♠ Coolest way to implement in app purchases.. thoughts? ♠
StormyStudio
United KingdomMember Posts: 3,989
Thought I'd throw this question out to the forum.
'What subtle polite ways have you seen in app purchases implemented into games?"
I'm planning on building in app purchases into my next game but also like many I kind of hate games with them in and see it as a reason to not play a game.
With that in mind my current plan is:
1. Make the game Free to Play,
2. Allow the player to play the game for 2 goes without any adverts, (a potential 3 to 5 minutes of gameplay)
3. Then on the 3rd play there will be iads, with a pop up asking them if they'd like to quickly pay 99c to turn adverts off in the game. They can then choose to say yes or 'no, not yet'. They'd only get hassled to pay the 99c once every 3 games.
This obviously assumes the game will be a popular title with some lasting gameplay appeal. (Which I guess we always think our games have to start with...)
What do you think, have you seen other ways of building in less annoying in app purchases?
I could go down the two releases option, one paid with no ads and one free with ads, but I don't think that's the way forward anymore.
....
Now off to give a crying 17 week old his milk with one hand and look at the in app setup in Candy Crush with the other..
'What subtle polite ways have you seen in app purchases implemented into games?"
I'm planning on building in app purchases into my next game but also like many I kind of hate games with them in and see it as a reason to not play a game.
With that in mind my current plan is:
1. Make the game Free to Play,
2. Allow the player to play the game for 2 goes without any adverts, (a potential 3 to 5 minutes of gameplay)
3. Then on the 3rd play there will be iads, with a pop up asking them if they'd like to quickly pay 99c to turn adverts off in the game. They can then choose to say yes or 'no, not yet'. They'd only get hassled to pay the 99c once every 3 games.
This obviously assumes the game will be a popular title with some lasting gameplay appeal. (Which I guess we always think our games have to start with...)
What do you think, have you seen other ways of building in less annoying in app purchases?
I could go down the two releases option, one paid with no ads and one free with ads, but I don't think that's the way forward anymore.
....
Now off to give a crying 17 week old his milk with one hand and look at the in app setup in Candy Crush with the other..
Comments
Let them earn 10 coins a run or buy 1000 coins for a dollar. Make it 1000 coins to unlock ads.
Something like that. That's what I'm doing in my next app.
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Why is Candy Crush such a good example? $450k a DAY in IAPs and essentially players only have 3 items to purchase and I bet most sales are for extending game play at the end of a level.
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@StormyStudio
Hi Jon, personally I think that's not a good use of IAP.... it is, to my mind.... (and please don't take this personally, because I know what I'm about to say sounds pretty heavy and I know you're not using it like this...)... it might be seen by some people as being akin to a sort of blackmail.... ouch, sorry, there, I said it.... "You pay $.99 and the ads go" will really make some people unhappy about that, which isn't what you want your users to feel, of course.... I think you show ads, or don't show ads in your apps, and that's that...
Also any sort of "hassling" where the user is often urged to use IAP in any form isn't good practice, I feel... best to stick with giving whatever form of IAP you're using clearly in-game as an option only, perhaps on the menu card, without keep reminding a user every few goes.
In other word, using IAP to turn ON a feature or benefit or give an addition, never used to turn off a feature only if the user pays...
So IAP used as @jonmulcahy and @jigglybean suggested - which I know you know about anyhow - is still the way to go, I think, i.e make the game free with IAP used to unlock a complete game, or unlock extra boosts/advantages, etc.
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What I'm planning to do in my current WIP is to use an in-app currency system for the main IAP, and in the in-game store have quite a prominent button to pay to remove the ads. That way the player will see the remove ads option quite regularly as they visit the store during gameplay, but it shouldn't feel too much like I'm spamming them with it.
I'm letting the player earn a small amount of currency through the course of normal gameplay, so even if they never purchase any IAP currency they should still be visiting the in-game store fairly regularly to buy upgrades, ensuring that the remove ads button is seen often by everyone.
• Instead I'm now thinking no ads at all with in game credits earned in game, (a few for playing, a lot for winning a level).
• Then the store where they can:
- Purchase individual items to customise their characters (much like Jet Pack joyride)
- Purchase packs of items i.e. glasses, hats, suits, etc.
• Plus other bonus's like the ability to have more than one game on the go (makes sense for my game).
This does seem to be the norm, which I guess i would like to avoid, as I get a small kick out of doing something different. Maybe the game could be 100% free, then if you complete it (or play it for over an hour) it asks you if you'd like to say thanks to the developer by giving them 99c / 69p). You might get some press for taking a different approach.
I could have iads and let them pay to remove them from within the store... but maybe I'd be happier to know people are just playing the game and wont be put off by iads. They'd then hopefully play more , tell more people and hopefully one in a hundred or whatever will want to customise their characters (if not all of them :-).
For anyones interest... the successful game 'Jet pack joyride's store works well as they ended up going for a layout players are familiar with as it is so very similar to the ios App Store.,. (except with information drop downs)
Just found this indepth article about in game currencies and some of the harsh psychology behind different techniques..
http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RaminShokrizade/20130626/194933/
I have tried, Unlocking levels, purchasing coin packs and cosmetic extras.
But I guess it is kind of reassuring in a weird way to know that we need to create the a hit game concept and create it, before we worry too much about how to monetize it... Obviously the perfect package (i.e. Candy Crush) is perfectly built to make the most of in app purchases .
Game 1 has inApp purchases similar to the Dots game. If the currency is < the price of the powerup, a pause screen will pop up asking if you want to purchase more currency... with a reminder that they will still gain currency after each round.
Also the CANCEL button on the popup is bigger than the purchase buttons.
( if the popup annoys them they can quickly press cancel and not delete my game...
Game 2 has a small shop button in the options menu by the volume control with a button to buy more currency... usually I put the volume control on the main menu but if they want to mute my game, they may see the shop button.
One of my games, Nonagon Slide, has had a few in app purchases lately and it doesn't force them to buy anything. If they want to purchase they will find it... :-bd maybe.
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Penguin Pounce Lite used IAP to allow the player to unlock the two worlds that remained in the game. I gave them world 1, and allowed them to unlock 2 and 3. This worked really well, getting me dozens of IAP...Although, that was almost two years ago, and the App Store changes all of the time.
Thinking about it now, it might have been a good idea to add extra levels, separate from the original full game, into the full Penguin Pounce app. It now has more than 70,000 downloads, and I can only imaging how many peeps would have purchased the extra levels. *sigh*
Penguin Pop uses IAP and gives the players extra coins for the store. The store just consists of different skins of the character. My most expensive IAP was $10, and surprisingly, many people decided to purchase that.
Those are the only two in which I've incorporated IAP into.
My next game is a full game, and has IAP in it. Penguin Pounce Lite was a separate application from Penguin Pounce, so people had the opportunity to either download the free or paid version. Either way I could've made some money. I'm not sure how my next title will do as it'll be its own application.
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