4 ms·

I own a small, independent mobile games company. If you can figure out how to get people to pay for games (without resorting to psychological trickery like Cand

I own a small, independent mobile games company. If you can figure out how to get people to pay for games (without resorting to psychological trickery like Candy Crush) you could make millions. I'd love to run a pure paid model and rip out the bloat and headaches of advertising SDKs, but I also have employees who count on a paycheck and like working on games, and app stores that foster a race to the bottom and highly promote free games over paid. So I'm pretty happy with my place in life right now.

sandworm101 11y ago
Keep chasing that dragon. Mobile games aren't much more than ringtones. Take note of how much time you spend marketing and whale-chasing v how much time is spent on the actual game. KSP, Subnautica, Prison Architect, Minecraft, Don't Starve ... there is plenty of money being made by independent studios once you get off the mobile merry-go-round.
- themartorana 11y ago
  This is incredibly, offensively tone deaf. Our biggest game is over 5 years old, we spend 95% of our time on it on features and improvements, and we don't have in-app purchases (besides the ability to buy away ads) so we could care less about whale chasing. Millions of people play, our retention is at the top of the market, and we make 95% of our money advertising because less than 2% of players are willing to part with $1.99 to turn off ads (but many play for years). Please don't make assumptions or comments about things you don't actually have experience with.
  - sandworm101 11y ago
    Lol, no experience. I've lived through the mobile gaming thing. I've seen clients rise and fall, and cry, because of the ridiculousness that is selling games on phones. It is dragon-chasing. It's all about trying to pry pennies out of people for tiny little games. 1.99? Right there is another silly marketing trope, as if that penny would ever make a difference for a careful consumer.
  - ticviking 11y ago
    What game is this. Curiosity compels me to see if it's worth 2 bucks to turn off ads.
    - arvinjoar 11y ago
      Probably http://flyclops.com/games/domino.html http://flyclops.com/games/domino.html (looked through his HN description)

sandworm101 11y ago

Keep chasing that dragon. Mobile games aren't much more than ringtones. Take note of how much time you spend marketing and whale-chasing v how much time is spent on the actual game. KSP, Subnautica, Prison Architect, Minecraft, Don't Starve ... there is plenty of money being made by independent studios once you get off the mobile merry-go-round.

themartorana 11y ago
This is incredibly, offensively tone deaf. Our biggest game is over 5 years old, we spend 95% of our time on it on features and improvements, and we don't have in-app purchases (besides the ability to buy away ads) so we could care less about whale chasing. Millions of people play, our retention is at the top of the market, and we make 95% of our money advertising because less than 2% of players are willing to part with $1.99 to turn off ads (but many play for years). Please don't make assumptions or comments about things you don't actually have experience with.
- sandworm101 11y ago
  Lol, no experience. I've lived through the mobile gaming thing. I've seen clients rise and fall, and cry, because of the ridiculousness that is selling games on phones. It is dragon-chasing. It's all about trying to pry pennies out of people for tiny little games. 1.99? Right there is another silly marketing trope, as if that penny would ever make a difference for a careful consumer.
- ticviking 11y ago
  What game is this. Curiosity compels me to see if it's worth 2 bucks to turn off ads.
  - arvinjoar 11y ago
    Probably http://flyclops.com/games/domino.html http://flyclops.com/games/domino.html (looked through his HN description)