12 ms·

Ask HN: My game is growing fast. What should I do?

26 points by m0dE 10y ago

Hi HN. I made this game out of passion: braains.io, and it's getting some traction. What should my next step be?

wwalser 10y ago
Add email capture and use that to communicate with users about new features and ask what they'd like to see added to the game.
csallen 10y ago
Fun game! Where's your traffic coming from? Is it growing rapidly right this instant? If I were you I'd (a) double check the servers aren't going to crash, (b) start pitching as many bloggers and Twitter personalities about it as possible, (c) try to "capture" traffic with prominent links to a Twitter account, forum, mailing list, etc. For a game like this, if you want it to stay popular for a while, you'll probably want to add more maps, mechanics, and/or rewards for players who keep playing and do well. Skins are a fun and simple idea, as is some sort of persistent score. You might want to ask the founders at my site for advice, too: https://www.indiehackers.com/forum https://www.indiehackers.com/forum. I don't think any of them have made money off games specifically, but they might have good insights regardless.
- m0dE 10y ago
  Thanks! It is growing rapidly. Servers have been crashing, and I just put some load-balancing measure in the place. Thanks for the tips! I'll be sure to check the site out too.
  - csallen 10y ago
    Btw, I'm curious what your tech stack is. Care to share what you're using for the front-end, the back-end, and hosting?
    - m0dE 10y ago
      it's isogenic engine. I'm using azure.
      - meir_yanovich 10y ago
        what game server do you use ?
jblow 10y ago
Is this post just an ad?
- m0dE 10y ago
  nope. looking for an advice. growth is the least of my problem at the moment: https://bboymode.wordpress.com/2016/09/10/growth-spurts/ https://bboymode.wordpress.com/2016/09/10/growth-spurts/
- nopit 10y ago
  Yes, and so is his reply.
  - m0dE 10y ago
    I see where you guys are coming from, and I admit that there's an advertising nature in this post. However, I stand corrected that this post isn't "just an ad". I am also looking for advice here.
    - bbcbasic 10y ago
      Ad-vice
saluki 10y ago
It is fun . . . what's it built with. More maps, leader board, start a signup system so users log in to keep points/score, username etc. Invite friends to play on a map together. Add signups to an email list drip.co. Good luck, it's fun to play so I'll keep checking it out.
- programmarchy 10y ago
  Judging by source, http://www.isogenicengine.com http://www.isogenicengine.com
  - m0dE 10y ago
    ^
HiroshiSan 10y ago
Well...just tried this game for a few seconds and already a user has identified something for you to work on: http://imgur.com/a/aFEN4 http://imgur.com/a/aFEN4
- m0dE 10y ago
  Yes. I've added some anti-spamming measures, but it seems like finding exploits.
guessmyname 10y ago
There is an XSS in the chat: https://i.imgur.com/Eo7dwSY.png https://i.imgur.com/Eo7dwSY.png ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- m0dE 10y ago
  thanks for pointing that out. :)
  - antoineMoPa 10y ago
    I made a similar error previously in an app's chat. I was using node.innerHTML and changed it to of node.textContent.
dezb 10y ago
http://braains.io http://braains.io doesn't load, cloudfront keeps trying to redirect it somewhere.. blocked it..
brainsspam 10y ago
Sorry I crashed your server. Seems like the whole sever came down with it. Oops ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. > Error: read ETIMEDOUT
lisefromcaptiz 10y ago
This is really cool! A little story-telling + 'help' section would be great to onboard new players. A share button, for twitter + facebook where with a description (where the cool story-telling could play a part).
sfx77 10y ago
cool game
kqia040 10y ago
Good job man, this is a really awesome game.
eb0la 10y ago
Been there (long time ago): no sleep, server crashing, etc.. First: get some sleep. Not sleep; but time-off periods. You'll need to think / do / whatever other stuff in your life that will be slowing and draining your energy (well, what's left of it). Second: Get help. Someone you trust you can tell how to restart / reboot / do quick fix for the app while you are /away. Third: Don't trust the stats. At least not what you think your eyes see: If there is rising trend, probably is just a spike. Stuff does not usually grow "linearly" or "exponentially". It grows by growth quants. That is, you get into the 1-2k users, then jump into 4-6k, then 10-15k and so on. Fourth: Going up need energy (time, effort, money, sweat, energy). Going down wastes energy and is much easier and faster. This is like climbing. So be sure to have something built-in that makes going down harder, like rewards for daily/weekly players. Fifth: Enjoy. Learn. Repeat. Hope this helps.
RUG3Y 10y ago
I was the first zombie, I was in a room with 6 players and immediately infected everyone. That felt good. It's a pretty fun game.

26 points by m0dE 10y ago

Hi HN. I made this game out of passion: braains.io, and it's getting some traction. What should my next step be?

Add email capture and use that to communicate with users about new features and ask what they'd like to see added to the game.

csallen 10y ago

Fun game! Where's your traffic coming from? Is it growing rapidly right this instant? If I were you I'd (a) double check the servers aren't going to crash, (b) start pitching as many bloggers and Twitter personalities about it as possible, (c) try to "capture" traffic with prominent links to a Twitter account, forum, mailing list, etc. For a game like this, if you want it to stay popular for a while, you'll probably want to add more maps, mechanics, and/or rewards for players who keep playing and do well. Skins are a fun and simple idea, as is some sort of persistent score. You might want to ask the founders at my site for advice, too: https://www.indiehackers.com/forum https://www.indiehackers.com/forum. I don't think any of them have made money off games specifically, but they might have good insights regardless.

m0dE 10y ago
Thanks! It is growing rapidly. Servers have been crashing, and I just put some load-balancing measure in the place. Thanks for the tips! I'll be sure to check the site out too.
- csallen 10y ago
  Btw, I'm curious what your tech stack is. Care to share what you're using for the front-end, the back-end, and hosting?
  - m0dE 10y ago
    it's isogenic engine. I'm using azure.
    - meir_yanovich 10y ago
      what game server do you use ?

jblow 10y ago

Is this post just an ad?

m0dE 10y ago
nope. looking for an advice. growth is the least of my problem at the moment: https://bboymode.wordpress.com/2016/09/10/growth-spurts/ https://bboymode.wordpress.com/2016/09/10/growth-spurts/
nopit 10y ago
Yes, and so is his reply.
- m0dE 10y ago
  I see where you guys are coming from, and I admit that there's an advertising nature in this post. However, I stand corrected that this post isn't "just an ad". I am also looking for advice here.
  - bbcbasic 10y ago
    Ad-vice

saluki 10y ago

It is fun . . . what's it built with. More maps, leader board, start a signup system so users log in to keep points/score, username etc. Invite friends to play on a map together. Add signups to an email list drip.co. Good luck, it's fun to play so I'll keep checking it out.

programmarchy 10y ago
Judging by source, http://www.isogenicengine.com http://www.isogenicengine.com
- m0dE 10y ago
  ^

HiroshiSan 10y ago

Well...just tried this game for a few seconds and already a user has identified something for you to work on: http://imgur.com/a/aFEN4 http://imgur.com/a/aFEN4

m0dE 10y ago
Yes. I've added some anti-spamming measures, but it seems like finding exploits.

guessmyname 10y ago

There is an XSS in the chat: https://i.imgur.com/Eo7dwSY.png https://i.imgur.com/Eo7dwSY.png ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

m0dE 10y ago
thanks for pointing that out. :)
- antoineMoPa 10y ago
  I made a similar error previously in an app's chat. I was using node.innerHTML and changed it to of node.textContent.

dezb 10y ago

http://braains.io http://braains.io doesn't load, cloudfront keeps trying to redirect it somewhere.. blocked it..

brainsspam 10y ago

Sorry I crashed your server. Seems like the whole sever came down with it. Oops ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. > Error: read ETIMEDOUT

lisefromcaptiz 10y ago

This is really cool! A little story-telling + 'help' section would be great to onboard new players. A share button, for twitter + facebook where with a description (where the cool story-telling could play a part).

sfx77 10y ago

cool game

kqia040 10y ago

Good job man, this is a really awesome game.

eb0la 10y ago

Been there (long time ago): no sleep, server crashing, etc.. First: get some sleep. Not sleep; but time-off periods. You'll need to think / do / whatever other stuff in your life that will be slowing and draining your energy (well, what's left of it). Second: Get help. Someone you trust you can tell how to restart / reboot / do quick fix for the app while you are /away. Third: Don't trust the stats. At least not what you think your eyes see: If there is rising trend, probably is just a spike. Stuff does not usually grow "linearly" or "exponentially". It grows by growth quants. That is, you get into the 1-2k users, then jump into 4-6k, then 10-15k and so on. Fourth: Going up need energy (time, effort, money, sweat, energy). Going down wastes energy and is much easier and faster. This is like climbing. So be sure to have something built-in that makes going down harder, like rewards for daily/weekly players. Fifth: Enjoy. Learn. Repeat. Hope this helps.

RUG3Y 10y ago

I was the first zombie, I was in a room with 6 players and immediately infected everyone. That felt good. It's a pretty fun game.