Is my game really that bad?

Hi everyone,

I know that this is not the correct section to post this but I don't have any other option either

I had been working on my game since last 3 years. I have input a lot of hard work & dedication in it. And at last I released my game on play store

play.google.com/store/apps/details

But nobody gave me a reply on the "show your game" section. Literally no one. Infact I had to delete my post in shame

Is my game really that bad? No one even provided their criticism back(I am always open to hardcore criticism). But it feels like a punch when no one even comment back on your work where you worked on for last 3 years. Even Scirra ignored my promotion request (truly speaking,I was not hurt because they did not gave me a hand. I was hurt because they did not provided me criticism so that I can start working on them)

Request:- please provide me criticism so that I can start working on them

Few things I have start working on

1.) I have divided my game into 4 parts & will release them individually

2.) I have made arrangements to replace all trash graphics (like simple squares). It looks better in new version

3.) I have also made arrangements to replace all number in puzzle section. It looks better in new version

Thanks for reading this

Many posts don't get replies in the creations section, because these forums are largely focused on the creation process of games and the creation software itself rather than the end result.

If you cook something in a pan do you ask the manufacturer of the pan for promotion and feedback of your food? Usually you'd be more interested in the opinions of the people who eat it...

As for feedback, your game graphics look really flat and plain, which you seem to be working on already. The other main thing is that based on what I can see from the store page, it looks like a collection of all games I've played in the past. With nothing grabbing my attention in particular that's unique or special, I wouldn't personally have any reason to download it.

Congrats on actually releasing a game though, that is much farther than most people get. I'm sure you'll get plenty of feedback on the store page itself rather than these forums.

Hey,

you should mainly focus on the Google-Reviews since these are the reviews from your players. Just one thing: Maybe it's better to release new games in "Open Beta" (Early Access) to get private feedback so you can improve the game before actual release. Also you then have the opportunity to apply for Google-Plays Early-Access feature which could give you tons of organic users (for free).

Also since your game is already published, check out Google's Indie-Corner program. There you can also apply for and get a lot of free users!

Good luck with your game!

Having success on mobile these days sadly have very little to do with the game it self, now it is all about huge budgets for marketing and buying traffic

Your game is a collection of generic games with poor art. There are possibly thousands of other similar games on the play store and many more are better presented.

While you may think that having multiple games inside the one app is your point of difference and something that users would want, have you conducted any research to determine if that is true?

It could be argued that users would not want multiple games inside a single app, as it's just another step and another decision they have to make to get to the game they want to play. For example, it is unlikely a user would enjoy all of the games, maybe they have one or two favourites. Where is the advantage of them having to open your app, and then make another selection to get to their favourite, rather than just accessing it from their home screen.

Just things to think about. But all that aside, your app has positive reviews on Google Play and you have have successfully published it, so congratulations and don't be too hard on yourself.

Your game is a collection of generic games with poor art. There are possibly thousands of other similar games on the play store and many more are better presented.

While you may think that having multiple games inside the one app is your point of difference and something that users would want, have you conducted any research to determine if that is true?

It could be argued that users would not want multiple games inside a single app, as it's just another step and another decision they have to make to get to the game they want to play. For example, it is unlikely a user would enjoy all of the games, maybe they have one or two favourites. Where is the advantage of them having to open your app, and then make another selection to get to their favourite, rather than just accessing it from their home screen.

Just things to think about. But all that aside, your app has positive reviews on Google Play and you have have successfully published it, so congratulations and don't be too hard on yourself.

If this analysis is on basis of screenshots on the play store,then it's fine. I have to start working on screenshots & just give a touch to assets in my game

Otherwise,there are puzzles and english games too (they are alloted a different sections) which have no connection with graphics.

Hi Cascade Games!

Some things i've learned over the past couple years:

1. Audience: When starting a new business enterprise, focus on WHO first, because that will drive everything else. For example: Who is your target audience? Can you tell us how many people fit within that audience? Do you know, as a fact and not a hunch, where those people go to find tools like your app? These things should be rock solid before you start investing your time into something. (I am only now realizing the wisdom in this, after also putting 2 years into my app).
2. Marketing: If you dont have a following/platform to announce your newly published game, you really are wasting all that time you just invested. I think we developers like to work on the fun stuff, like adding new animations and add cool new features, but this is only half the battle. The marketing/advertising/etc is equally important as all those hours you put into Construct. Some tips in this are would be: Go hangout where your customers hang out and get some reputation there. Use Facebook advertisements as a research tool and not as a way to increase downloads.
3. Product: Is your app a 'painkiller' or a 'vitamin'? These are not my terms, but terms coined by Arvid Kahl in Zero to Sold. Anywho, I bring it up because I think its a really good way to remember this concept: We developers need to make things that actually save our users time/money/health, because these are the things that they will give us money for. We need to really fix a major pain-point in their lives. Most of us (me included) have spent hours creating a 'vitamin', which is to say, our customers can use it to make their lives better, but they can go without it if they choose to do so. This is fine in some ways, but if we have the chose between the two, and we DO have this choice, we should choose the former and not the latter.
4. Pivoting: We developers need to get better at not seeing our apps as our 'babies'. It makes getting feedback so much harder. It is something that I have gotten better at over time. The trick is to just say NOTHING and LISTEN. As Uncle Elon says, "If it needs an instruction manual, it's broken". Taking this one step further, we need to be willing to kill it if its not working, or at least drastically 'pivoting' into a new area (which we have THIS TIME done our due diligence and followed all the other things I mentioned prior to this).

I could go on, but mayhaps no one cares about these pontifications.

Thanks Sofa_King for sharing the experience, definitely its helpful when followed correctly. Although the issue comes at investing in marketing, could you provide any example of such customer interactive spaces online. This is because i have tried doing this with facebook pages dedicated to gaming, but the participants are mostly game developers there. For a casual game like the one in this post, i don't know any such interactive space to showcase and build an audience.

Thanks Sofa_King for sharing the experience, definitely its helpful when followed correctly. Although the issue comes at investing in marketing, could you provide any example of such customer interactive spaces online. This is because i have tried doing this with Facebook pages dedicated to gaming, but the participants are mostly game developers there. For a casual game like the one in this post, i don't know any such interactive space to showcase and build an audience.

It depends on the audience. If your target audience is merely 'casual gamers' it will be far too hard for many reasons.

For the OP, he could perhaps narrow down his audience to 'Young mobile gamers in Vietnam learning English'. With a more target niche like this, he/she can then do research (go to these people and talk to them) and find the appropriate interactive spaces. Without a more targeted niche like that, he is left without much guidance and thus must use the oversaturated and highly competitive spaces like the PlayStore. Not only that, but he could also tailor his app to meet their specific needs, making his app even more appealing.

Don't worry about not getting a response on here as the forums are really quiet now as compared to some years ago. You could try the community discord as there is a promotional section in there.