Touch Arcade is a popular site that covers iOS gaming. They have forums where people discuss games. If you’re making an iOS game, the Touch Arcade forums are a good way to build up a buzz about your game as you’re making it. If you go to Touch Arcade’s forums, you’ll notice they have two …
Category: Business
October 2017 LetterMiner Downloads
Here are LetterMiner’s October download numbers.
- iOS: 11 downloads
- Mac: 2 downloads
The fear I had last month was realized. The download boost that started in the middle of August ended in late September. The download spike wasn’t helpful. All of the iOS downloads were from China, and I did not notice any new people playing LetterMiner.
September 2017 LetterMiner Downloads
Here are the download numbers for LetterMiner in September. iOS: 1744 downloads Mac: 9 downloads I had almost double the iOS downloads I had in August. The downloads started to drop on September 29. I fear the boost in downloads that started in the middle of August has ended.
August 2017 LetterMiner Downloads
August was the best month yet for LetterMiner downloads. iOS: 900 downloads Mac: 10 downloads The 900 downloads for the iOS version is especially good considering I had only 53 downloads from January through July.
LetterMiner iOS Downloads Jump
I recently checked the download stats for the iOS version of LetterMiner and noticed a big jump in downloads. The following list of download stats shows how dramatic the jump is: 45 downloads in January 8 downloads from February 1 to May 7 0 downloads from May 8 to August 12 7 downloads from August …
January 2017 LetterMiner Downloads
Here are the download numbers for LetterMiner in January. iOS: 45 downloads Mac: 4 downloads
LetterMiner Doesn’t Appear in the App Store’s Word Game Section
I recently browsed through the word game section of the App Store and discovered something disturbing. LetterMiner does not appear in any list of word games. I navigated my way to the list of word games and found the following categories: New games we love All-time greats Decipher the word Play against the clock Word …
43 Downloads
It’s been almost two weeks since I launched the iOS version of LetterMiner. So far 43 people have downloaded it. I have a smash hit on my hands. The most surprising data iTunes Connect has shown me is only 10 of the 43 downloads are from North America. 22 downloads are from Europe, and 11 …
Start by Making a Free Game
The title of this article is my advice to anyone trying to get started as an indie game developer. If you’re quitting your job to make games full time, make sure you have enough money saved to make your first free game and your second game.
What Do I Mean By Free?
I mean a game that is completely free. No ads. No in-game purchases. Provide a complete game that people can play for free.
Since this game isn’t going to make you money, you should make a small game. Don’t spend a year working full time on this game. Make something you could finish if you spent 2-3 months working on it full time.
What’s the Point?
Use the free game as practice for getting the word out about your games. Getting people to know your game exists is as difficult as developing the game. If you can’t get people to play a free game, how are you going to get them to buy a game?
With the free game you can figure out what works and doesn’t work in publicizing your games. Use that knowledge on your second game. If you spend 12-18 months making a game and screw up the marketing, you’ll be out of business before you get a chance to make a second game.
Why LetterMiner is Free
I decided to release LetterMiner as a free game. The main reason for this decision is I was unable to build up a buzz for the game while I was developing it. Why bother charging for a game when no one knows it exists? There are three main ways to make money on a mobile …