Earthlings Beware!

Hello everyone!
I am proud to present you my first game (released).
I did it entirely on my own using the Unity 4 Free / Indie. It is a arcade style game, fast and fun.
Take a look:

You can see more deatils here (store page):
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.MarconiLoures.EarthlingsBeware

So what do you think about it?

 

Looks like a great game based on the video.

 

That looks great!

Move to your next game. You have a talent for this, keep the games coming every 3-6 months or something. You've got it.

 

Thank you very much guys!

@hippocoder , my desire is this, to keep doing it!

What do you think about the price? I know most of the apps today are "free". I think it's more fair paying one price and have the whole game forever. But of course I already have a B plan if this model does not work.
What do you guys think about this?

 

I'm really liking this! you did a good job, congrats!

 

I concur with your pricing model. I didn't check the price but the pricing model is sound.

You can always put out a demo version for free as well, (pc based or web player demo preferred).
The demo can be timed or only allow for one character and one level, maybe 'wave' timed.
In my opinion it's a good way to advertise on the web beyond google store.

Very good job!

 

@smitchell , thank you very much!

@theANMATOR2b , good suggestions!
I'm seeing that a demo is perhaps something I need to have. My game is small because it is an arcade game. It is hard to cut out parts and make a demo like in games with story and linear levels. And people want to test in the same device which they will play because Android has compatibility issues.

But one thing that people forget, in case of Google Play, is that you can buy a game, try it out for 2 hours and get the money back by clicking in a single button. This is like a demo for 2 hours. Unfortunately you can see in a lot of comments that people doesn't know that.

I will find a good way to do this.
Thank you very much!

 

Just a quick gameplay video from the last update:

 

Ah, rarely have I seen a good looking game such as this!

Very well polished, love the style!

Though, I believe I wouldn't purchase arcade kind of games.

There is simply no reason to do so, when I could easily download other similar arcade games out there.
(And most likely, some people will release a free clone of your game sooner or later.)
(For example, pandemic when it isn't a free game yet.)
(Now, there is a lot of "Free" pandemic clones, which led pandemic to go "Free" too.)

Unless the game has a unique charm other than gameplay (Excluding aesthetics),
Like storyline, or character which is irreplaceable and cannot be simply cloned..

I would suggest you avoid the "Paying one price and have the game forever" model.

Arcade games that I love most is the Stick ninja, Infinite dungeon, and Crossy road so far.

Good luck with this!

 

Oh nice ! really congratulation for this spectacular game, i love it !

 

Love the look of your game!
I downloaded it onto my HTC One M8 but it now keeps crashing after it tries to connect to Google play games. I'll see if it works on my Nexus 7 in a bit but thought you'd want to know.

 

hemzab, Jamster and Gekigengar, thank you very much!

Jamster, I'm sorry if it's not working on your device. It could be an Unity issue and I will try to fix it. I had the same issue with the first version on Motorola devices, but fortunately it was a small bug in Unity and I found a solution for it.
But there are other players using Nexus 7, I think you will have no problems with that.
And thank you for buying my game! I hope you'll enjoy!

Gekigengar, thanks for exposing your opinion. This was a very difficult decision for me. I decided to take some time and see if the model works because it sounds fairer and less aggressive to the player.
But in the future I plan to release a free version with advertising and keep the paid version for those who prefer to pay once and not be bothered by advertisements. And yes, because of clones as well.

 

If it helps:
It exits after right after it connects with Google play, the little thing at the top appears as the error message is show. I got through the menu once when there was a firewall blocking Google play (I think it was that) but that crashed as it was zooming in on the player both times I tried. Turing wifi and mobile data off doesn't solve it.

Jamie

 

Can i ask why you chose 1.25 and not .99?

 

Jamster, thank you! Yes, it helps alot, but I cannot identify the exact problem yet.
The error message which you refer is shown by the game ("ERROR! Cannot connect to Google Play") or by the Google Play UI over the game? Have you had a similar problem with any other game that also use Google Play Game Services on this device? If you can answer through my email (marconiloures.talktome@gmail.com), I thank you! It's just to do things in the right place and not take issue with the moderator.

Razputin, in Google Play you can put a price in your local currency and it will convert the price for the other dozens of currencies. I chose an average price of similar games and I think it's fair.The US price was 1.27 and I rounded it to 1.25. I know that a lot of apps, especially in AppStore, are "x.99", but i don't know...
Do you think this is overpriced? Should I change it to .99?

 

I was just worried the atypical price might affect your sales. But if it's selling fine you should probably just keep it.

 

@Marconi Loures, the game looks really interesting from the video and the screenshots. I also really like the setting and style of the game. It is a tad bit strange to have the game cost $1.25 and not $0.99 as @Razputin explained, but hopefully that doesn't effect sales.

I have only Windows Devices and would love to play but I can't. Maybe you could port the game over to Windows Devices? (I feel like I am saying that way too often, and feel like I am badgering people when I do say it... sorry about that)

At any rate, congrats on the release and I wish the best of luck!

 

If the price is too high, I can lower it. But I really don't see anything strange not to have ".99" in the price.

Darkays, about the Windows phone, you are not the first to ask me this and I see no problem!
My game uses the official Google plugin for Unity to access the leaderboards in Google Play. Unfortunately, this plugin don't support Windows phone yet. I'm waiting for it.
I'm not planning to release this game for desktops, because I don't think it will sell well. I think it is more a mobile game, a time killer.

 

Hello!
Love your design and the polishment level you did. I like it, although I really wanna play it on my ipad-mini instead my Android cellphone which is not that powerful for most of the games today. Android might have the option of "Demo for 2 hours" but Apple doesn't.

Anyway: Excelent work!

 

PJRM, many thanks!
I wish release it to IOS, but right now I can't invest in Apple devices, because they are very expensive in my country. The cost not worth it.
I'm trying to get some devices borrowed from someone, but I can't promise you that one day the game will come out in IOS, because I really have to test it right before releasing it.

Thank you very much!

 

Hello, how is the game going?

I came back worried after reading this article about payed games.
http://www.polygon.com/2015/10/19/9567017/the-mobile-games-market-is-an-absolute-mess-thanks-to-you

I just hoped yours did well.

 

Hi Gekigengar!
Sorry for the delayed response. I'm just seeing it today.
The game didn't sell well. In fact it was a failure in sales (a little less than 100 copies).
What consoles me is the fact that most of the players have enjoyed it.
I will not make mobile games anymore. If you are not lucky to gain visibility or not pay good amount of money for it, you're done.
I think the whole thing is worse than reported in this article, from what I have seen. I think the mobile market is seriously broken, even for free games. And there's no room for creativity, only to slot machines (or for big companies re-releasing old SNES / PSX games).
Now I'm working on a new PC game. Maybe I'll release this game for PC too, just for fun.

 

That is depressing to hear. Looks like a well made game. Perhaps a post mortem? How did you advertise this game? Also why haven't you made a free version with ads? This would make up for the poor sales of the paid one.

 

There is room for good games.
Your game lacks creativity, it is dungeon based with small floor dungeon without any visual appealing, the characters are not so appealing or special, only two cubes as ennemies and they only shoot bullets, avoiding bullets is annoying if you can't fire back, no upgrading armor or run speed or weapons etc ...
I am sorry to say it , but you cant' expect a lot when you done a minimal game that is not deep and that looks bland and that is playing like thousand of mobile small arena games.

 

@zenGarden makes some valid points.
I think you have also shoe horned yourself. You released your game in the most saturated market. Only releasing on one platform with a fixed price point - which from all the statistics available - pay out less than any other platform.
Releasing on iOS and Windows would increase your sales. iOS users pay more than android, and there is an argument to be made that Windows phone is neglected by (a lot) of developers, so deploying to Windows 'could' also improve sales.
http://bgr.com/2015/04/15/ios-vs-android-developers-revenue-apps/
Outdated but still relevant https://www.quora.com/Why-does-iOS-have-paid-apps-that-are-free-on-android

I'd have to agree with Darkays - seeing an odd number - even if the person has already decided to buy the product could potentially disrupt the purchasing decision. It's likely this may have effected sales slightly, but not enough to sway your opinion about this being a success or not.

This game is not representative of the best effort to deploy to as many platforms as possible, and market as much as you possibly can so it's difficult to relate your game to the game mentioned in that article.
I'd hate to see you give up on this product. I think it still has potential to succeed.
As zenGarden pointed out - the characters are typical of mobile games and the game play looks catchy at first, but kinda dull after a minute (dodge fest).
The redeeming qualities I see are - some quality polish you have given to the game - which is a huge bonus over other games, and the 'character' that is visibly noticeable in the animations. They are well done. Also imo your sound design, and fx are well done and polished.

Improving the marketing/advertisement material could also improve the sales. As a consumer low resolution 3D models aren't appealing in advertisements, but high poly - polished characters are.
Releasing on other platforms, iOS & Windows at $0.99 or free with ads is something I think you should strongly consider. Also reducing the android version to free with ads, or changing to IAP for additional characters should also be considered - now that the price point for that particular platform isn't a success.

Advertisement and Marketing is so important. Did you get this out to any mobile game review sites, youtubers, etc.
If you don't do all you can to promote your game beyond a game development forum - how do you expect it to be successful. The game itself isn't a failure - the process of delivering it to the public has not been a success.

I'd also like to see a post mortem of the development, marketing and results.

 

What's your plan B?

 

zenGarden, please, don't get me wrong, but say that Mario is a game without creativity because you desire to blow up enemies with a weapon, because jump on enemies is annoying does not sound a valid argument. To criticize something you have to try it somehow and analyze what has been proposed. It seems to me that you made no effort in this regard. You really saw only two robots? "Dungeon like", really? Explain me that. Point me at least one game that plays like this one, as you said that there are thousands like it.
Can you see it? I bring you a new idea (you don't need to like it), but you want to transform it in something that already exist in droves. Yes, it is a minimal game. Games dont need to be deep, specially arcade games. Canabalt, SuperHexagon are minimal games, but they are bad because of that? I don't think so. Again, you don't need to like it, but you need to understand it right in order to criticize it.
G.Jewel and theANMATOR2b, I tried to marketing it with no budget. I invested a lot of time to spread my game by contacting sites and youtubers, and also in some forums. I got two reviews, but in very small and messy sites (in fact these two have contacted me first), only that. I do not know how much experience you have with this, but the truth is that the media does not really care about Android games. They only talk about when there is another platform involved, like PC or iOS. As I said before, I wanted to expand the platforms, but it was only possible to launch for Android. Invest in a new platform would consume too much money. I planned to release a free version with ads after a while, but after studying this subject well, I saw that perhaps no longer worth it (especially in Android). People are using adblock and ads is not paying much as before. I keep looking for alternatives. Things in the mobile market changes too fast, is really exhausting to think about all this rather than the game itself.
Perhaps my answer to Gekigengar has sounded too dramatic (perhaps for my lack of english or not), sorry for that, this is not my intention. This is my first game and I don't expect much of it (in terms of money), but I'm happy to finish it. And as hippocoder said: "Move to your next game". I totally agree and that's what I'm doing, but now, for PC.
I think in the possibility of put this game in portals like Kongregate, ArmorGames. But it's something I have to study yet.

 

Small arena survival games, there is a lot. Perhaps their gameplay is more standard, but this is the same style of survival arena like mini gore

http://appcrawlr.com/android/exorcist-3d-fantasy-shooter

...
The principle is the same , some arena and lot of ennemies spawning, whatever you fight them or avoid their bullets, the general principle is the same and there is thousands like that.

If i had to make some arena game, i would make it with better ideas like open areas bigger with complex level design like different heights and paths, traps , weather influence , wind or any other things that would make the game stand appart from others , more fun and and making it more interesting than the majority.

My goal was not to insult you or all your work on the game.
Seeing the video it is some sort of survival in some simple arena, i just said as a lambda player , your game don't have any graphic appeal to me , and i don't like the gameplay that is for the main part avoiding bullets.
If you make less than 100 copies, then something is not working or appealing with your game , you have to admit it also.
You have some good skills , don't be so defetist because of one game only that didn't worked and you learn from mistakes or bad decisions.
Good luck on your next projects.

 

zenGarden, I didn't take your comments as an insult in any way, I just asked a little attention to some things that were said, not all things, and I respect your opinion. The fact that I'm leaving the mobile market has nothing much to do with the low sales of my game it self, it's more because I don't like how this market works and I see it broked. Even if it sells well, I'd be doing PC games now, it is my niche and it is now possible for me, it wasn't before.

And thank you for tell me more about your point of view. I still disagree in parts and I will try to explain you why. "Small Arena Survival" can be a broader concept. Many different games can fit here, and I didn't think that is fair to compare them just on this point. An arena is an enclosed space where the fights are held (don't confuse it with dungeon). Yes, this games come from this point, but WitcherBA is a MOBA and Minigore is a dual stick shooter, other than that the only thing they are similar is that they both have the same camera angle and take place in an arena. They can be very different games, have different proposals, they give to the player different experiences, and they are made for different niches. It isn't good to generalize them like that, and placed in the same bag (especially when we are talking about choices within the game). Neither my game by having in common only some points. Both 2 involve combat, unlock weapons and upgrades, but these are used quite differently in each game. Maybe you can find a way to apply the WitchBA upgrades in Minigore, but otherwise would be more difficult to work, because they are different proposals, the WitcherBA is not a shooter. Same thing in my game. The enemies try to kill you in a different way from Minigore, and you also can't shoot, can't defend yourself in this way. The game doesn't put you as the killer hero, in my game you are the hunting, the guy who was thrown to the lions. And that's makes all the difference, both in the way you play as to what can or can't be added to the game in order to not change its concept. There are items that alter the characters in my game too, but would not make sense to put them in Minigore or WitchBA. That's what I was trying to explain to you, you can't compare them only from above. You need to look more closely at them when trying to put elements from other games on it. Looks similar at a certain distance, but very different when closer.

Neither I or you can say that. You dislike my game, aparentelly in all aspects. Nothing wrong with that, people are different and have different liking. theANMATOR2b think that the game can be boring after a while, but praised other points. Others higher up in the post likes the game and his presentation. Some people bought it and some others don't (I also sincerely praise many games out there, but don't buy the most, nobody has that obligation). Then we can't allege it. Maybe it's just a visibility problem (I sold +3 copies since Gekigengar resurrected this post) or by the fact that isn't a free game. We have some other possibilities here. I think we need more opinions to arrive at such conclusion, and your opinion is in this balance too, you can be sure of that!

 

It just not my taste. I just wanted to point that you took the arena game style, something that is very common on Mobile.
While if you took some adventure point and click with new graphics, new gameplay and great story plot is not very common , because it involves lot of research that not every developper can or want to do compared to make a small action game.
Anyway, you should try another time to make another mobile game with unique features, perhaps it will be better and you'll get more success this time.