[kore]

As someone planning to build some iOS games as a side project, I really appreciate this info.

Some questions for you:

Have you considered offering your game for free for a limited time to get your game out there, so it can hopefully find some more coverage? If so, what made you decide to keep it a paid app?

Did you consider any other game dev tools, such as Unity?

Did you reach out at all to any mobile gaming sites or blogs to try to get coverage for your game? If so, did you have any luck?

[whatupdave]

Not sure about offering it for free, it's a possibility. I may try a lite version of some type. That worked for Trainyard.

I briefly looked at Unity and thought it looked great but more suited to 3d games. I thought I could move faster with cocos2d but I can't comment on how true that is.

BTW I decided on 2d for two reasons: 1. it's easier to develop 2. I haven't found any 3d games I like!

I also hit up a whole bunch of forums, emailed a stack of review sites, most of which didn't reply, or they were charging for reviews. I got that one review I linked to which was great. I'm most definitely not a marketing guru!

[mcgraw]

Not all games work well in the free model. You could kill your product by releasing a free version if you have wrong type of game. This, generally, is an advantage for puzzle games with interesting mechanics. It's also better to react with a lite version if you see initial success with your product. If you have something good you'll see a positive reaction, but if you're bouncing around 0-5 sales/day, early in the release, a lite version is probably not going to do much.