Show HN: Perfect Grid – my first iOS numbers puzzle game | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: Perfect Grid – my first iOS numbers puzzle game

itunes.apple.com

20 pointsbizz847 comments

I'm not in your target market (I don't own an iOS device) but have you thought about switching the order of the screenshots in the App store / iTunes preview?

On my display, the two screenshots that are visible by default don't communicate much information about what the game is like to play.

The last two screenshots that are visible by scrolling or swiping right convey much more information.

Thank you for the advice. I will need to consider this for the next version as the iTunes portal doesn't let me change or reorder the screenshots for a version that is live.

I think the main challenge here is getting people to play it repeatedly. The leaderboards is the only aspect that really keeps you motivated. I think having the ability to challenge another player to a "Grid Off" would be a good feature. Pick someone from the leaderboards, go head to head for the highest score.

I also think you should consider the time to solve in the score. That would motivate people to not only try to solve the pattern better, but to be able to do it faster.

Overall decent job. The execution of the idea is done pretty well, I just don't know that the concept is super strong. Adding a few things could make it better, but I understand keeping the scope simple and trying to get it out there quickly.

Thank you for the comments. Getting users to play head-to-head has worked well for other titles (Letterpress comes to mind) however there isn't much variability on this game in its current incarnation so I believe I need to improve on the concept first.

I have thought about taking the time into account as you suggest, however once you complete a game with a given score it is very easy to repeat it faster with a screenshot on the side.

I'm also not sure if the concept will prove engaging enough to have a lot of returning users. In any case, I'm not expecting this to be a big hit, and just wanted to get it out there and see how it goes.

I agree on the screenshots. I don't think a menu gives much information. Looks very clean though.

If you haven't already, read this about another iOS numbers game discussed recently: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8103569

I liked it. Though it initially it is not obvious and in the beginning of the game (setting the first 20 ticks) I found myself setting ticks at more or less random.

Have you considered having the computer set the first couple of ticks? Or maybe have a non-quadratic board or even non-square.

I think you should definitely force new users to swipe through the tutorial - it's initially not obvious at all what the goal of the game is!

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