come back, it will continue where you left it :)

might want to have a learning start button which allows pausing and negative points if you buy an answer. I have a second grader that I think would play it.

I'm planning a Practice mode which will help kids of all ages to choose whatever kind of play experience they are comfortable with. Thanks for the feedback!

Re: Show HN: Math Attack – My side project of 3 years

#100

Post by mrgoldenbrown »

josho wrote: post #81

When you want to grow revenue past what ads support look into purchasable themes. E.g. have zombies or godzilla skins (targeting boys), and similar for girls. I had jumped on the app store bandwagon at the outset and did alright selling apps at 99¢-2.99 but was hesitant to switch to IAP. It turns out I was wrong and the kids apps that did switch faired well enough to continue. E.g. While I was fighting for 99¢ sales,…

>E.g. have zombies or godzilla skins (targeting boys), and similar for girls. Why go out of your way to perpetuate stereotypes? Just make skins, period. Don't contribute to kids growing up with artificial limitations by making everything target boys or girls specifically.
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