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Show HN: Monster Coloring Book, my first App just launched. What do you think?

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Re: Show HN: Monster Coloring Book, my first App just launched. What do you think?

#51

Post by crgt »

huhtenberg wrote: post #50
crgt wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks so much for the feedback. Always nice to get a counterpoint to the sunshine and roses you hear from friends, family and the like. Regarding: a) Performance. Very disappointing to hear that you are experiencing lag. We did extensive device testing on iPad 1, and while we can't get the app to perform like it does on iPad 2 (SJ wasn't kidding about 7x graphical performance on the iPad 2), we did think we had gott…

> Parents don't blink at 19.99 for a new Lightning McQueen toy For one, I am not one of these parents. For two, Lightning McQueen toy is not sitting in a middle of my living room. Feel the difference, as they say. On a tangential note - I am willing to pay $15-20 for your app if it comes with no strings attached. Would this be worth a try for you? Package it as "Deluxe" edition and see how it goes. You might be surpr…

Love the idea of a Deluxe version. We had actually discussed it, but we were worried about diluting our audience across three versions of the app - it's hard to chart in the App Store if you split your audience three ways. Honestly, it's hard to chart period.

Once the dust of launch settles, we'll very likely revisit this suggestion. Our aim is to get our content in the hands of kids (of all ages!) that will enjoy it...and to make enough money to keep doing what we're doing. Your suggestion is perfectly compatible with that.

As for LMQ not being in your living room...well he is in mine. He's on my TV, in the drive-thru, everywhere...I understand your point, but my point is that I think that IAP is uniquely villainized for doing something very similar to what a lot of other industries have been doing for awhile - building on a branded experience and trying to make money by delivering additional value. But again, you are right - many people share your take, and a deluxe version could help to serve that crowd.

Thanks again for taking the time to share your thoughts on the app and related issues. Very helpful.

Re: Show HN: Monster Coloring Book, my first App just launched. What do you think?

#53

Post by _mrc »

huhtenberg wrote: post #45

I have a gentleman who is into this sort of thing and I've played through most of AppStore apps with him. They fall into exactly two categories - shorter games that are shallow in their content with low re-playability and longer, more elaborate games for older kids. And I can tell you with certainty that 3-5 year olds is an under-served market. With regards to the app (the paid version of it) - it looks promising, bu…

(c) absolutely - compare with Drawing Pad, where you can purchase colouring books in app. It has a config option to hide the IAP store, which avoids all the awkward questions.

I don't mind purchasing additional content in a premium app. If the app is good value by itself then additional sets for $3 a pop is fine. But I don't want my kids to see this option - as far as they are concerned, the app has what it has, and extra books appear magically from time to time.

Re: Show HN: Monster Coloring Book, my first App just launched. What do you think?

#54

Post by _mrc »

crgt wrote: post #51
huhtenberg wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Parents don't blink at 19.99 for a new Lightning McQueen toy For one, I am not one of these parents. For two, Lightning McQueen toy is not sitting in a middle of my living room. Feel the difference, as they say. On a tangential note - I am willing to pay $15-20 for your app if it comes with no strings attached. Would this be worth a try for you? Package it as "Deluxe" edition and see how it goes. You might be surpr…

Love the idea of a Deluxe version. We had actually discussed it, but we were worried about diluting our audience across three versions of the app - it's hard to chart in the App Store if you split your audience three ways. Honestly, it's hard to chart period. Once the dust of launch settles, we'll very likely revisit this suggestion. Our aim is to get our content in the hands of kids (of all ages!) that will enjoy it…

The difference is the LMQ toy doesn't come with a button to buy another one.

Re: Show HN: Monster Coloring Book, my first App just launched. What do you think?

#55

Post by marakas »

tomerico wrote: post #38

If sales won't go so well, or if you would like to try a different marketing approach, you might consider this: Instead of asking for money upfront, you should give the app for free with a few sample monsters. Then you can provide the full package with in-app purchase. The logic behind it is that it will be easier to convince the parents to pay for it, after their kids love it. Another reason - with a $2.99 price poi…

I am not convinced that kids will nag their parents enough to make them pay to upgrade - I suspect most parents will just be happy to let their kid play with the free version.

Re: Show HN: Monster Coloring Book, my first App just launched. What do you think?

#57

Post by zarprey »

marakas wrote: post #56

Beautiful design, lovely idea, I will be downloading this tonight. Do you have any plans for localizing it to other languages ? ( I think it would be a successful app in Japan )

Thank you, we are definitely thinking about localizing.

Re: Show HN: Monster Coloring Book, my first App just launched. What do you think?

#58

Post by crgt »

marakas wrote: post #55
tomerico wrote: post #38

If sales won't go so well, or if you would like to try a different marketing approach, you might consider this: Instead of asking for money upfront, you should give the app for free with a few sample monsters. Then you can provide the full package with in-app purchase. The logic behind it is that it will be easier to convince the parents to pay for it, after their kids love it. Another reason - with a $2.99 price poi…

I am not convinced that kids will nag their parents enough to make them pay to upgrade - I suspect most parents will just be happy to let their kid play with the free version.

We worry about this as well, actually. In fact it's been interesting to get the comments pushing back on IAP, because our concern to date has been that we gave away too much content for free. What's interesting about that Flurry article I linked to is that it's a fraction of the market that's driving the majority of the IAP revenue...so even if most parents don't go for the in-app purchase option, the ones that do should (we hope!) help us keep our lights on.

Re: Show HN: Monster Coloring Book, my first App just launched. What do you think?

#59

Post by marakas »

crgt wrote: post #58
marakas wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not convinced that kids will nag their parents enough to make them pay to upgrade - I suspect most parents will just be happy to let their kid play with the free version.

We worry about this as well, actually. In fact it's been interesting to get the comments pushing back on IAP, because our concern to date has been that we gave away too much content for free. What's interesting about that Flurry article I linked to is that it's a fraction of the market that's driving the majority of the IAP revenue...so even if most parents don't go for the in-app purchase option, the ones that do sh…

Have you considered going straight for the paid option ( ie. no free content ) and seeing how much demand you have? I think the app looks a lot better than most of the stuff already out there, and the price point would reassure parents that they are getting a high-quality product for their kids.

Re: Show HN: Monster Coloring Book, my first App just launched. What do you think?

#60

Post by crgt »

marakas wrote: post #59
crgt wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We worry about this as well, actually. In fact it's been interesting to get the comments pushing back on IAP, because our concern to date has been that we gave away too much content for free. What's interesting about that Flurry article I linked to is that it's a fraction of the market that's driving the majority of the IAP revenue...so even if most parents don't go for the in-app purchase option, the ones that do sh…

Have you considered going straight for the paid option ( ie. no free content ) and seeing how much demand you have? I think the app looks a lot better than most of the stuff already out there, and the price point would reassure parents that they are getting a high-quality product for their kids.

We've tried a premium-only approach with previous apps and we've gotten feedback that our users like the option to try before they buy - which is what led us to IAP.

Also, when we've tried a premium-only approach our apps have been made available for jailbroken devices within a couple of weeks, with little chance to directly monetize these pirated free copies of our apps. See, for example: http://theikidsblog.com/blog/2010/11/30/arr-there-be-pirates...

This time around our approach was to build a premium product, price it accordingly and let people try it out via the free version. It's hard to know what the best way to handle it is - but that's definitely part of the fun of the wild west of mobile apps these days..and as I mentioned in an earlier comment, the freemium model seems to have a lot of traction..

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