Ga!h! I moved countries and have no dollars left on my Aussie CC as I don't use it anymore. Will have to get a Kiwi one linked to my iTunes account so I can play this! I NEED IT NOW! lol.
well done .... after catching a shot of your gorgeous mug in tech's video I can relate to you (I'm a very visual person) and know how much you deserve it and how pleased you must feel....YIPEE
That's great Joe! Keep us updated! As the release date to my games approaches very fast I'm also starting to get emotional, I'm sure that launch day it will be a roller coaster for me - emotion wise
@design: yeah, Danger Cats! definitely did get a boost. I'll be able to get some numbers when the sales come in. Stunt Squirrels! might have, but is so low in the ranks that I can't tell. The iPad Stunt Squirrels! if still doing fine, about $50/day, but the iPhone version is just down to a few sales a day.
@firemaplegames, This game is awesome!!! Do you plan on adding new puzzles in future releases? I'd love for it to be an ongoing adventure. Damn good work, man!
PS - care to share who did your graphics? They are amazing!
Have you thought about **if** it starts to drop in the rankings (which hopefully won't be any time soon!), would you do a 'limited time' price drop to $1.99 to try and sustain the momentum and increase visibility and volume?
@fetaboy: If sales begin to drop I will certainly consider it.
However, whenever I did price drops with my other games, the number of sales actually decreased! When I brought the price back up, the number of sales rose back up again too. Pretty much the opposite of what logic would dictate.
You've had success on the App Store too, did you find that price drops helped you out?
firemaplegames said: @fetaboy: If sales begin to drop I will certainly consider it.
However, whenever I did price drops with my other games, the number of sales actually decreased! When I brought the price back up, the number of sales rose back up again too. Pretty much the opposite of what logic would dictate.
You've had success on the App Store too, did you find that price drops helped you out?
So far it has been the opposite for me...
I was lucky (right place, right app which took a couple of hours to make, right time) to have some good success, but it was all with one app, which started at .99. When it was released I said was a limited time 50% off sale. It rose quite quickly in the rankings (mind you this was 2 years ago when there were 30,000 apps at most), and figured I'd try my luck to make it $1.99. It quickly started dropping and I put it back at .99 less than a day later and there it remained ever since.
I've some minor success recently with price drops, which I believe is because there are so many websites/twitter feeds/blogs/etc that automatically pick up on the price drop, in effect giving you increased exposure.
Hopefully with all your success, next Thurs you'll be featured somewhere on the front page of iTunes!
POLYGAMe said: It's a quality game and the price should reflect that. Well done, mate, you are a massive inspiration!
Definitely agree. However there's also the argument that once you get into the top 100, you need to do anything in your power to remain there should you start to slide, as that's where the app has the best chance to be self sustaining due to the massive visibility that no amount of marketing can provide.
Fetaboy said: Definitely agree. However there's also the argument that once you get into the top 100, you need to do anything in your power to remain there should you start to slide, as that's where the app has the best chance to be self sustaining due to the massive visibility that no amount of marketing can provide.
Yeah, seems to be no set rules. Sonic is massively overpriced and just an emulated game and not particularly high in sales rankings, yet it's one of the highest grossing (thanks to the massive price). Guess having the brand helps. Lol.
With price drops, it's my opinion that it's not the new price that matters, but the advertising and buzz that it generates.
I can't imagine that 2$ vs.1$ really makes a difference to the average customer.
But when someone like Chillingo does a price drop, they blast every single website, blog, and banner ad imaginable.
It's a simple way for them to very easily generate more buzz for the game, without adding any more content to the App.
If someone like me did that, I would simply just lose money while it was on sale. Nobody is following my every whim.
I really think you need some heavy marketing dollars behind a price drop for it to be effective.
They do blast some of it but most of the business comes from people who follow the price watcher sites When a game lowers hundreds of thousands or more get email and twitter alerts. There is a huge price watcher crowd out there. Tons of people actually don't buy a game when it comes out because they know it will go down or have a sale.
Dont get me wrong I am not suggesting you lower the price. There doesnt seem to be any need to. Some games such as yours, clearly do well at a > .99 price point. However, if it starts to drop at some point, lower it to .99 for 2 days and I guarantee it will GO THROUGH THE ROOF!!
However for a lot of games .99 or 1.99 is the difference between giving a chance or not.
Many people do what i do. I browse all the time and download games all the time.
If i am just looking for something new and i can't make up my mind between 3 or 4 new games, of course the 99 center is the one i'm going with.
Anytime something new shows up on the top 20 or so and its .99 ill buy it.
something like a new game loft game that is 4.99 ill make sure the reviews are good first....... if i dont just pass it right by for a "cut the rope" at .99
On another note: Ive been reading all of your reviews. I cant help but lol at people who get all whiney about it being great but too short for $3. I mean, come! a couple hours of AWESOME entertainment for $3!! thats hard to find considering how often you spend .99 for 20min.
A movie ticket is twice that and doesnt last as long.
Then the same people turn around and bitch when they cant solve a problem in 3 minutes.... irony at its finest!
I'm sure you get a lot of this, but my fiancee and I just finished the game and were both so impressed with the quality of the game, how interesting it was, etc. We absolutely loved it, and will now be paying for it on our phones. Great work! Very different and creative
P.S. It took us about an hour...and you had us REALLY stumped at one point. But we got it! (Won't give away any spoilers haha). Any sequels in the works?
Comments
Good job FMG!
Also 104 overall games!!!
Cheers, Weswog
w00t!
It is currently at #93 in All Games, #12 in Adventure, and #14 in Family!
Also, it is now broken the top 200 paid apps at #178!!!
This has been an extremely emotional week to say the least!
As the release date to my games approaches very fast I'm also starting to get emotional, I'm sure that launch day it will be a roller coaster for me - emotion wise
I'm curious, are you seeing any bumps on your other games as a result?
@design: yeah, Danger Cats! definitely did get a boost. I'll be able to get some numbers when the sales come in. Stunt Squirrels! might have, but is so low in the ranks that I can't tell. The iPad Stunt Squirrels! if still doing fine, about $50/day, but the iPhone version is just down to a few sales a day.
http://www.appspy.com/secret-grisly-manor-review
Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Quantum_Sheep
Web: https://quantumsheep.itch.io
This game is awesome!!! Do you plan on adding new puzzles in future releases? I'd love for it to be an ongoing adventure. Damn good work, man!
PS - care to share who did your graphics? They are amazing!
#9 in adventure! CONGRATS!
@arton: yes! 762 sales yesterday! $1,544.32. So just a little over $5,200 in 4 days! Pretty mind blowing!
And I am now at #72 in All Games in the US Store. 3rd page! Fingers crossed that it climbs even higher!
Have you thought about **if** it starts to drop in the rankings (which hopefully won't be any time soon!), would you do a 'limited time' price drop to $1.99 to try and sustain the momentum and increase visibility and volume?
However, whenever I did price drops with my other games, the number of sales actually decreased! When I brought the price back up, the number of sales rose back up again too.
Pretty much the opposite of what logic would dictate.
You've had success on the App Store too, did you find that price drops helped you out?
So far it has been the opposite for me...
I've some minor success recently with price drops, which I believe is because there are so many websites/twitter feeds/blogs/etc that automatically pick up on the price drop, in effect giving you increased exposure.
Hopefully with all your success, next Thurs you'll be featured somewhere on the front page of iTunes!
With price drops, it's my opinion that it's not the new price that matters, but the advertising and buzz that it generates.
I can't imagine that 2$ vs.1$ really makes a difference to the average customer.
But when someone like Chillingo does a price drop, they blast every single website, blog, and banner ad imaginable.
It's a simple way for them to very easily generate more buzz for the game, without adding any more content to the App.
If someone like me did that, I would simply just lose money while it was on sale. Nobody is following my every whim.
I really think you need some heavy marketing dollars behind a price drop for it to be effective.
When a game lowers hundreds of thousands or more get email and twitter alerts.
There is a huge price watcher crowd out there.
Tons of people actually don't buy a game when it comes out because they know it will go down or have a sale.
Dont get me wrong I am not suggesting you lower the price. There doesnt seem to be any need to.
Some games such as yours, clearly do well at a > .99 price point.
However, if it starts to drop at some point, lower it to .99 for 2 days and I guarantee it will GO THROUGH THE ROOF!!
However for a lot of games .99 or 1.99 is the difference between giving a chance or not.
Many people do what i do. I browse all the time and download games all the time.
If i am just looking for something new and i can't make up my mind between 3 or 4 new games, of course the 99 center is the one i'm going with.
Anytime something new shows up on the top 20 or so and its .99 ill buy it.
something like a new game loft game that is 4.99 ill make sure the reviews are good first.......
if i dont just pass it right by for a "cut the rope" at .99
On another note:
Ive been reading all of your reviews.
I cant help but lol at people who get all whiney about it being great but too short for $3.
I mean, come! a couple hours of AWESOME entertainment for $3!! thats hard to find considering how often you spend .99 for 20min.
A movie ticket is twice that and doesnt last as long.
Then the same people turn around and bitch when they cant solve a problem in 3 minutes.... irony at its finest!