[dpcan]

Me too (sort-of). On Android. 2 years ago.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.selticeapp...

My stats: I only have a little over 21K downloads, and the non-ad version has only made a few bucks. Ad revenue equates to a couple movie tickets every so often I guess. Wrote it in Monkey-X for cross-platform functionality, but only ever put it on Android for some reason.

I've done no marketing. Never been featured. My dad likes it. I'm 35. I get sadder with every period I type.

EDIT: I wouldn't normally post self-promotion type stuff on HN, but I think it applies here because I did write a similar game, coded it by hand, put in the time, made my own silly graphics, but my stats represent the other 99% of us game devs that rarely get featured and remain off the radar. Some call our apps pollution in the app store, but those of us who legitimately write them are proud of them none-the-less, even if they make no money, though we'd honestly like them to.

[pnathan]

I think a big difference is your game isn't as graphically polished - the OP has a buddy they work with and evidently knows more about graphics..

Also, last I looked at the numbers, iOS users pay more money than Android one. (sigh)

I'll check your game out next time I'm looking for an android game!

[dpcan]

Thanks, I hope you get a chance to check it out. But I have to ask, and I know art is subjective, but why do you find his art style better? I see cubes and triangles. It's probably pointless, but I feel like, if I can see what everyone else sees, maybe my art can get better. Or maybe that's impossible.

[pnathan]

Thanks for not taking this personally. I wish I could quantify verbally what makes his art distinctively better. Part of it is that he's tapped into the zeitgeist of iOS styling - the flat look, the muted colors with a heavy dash of grey, the minimalism. That styling has heavily influenced current app design across the board.

Looking at yours on the Play Store, some things stand out to my untrained eye:

- Drop shadows on the title.

- The trees don't look clean (and I have no idea how to dig into that).

- The end scene fonts don't look sharp - they look kind of comic sans.

- The configuration is accessed via buttons, instead of the standard Android styling of the "..." button.

- The icon's person graphics are both too detailed and not detailed enough - they are in an uncanny valley of "eh".

- There's no cohesion of colors: there are multiple shades of green; multiple colors of buttons; multiple shades of blue. Multiple shades is fine, but for UI elements, they are like different colored trim on a house for the same things - window sills.

If you have a friend who is into graphic design, have them write you a critique.

It also turns me off, hard, when apps have exclamation points in the title or the "Free" word. It signifies cheapness for some reason.

[ronyeh]

Art and design are subjective, but there ARE color schemes, game design "rules", and UX rules of thumb that will make your app more pleasing to the end user.

A good exercise would be to download/play the top 100 games on the app stores and write a sentence about each one articulating why you think it's a popular/good game. Over time you'll improve your sense of taste for good design.

Good luck!

[ronyeh]

Hi! Thanks for sharing. I agree it's important to talk about the 99% of indies who never get to the top of the app stores.

I downloaded your app. The best feedback I can give is that it's too difficult to get through the gates with tilt controls. It doesn't give me the peaceful sense of skiing down the slopes (that the iOS game above claims to provide).

There is a huge element of luck to it, but the top indie games all have a great sense of graphics design and UX design that make them a joy to play. Users are verrry picky, and may skip downloading your app even if the icon doesn't meet their bar of quality.

My dream is to be able to design something as nice as Monument Valley.

[dpcan]

Thanks for the feedback, it's always appreciated. My high score is 72, the trick is to re-center after each gate ;)

Over the last year, I stopped releasing games. I used to just keep putting them out, thinking they were polished enough, because of all this talk about "just launch" and game jams like #1gam seem to encourage the "just make games" mentality.

However, while all that is great fun, I've changed my view. I'm now prototyping a lot, and will only work more on a game I fall in love with. At the moment, that's a point and click adventure game and enjine.

I actually like this Snowboarding game, and am proud of it because I think it's fun, but I'm with you.... It's time to shoot for the moon, set the bar really high and make a game that's truly special.

[ronyeh]

1gam and ludum dare are great ways to experiment with new ideas, but they rarely result in the level of polish needed to succeed on the mobile stores. Of course there are crazy success stories like Flappy Bird, but even Notch spent a lot of time iterating and improving Minecraft. Shipping v 1.0 is just the start!

[cocoflunchy]

I released my game on the app store a few weeks ago [1] (which incidentally kinda plays like both of your games), and I'm only around 300 downloads... But I'm sure more will come! I'm not really hoping to be featured though, it's too random from what I've seen.

[1] https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lina-a-game-about-lines/id89... - A big update is coming soon too!

[xopher]

Got the message,

This app is incompatible with all of your devices.

That's five different android devices.