What's wrong with this game?

zoope

Hi All

Just wanted to know your feedback about Rescue Aliens ?

We ( me and my wife ) have worked on our first game for over a year now and have put in a lot into this game.

This being our first experience, we are currently unsure why our game has gone almost unnoticed in GameSalad.

It would be extremely helpful if you give us any feedback/comments, no matter how harsh they are.

Its best to know where we stand when it comes to game development and whether we should continue with game/app dev at all.

Below is a trailer of the game, in-case you missed it.


Sincere Thanks to All

Tivitra

I really like the game, and doesn't think it's something wrong with it. The only thing I see after playing it in 10 minutes is the white border around some of the items in the game, like the grass&dirt platform that disappears some seconds after you have collided with it. I do not like that white border thing, but that's just my taste, maybe everyone else like it I will leave a good review for the game in the Norwegian AppStore, since I really liked the game!

BoomshackBarry

It looks like a pretty decent game to me, there have definitely been a lot worse games than this that have gone on to do well!

When you say your game "has gone almost unnoticed in GameSalad." Do you mean that it hasn't attained much interest within the Gamesalad community, or that it's not getting downloaded much in the app stores? If you mean the app stores then it's damn tricky getting your game downloaded a decent number of times, it's down to a combination of quality, luck, exposure and plenty of other things, all you can do is keep trying to get it noticed.

If you mean that it's not being noticed in these forums, maybe you've kept it too quiet? I haven't been on these forums for 4 or 5 days now but I've never heard of your game until today. Even though you've been working on it for a year, nobody will know unless you keep mentioning it, posting screenshots, asking for opinion, etc.

It looks like a good game though, I hope things start picking up for you guys!

UtopianGames

For your 1st game this is amazing!!!! congrats to you and your wife.

Darren.

zoope

@IcebearGames @BoomshackBarry @DeepBlueApps Thanks for supporting words.

Being absolute noobs to this situation, we were both just extremely worried if there is anything wrong with the game.

My wife is a graphic designer, and I used to be a software team lead till same time last year, when I was made redundant.

Since then, we decided lets use our game playing experience and passion and start developing games. With zero experience, we knew we were taking a massive risk.

We dint expect to be app millionaires, but just expected to have a decent start so that we can go on making more games.

So far there is not much to talk about this game in terms of sales.
App store interest is a different ball game, but as long as the GS community has something to say about it, we will be more than happy.

We both know that the experience within this community is extremely valuable, hence we wanted to know if there is anything we can do to improve to this game to present it to the world.
Not just as a game, but a game built with GameSalad!

Cheers

zoope

@BoomshackBarry Just because you asked for screenshots, which I had posted earlier.

Wingmanapps

Just played through a 5 levels.
For a first game I gotta say its very impressive - Good job.
Then concept is pretty original and works very well.

Only thing that seems to be a tiny bit off, is that some of the graphic elements does not have the same style. Background vs level layout - But its minor details.

Next you should look into marketing to drive people to your app. There are many threads about this topic.

Overall you've done a great job.

zoope

@Wingmanapps lovely feedback, will certainly consider your inputs.

Hopscotch

@zoope, I commented on your game before, you guys are definately on the right track.

The characters are cute, well drawn and easilly distiguishable.

The attention you gave to each level is tangeble and the interesting ways you implented the many different abbilities without confusing things is excelent.

Also, making levels relatively easy to complete to avoid frustration, yet making collecting all the stars hard as nails for the completionists is exactly the right mix.

Your passion shows, so stick with it!

But as @Wingmanapps says, marketing is as important as a polished game, it is part of the process.

(If I have to niggle, try to be consistent with your outlines, and be carefull when scaling art that the outlines dont get too fat.)

Again, I really enjoyed my playthrough.

jamie_c

I've played a few levels of the game so far and over all I think it's cute, fun and very polished. I like the art style and overall 'cute' feel of the game, I like the scifi concept but also like that it's not overly scifi. For a first game I think you've both done a fantastic job!

In terms of sales and making a 'splash' by generating talk from GS or the game community I think that is a whole different ball game. It's really hard to get your game noticed these days and takes a lot more than just making a game and releasing it. Have you done much promotion, any press releases, considered doing any advertising? Sometimes games get lucky and get notice on their own but I don't think that is the norm at all anymore. If you really want to make a go of it, I think you'll just need to keep cranking out product as often as possible and over time the income from your library of games will hopefully add up, and perhaps you'll get lucky along the way with a smash hit!

zoope

@Hopscotch Thanks for your comments, the game gets really interesting after the first free world, however, we are unsure how to encourage people to have a look deeper in the game. There is so much variety and cool stuff ahead.

The_Gamesalad_Guru

Don't take your lack of sales personal. This is a very tough business. Being an inde developer is not for the faint of heart. Hey even a company like Pixar took 20 years of work and failure before toy story. Success in this business is for those who see the long game.

zoope

@FryingBaconStudios Tough words, but very true. Thanks

zoope

@jamie_c We've done press releases etc, so far but not much apart from that. Just wondering what's the best way to promote a game of this genre. The real issue we are looking at is to present the meat of the game to everyone. Since the first world is just a training session for players. But the true fantastic part of the game is locked. We've tried to do our best in trying to show that part a bit in the trailer.

Hopscotch

@zoope, for your current game you may consider bringing out an update that makes a few more levels available for free to give players a taste of the "good" stuff, hoping to get them more invested in the mechanics and then wanting more.

However, my rule of thumb is: a game selling itself on novel mechanics or nice graphics will only convert 2% of your free downloads into paying customers. Therefore you need to maximise your free downloads through marketing.

To increase the 2% conversion to 5% or more, you need to get the free players emotionally invested. For example, tie the levels together with a progressing storyline, making the player WANT to see what happens next.

What @FryingBaconStudios means by the "long game" is - dont get discouraged, make more games with the same passion. Soon you can cross promote your games and even review sites will be more likely to feature you.

Right now, try to make contact with other developers who are where you are now, and support each other by cross promotion of your games. Every little bit helps.

The_Gamesalad_Guru

Success is never easy in any endeavor. Read about other successful people and the common trait, aside from talent that's a given, is endurance and a never quit attitude. Achieving ones goals is being mentally prepared with the fact it will be the hardest thing you've ever done. If you can make peace with that then you can make it. Most who don't succeed isn't for a lack of talent but a lack of determination and trust me you will be tested in this on the journey of seeking even modest success.

zoope

@FryingBaconStudios Your words have made us more determined than ever before. We will give this game enough time for everyone to judge, meanwhile will continue working on introducing the upcoming levels with even more enthusiasm. Rest assured we wont give up so easily

zoope

@Hopscotch Each bit of your advice noted.

Loved your idea of progressing storyline, will definitely start working on it ASAP.

Its always sooo good to get feedback :bz

DreamLab

Great first game for sure! I'll definitely pick it up. A couple things I noticed, and I'm not sure if they were mentioned in previous comments or not

1. Not much of a story line to it. Maybe add a general story line and have a couple cut scenes/comic strips here and there? I think that would definitely help

2. Another thing is the white border around some of the art, but not all. The art is great, don't get me wrong, but it gives the sense that it doesn't match whenever some art has a white border and some does not. I think the game would look a lot better if the artwork were more consistent. Still great art though! I'm impressed!

3. I may just be crazy on this one, but I also feel like the backgrounds are a little too vibrant. That may be the wrong word for this case, but generally I think that the in-game objects should be some what distinguished from the background. Maybe de-saturate the backgrounds a little bit, or add a slight blur? Just something to try.

Those are the only things I really thought of. Great game! Much respect for sticking yourself out there to get proper criticism. Takes guts!

zoope

@DreamLab and @Wingmanapps Agree with the white border issue. The game introduces an object per world. All of these objects have a white border. Will try and rework them.

We have added an initial storyline, but stitching a proper story is something which needs to happen from what we've gathered so far.

The backdrop issue varies for each world, for e.g. USA and Paris have a day setting, so most objects need to stand out a bit. But if you look at UK and China which is a night setting, the same objects can get a bit duller. But will fiddle around a bit more for sure.
Cheers

zoope

@IcebearGames just saw your review in the Norwegian App Store, used Google translate to understand it Thanks for such a lovely feedback and taking time to write it.
Good Karma for you my friend

jamie_c

I wonder if it would help sales of your main game if you released a smaller, free holiday or themed version. You could show a few of the levels that you mention above and really promote the full app.

zoope

@jamie_c wow, your idea is worth gold mate , maybe i can take one level each out of the current worlds and show them in the lite version.

jamie_c

I recall Angry Birds did that a few times I think, as I recall there was a free 'winter' version where the worlds had some snow added and particle effects snow falling and maybe a halloween edition that was all night time... that way you can use your current assets and just add a few extras to have the lite version.

ChrisMiller

I downloaded it and played a few level's. I could see this being very entertaining if I was a kid.

zoope

@ChrisMiller Thanks for your comment mate, Rescue Aliens is a game for all ages.

Its a logic based game and has some really mind bending levels, the more you explore, the more you will find that the levels become increasingly challenging. You can choose to clear the level with 0 to 3 stars, also you can finish levels in less than 10 secs or you can go over a minute and score low.

Have a look at Game Center for Rescue Aliens, and you can see how many players are going up in the LeaderBoards daily.

The aim of the game was to create a nice and entertaining game for all ages, a game which kids can enjoy, as well as adults can enjoy with their kids, young/old every one can have some fun finishing the same levels differently and explore more and more varied levels.
Hope you explore the game a bit more and have more fun, thanks for playing

creativeapps

@zoope congratulations goto USA appstore puzzle its in new category

zoope

Yay!!!! Thanks

zoope

Hi Everyone

Thanks for your constant support and feedback , Rescue Aliens has now reached over 17K downloads in iOS alone.

Google Play is still catching up

Thanks for all your reviews and ratings around the world.

Cheers