Comment by Sanctor | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Sanctor | Hacker News Reader

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Hey everyone!

I've been working on this game for about 3 years in my spare time. It's a simple puzzle game utilizing arithmetic operators. I made it using Unity3D. All the visual assets are made from scratch and the sound effects come from various free sound effect sites.

Although the idea is simple I've put a lot of effort into it to make it look polished. For example there is a day/night cycle which serves no other purpose than looking good :) City lights turn on and off, crickets chirp at night and birds tweet during the day. And lots of other details.

It is ad supported but ads are shown only after you've lost the game, not while you're playing. I hope you'll find it unobtrusive.

I know it may not be everyone's cup of tea but I'm very proud of it. I've finally released a personal project. I'd be very glad if you played it an gave me feedback. Also I'd be happy to answer any questions relating to the process of making and releasing the game if I'm able to do so.

Thanks!

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 can maybe add a "Remove Ads" IAP. This is such a niche game I didn't think anyone would be willing to pay for it. Also if you sell the game or offer IAPs you have to get into some sort of merchant agreement with Google, I don't quite know how that works.

But I'll work on it. Thanks for the feedback!

Yes, I second that... I'll pay for a good math game for my kid—I don't let him play ad-based games though.

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).

Honestly I'm not sure. My process for buying a game would generally be: Open Play store, search for e.g. "toddler math", filter for "Paid" and then look for something with good reviews. Even with that criteria you are likely competing with 100's of other apps.

I understand. Most developers don't care once they've got their ad impression.

Although I don't assume people would outright buy the game without trying first. Especially from a first time developer. So the free version is a necessity for me.

It is decided then. I'll release an Education version without the ads.

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 do, myself included. I've also put down many apps because of ads. It's stopped one of apps from moving as quickly as it should. I've since moved away entirely and incorporated IAP that unlocks slightly more features or a straight up price tag from the get-go.

Anecdotal, but I believe this led to much less moaning and groaning from users, higher ratings, and a better overall experience (and yes, better returns)!

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 something I do as a hobby for now.

> 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.

"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 kids these days (no idea which, just suggesting you research that).

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)

Yep, I can second this. I can put up with ads myself, but I don't want my 5 year old to play a game with ads since they no longer know what they're doing once an ad pops up.

It may be worth noting that some parents wont let their kids play games with ads.

There are two good reasons that I can think of for this:

1. The content of some ads can be inappropriate, even in children's games.

2. Fear that an ad will lead to a purchase of some kind.

I think an IAP would be a good solution for you.

Reason 3: some of the ads are a downright scam.

Seriously, using some free apps makes me feel like it's 1998 again with the "you are visitor number 1,000,000" and "your phone might have a virus - click here for free removal" ads. I would not be comfortable with a kid playing games containing ads like that.

I'll start working on the ad free version ASAP.

It's also annoying for younger kids that accidentally open the ad and haven't learned how to get back into their app yet.

I look forward to buying it -- always looking for good/educational apps that both my kids and I can enjoy together.

I'm going to add on to the calls for a "Remove Ads" IAP. I don't typically buy games, but I will pay to remove ads in a game I like. I don't mind ads while I'm testing a game, but I hate how they break up the flow of the game, and they use a lot of data as well. I uninstall the game within a week or so if I can't get rid of the ads.

I haven't downloaded the game yet, so I can't really say if your ads would bother me, but I hate ads so much that I'd gladly pay to get rid of them.

The clearest message I got from this comments section is that there should be a way to remove ads. This will be my first priority.

I would also recommend a paid version without the ads. I had never saw a full screen mobile ad before. I was quite annoyed and surprised with that.

They are called Interstitial Ads. I know it's annoying but I think banner ads are worse. They are usually placed at clever positions so you'll click on them by accident.

I'll release a paid version.

Yes, these indeed look more professional and less dark pattern. Just a shock as a first time.

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 extra time needed to integrate ads.

"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.

I must say you've chosen an auspicious name! :-)

Wow, your membership is older than my idea for the game.

Don't sue me please :)

I had an idea for a side project and you beat me to it. Massive props to you for being the one who is actually working on it. I am not the suing type of person. :-)

It looks interesting but I have not played it yet. Congratulations though on finishing your sideproject! :-)

Thank you! This is the first time anything I've made personally, can be enjoyed by the public. It's very exciting :)

Have you looked at Calculords? It's a similar type of game with an interesting IAP strategy of offering additional content.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ninjacrime...

I'm downloading this right now, will check it out.

Just downloaded and played it, very cool! One comment: the font is sometimes hard to read, especially the 8s on the balloon (at first) (at least for me, Nexus 6P) http://i.imgur.com/oz11sy3.png

Thanks for the feedback! I'll think of some way to improve it. Maybe another font.

Share it here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.livae.apph...

Disclaimer: it is my side project

I will, thank you!

edit: I logged into the app. It seems my account has to be at least one week old to be able to share apps. I will do so when the week is up.

Nice game,I appreciate the artwork in the background. The operator button could be make a little bigger though, and the balloon font could be more readable. Also I always have a hard time killing the first balloon of the level because I take a long amount of time to get acquainted with the numbers. Maybe the first balloon could wait a bit so you have time to look a the new numbers? This will also allow the player to make a little pause.

Awesome feedback! I will consider all of these.

I can't exit the app on a phone without hardware buttons.

Why is there an Manga girl? Don't think it is very appropiate.

My girlfriend and I are into anime. I asked for her to draw me a mascot and she came up with it :) I don't think there's anything inappropriate with it, but thanks for taking the time to download and play my game. I know it's not for everyone.

Ahahahahahahahahahahaha.

If there's a piece of art missing from the world. Make it yourself OK. Just because someone makes something a certain way, doesn't mean they are invalidating your world view. It's up to you to contribute.

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