4 ms·

Developer of Tweetie launches LetterPress iPhone Game

45 points by FredericJ 14y ago

iamdann 14y ago
I love the UI (as I expected) but I feel like the market for these types of multi-player apps is waning. Best of luck, though!
- arrrg 14y ago
  Why? Those kinds of games are perfect for mobile devices. It's fun playing several games with complete strangers, there is always something to do. I absolutely love Lost Cities (http://lostcitiesapp.de http://lostcitiesapp.de) which is similar in the way and situations it's played (it's a very different game but it's also turn based and uses Gamecenter for matchmaking. It's also best played with several people at once.)
- kine 14y ago
  We really need a robust version of Matchmaking that games like Halo have so that you're never without an opponent and a good connection.
  - dylanvee 14y ago
    Until Letterpress I had no use for Game Center at all, but I just used its auto-matching to start two engaging rounds with strangers. Fun game.
  - cma 14y ago
    MS patented that matchmaking algorithm (even though it is very similar to the chess ranking algorithm ...)
cwe 14y ago
Further confirmation that search is completely broken in the App Store. Read about this app on my work computer, fire up the App Store on my phone, search 'Letterpress', Apple's Cards app, and a Letterpress Handbook about actual letterpresses.
- pilif 14y ago
  It usually takes a while before new apps can be found with the full text search.
- iamdann 14y ago
  Do we know how long ago it was launched? Sometimes it doesn't populate in the app store at all for the first few hours, even though it can be accessed and downloaded from direct links.
- kevinherron 14y ago
  Same here. Can't find the game at all on my iPhone.
- ashbrahma 14y ago
  Had the same problem. I just went to www.atebits.com from my device and clicked on the itunes link from the site.
- fourstar 14y ago
  If he just launched it'll need to be indexed first.
- mikeash 14y ago
  This isn't a case of search being broken, but rather of Apple being very bad at distributed systems, and it taking a ridiculous amount of time for new apps to fully propagate.
erikpukinskis 14y ago
There's a nice interview with Loren about development and design of the game here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VbqBBiEWu8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VbqBBiEWu8
Braasch 14y ago
I find his pricing strategy for the game rather interesting. The game is free to play and contains no ads, but for $0.99, you can upgrade to a "full" version and unlock a few extra features. I think this model will definitely attract a lot of people, but I'm curious as to how many people will actually decide to pay for that upgrade (I did after about 15 minutes with the game ‒ I love it.)
- Luc 14y ago
  From 2% to 4% used to be typical for shareware games (albeit on PC), in my experience.
  - elliottkember 14y ago
    I wouldn't be surprised if it were 5x or even 10x that. You've got one-click purchase, and it's only $0.99 - much easier upgrade route than on PC.
- lazerwalker 14y ago
  It'll be interesting to see how it works out for him. Gasketball, the new game by the two guys who made Solipskier, monetizes the same way. Selling Solipskier for $2.99 on the app store earned them a living for quite some time, but selling Gasketball as a $2.99 in-app purchase was so unsuccessful that it left them literally homeless[0]. Having Loren Brichter's name behind Letterpress will definitely help spur initial sales from the HN-type crowd that wants to support him and check out his latest post-Twitter project, but beyond that I'm interested to see if he finds success with this model. [0]: http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/going-broke-with-success-how-an-app-with-200000-downloads-led-to-devel http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/going-broke...
- arrrg 14y ago
  Being able to play multiple games at once is the killer feature. Without that it's just not fun in any sustainable way. The free version is a very limited demo in which you can do no more than test whether you like the game.
- deleted 14y ago
binarycheese 14y ago
Cool game. The design Looks like a windows 8 app
smackfu 14y ago
It's interesting that an experienced app developer chose to create a game instead of a new app. Especially since the game category in iOS seems to be so saturated with free or freemium options. Of course, I'm also surprised that experienced developers are still cranking out timer apps and weather apps. I guess it's just hard to come up with a good original app idea... much easier to fix what's wrong in the apps you use already.

45 points by FredericJ 14y ago

I love the UI (as I expected) but I feel like the market for these types of multi-player apps is waning. Best of luck, though!

arrrg 14y ago
Why? Those kinds of games are perfect for mobile devices. It's fun playing several games with complete strangers, there is always something to do. I absolutely love Lost Cities (http://lostcitiesapp.de http://lostcitiesapp.de) which is similar in the way and situations it's played (it's a very different game but it's also turn based and uses Gamecenter for matchmaking. It's also best played with several people at once.)
kine 14y ago
We really need a robust version of Matchmaking that games like Halo have so that you're never without an opponent and a good connection.
- dylanvee 14y ago
  Until Letterpress I had no use for Game Center at all, but I just used its auto-matching to start two engaging rounds with strangers. Fun game.
- cma 14y ago
  MS patented that matchmaking algorithm (even though it is very similar to the chess ranking algorithm ...)

cwe 14y ago

Further confirmation that search is completely broken in the App Store. Read about this app on my work computer, fire up the App Store on my phone, search 'Letterpress', Apple's Cards app, and a Letterpress Handbook about actual letterpresses.

pilif 14y ago
It usually takes a while before new apps can be found with the full text search.
iamdann 14y ago
Do we know how long ago it was launched? Sometimes it doesn't populate in the app store at all for the first few hours, even though it can be accessed and downloaded from direct links.
kevinherron 14y ago
Same here. Can't find the game at all on my iPhone.
ashbrahma 14y ago
Had the same problem. I just went to www.atebits.com from my device and clicked on the itunes link from the site.
fourstar 14y ago
If he just launched it'll need to be indexed first.
mikeash 14y ago
This isn't a case of search being broken, but rather of Apple being very bad at distributed systems, and it taking a ridiculous amount of time for new apps to fully propagate.

erikpukinskis 14y ago

There's a nice interview with Loren about development and design of the game here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VbqBBiEWu8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VbqBBiEWu8

Braasch 14y ago

I find his pricing strategy for the game rather interesting. The game is free to play and contains no ads, but for $0.99, you can upgrade to a "full" version and unlock a few extra features. I think this model will definitely attract a lot of people, but I'm curious as to how many people will actually decide to pay for that upgrade (I did after about 15 minutes with the game ‒ I love it.)

Luc 14y ago
From 2% to 4% used to be typical for shareware games (albeit on PC), in my experience.
- elliottkember 14y ago
  I wouldn't be surprised if it were 5x or even 10x that. You've got one-click purchase, and it's only $0.99 - much easier upgrade route than on PC.
lazerwalker 14y ago
It'll be interesting to see how it works out for him. Gasketball, the new game by the two guys who made Solipskier, monetizes the same way. Selling Solipskier for $2.99 on the app store earned them a living for quite some time, but selling Gasketball as a $2.99 in-app purchase was so unsuccessful that it left them literally homeless[0]. Having Loren Brichter's name behind Letterpress will definitely help spur initial sales from the HN-type crowd that wants to support him and check out his latest post-Twitter project, but beyond that I'm interested to see if he finds success with this model. [0]: http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/going-broke-with-success-how-an-app-with-200000-downloads-led-to-devel http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/going-broke...
arrrg 14y ago
Being able to play multiple games at once is the killer feature. Without that it's just not fun in any sustainable way. The free version is a very limited demo in which you can do no more than test whether you like the game.
deleted 14y ago

binarycheese 14y ago

Cool game. The design Looks like a windows 8 app

smackfu 14y ago

It's interesting that an experienced app developer chose to create a game instead of a new app. Especially since the game category in iOS seems to be so saturated with free or freemium options. Of course, I'm also surprised that experienced developers are still cranking out timer apps and weather apps. I guess it's just hard to come up with a good original app idea... much easier to fix what's wrong in the apps you use already.