1 million downloads - Let's Break Stuff! [Android/iOS/BB]

[psychicsoftware]

My latest game, Let's Break Stuff! is live on the Android store (Google Play).

Unfortunately, Google Play has been misbehaving again the last couple of days so download counts aren't updating much, and it's not yet appearing on any of the lists.

So, any (free) downloads and reviews from you guys would be very appreciated

thanks


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

[psychicsoftware]

Let's Break Stuff! is now out for the iOS..
It's been doing quite well on the Android and particularly on the BlackBerry PlayBook.

Anyone with an iPhone/iPad/iPod/iPud, I'd really appreciate a (free) download and a nice rating, thanks..

http://itunes.apple.com/app/lets-break-stuff!/id510309623

[damacon]

nice game! It will benefit from trajectory assistance trail (like it's done in Angry Birds Space) - I mean player sees where projectile will go

[psychicsoftware]

Thanks! I'm not sure about trajectory assistance, I don't think there would be much game to play if that was provided.

[psychicsoftware]

The total downloads for the free version of 'Let's Break Stuff!' have now passed 900k! (that's 650k on the Android, 250k on iOS, and maybe 50k on the PlayBook)

I have learned some interesting things about mobile advertising and app marketing over the course of this little roller-coaster; I'll blog about it soon..

[psychicsoftware]

Let's Break Stuff has now passed 1 million downloads across all platforms!
The game is huge in Italy, for some reason - more than 1% of the entire population there have downloaded it.

[dtr1au]

Congrats, must be a good feeling to know 1 million people have played something you made.... Hope you also made a good some money from it too.

[DoctorPepper]

Downloaded the game, fun stuff!

You might want to consider HD version, with good res texturing and normal mapping.
For the followup, maybe an arcade mode with a timer but unlimited ammo, while creating objects in runtime. Unlocking different slingshots and textures.
Achievement would also add a great value. (two objects with one shot, under 10 seconds etc)

I think that you could go far beyond a mil if the maps give an eye candy effect and provides more direct feedback through UI and rewards.

[psychicsoftware]

Thanks guys!

Improved textures is certainly a good idea. Arcade version with random objects is a nice idea too.

I'm already working on a social version, where you play against Facebook/Gree friends; similar to the "With Friends" games. Basically you take it in turns taking a shot, and score for whatever damage your shot does.

RE money: certainly more than my previous phone games anyhow! (but less than my previous PC/Mac game.. I have learned a lot about monetization, and what I did wrong..)

[psychicsoftware]

I was asked about advertising networks so I figured I'd post it in here as it might be of interest to other people.

Ad services- the thing is, they don't all give 100% fill rate, and they don't all give good revenue. Also there are more types of ad than just the banner. Fullscreen ads can do well as long as they're not overused. There are other types offered e.g. by LeadBolt that I can't bring myself to use as they're too spammy (e.g. push ads, notification bar ads)

On iOS I'm using just AdMob and RevMob, since AdMob has given me 100% fill rate and a very good CPM (revenue per 1000 impressions) of approx $1.70. RevMob gives fullscreens after every 3rd completed level, CPM approx $5.00

On Android, the AdMob revenue is much poorer due to maybe 70% fill rate and much lower CPM ($0.20). So here I use MobFox as priority ($0.35 CPM), dropping back to InMobi ($0.35) then AdMob if an ad request isn't filled. I also display TapForTap ads every now and then. TfT is a free banner swap service. It seems that my ad space is worth much less on Android, so I'm trying to display ads there and use them to advertise my iOS apps.

[Fraser]

Cool game, I reviewed the free version for you a while back. Congrats on 1M downloads.

My wish for the game would be a couple more catapult models, if you could model a really fast wrist supported catapult then you could lose dynamics for the projectile and just cast a ray, render a trail and play the whoosh sound.

I had several catapults as a teenager, Barnet Black Widow is a very popular wrist catapult and was my favourite due to its folding pocketable design, I'm sure the italians would go nuts for it

http://catapultsuk.com/store/home.php?cat=250

[DoctorPepper]

Yes, customization option would definitively be a big plus. Textures, models
Swosh sound with polytrail is also a good idea. Its those subtile details that make a real difference.

If you lose dynamics though, you kinda defeat the charm of the app. The whole thing is build upon guessing how hard and how high you gotta aim. Yes its hard, but it gives you some kind of satisfaction

[Fraser]

Yes, customization option would definitively be a big plus. Textures, models
Swosh sound with polytrail is also a good idea. Its those subtile details that make a real difference.

If you lose dynamics though, you kinda defeat the charm of the app. The whole thing is build upon guessing how hard and how high you gotta aim. Yes its hard, but it gives you some kind of satisfaction

Yeah, keep in the slow catapult, have the fast ones as unlockables.

When you think about it currently the player has two degrees of freedom when stretching the elastic ( x & y ). One region in this space gives a hit.

Exactly the same would be true of fast catapults, it would still have two degrees of freedom. Only thing that changes is that ballistic parabola changes to line.

Challenge could be made just as hard if targets are placed a little further away.

So keep the charm and add some optional fury.