Tardy Posting!

Yes, I know, I have been quite tardy in posting updates.  It is a struggle when there is so much going on in the world, and updates funnel through slowly.

Yet - while I might not have been busy on the blog, we have been very busy behind the scenes with a great new update on its way.  The Shop has finally arrived!  I have to say, I'm kind of excited!  Now there is a reason to want to Save up your Bacon!  Yep, you can now exchange your bacon for upgrades just for your pig!

Here is a sample of the artwork that has been developed along the way:

Now your pig can be as cool as you are - lol!

We'll see what happens here, but it does change the way the game feels, and I like that.  It gives it something a bit extra.

Oh...and then there is the "Golden Pig"...but more about him later.

The journey continues...

AG

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Oooh...some more little tips that might help!

More tips after a good day investigating way to promote #savemybacon

Twitter

If you are an IndieDev, send a tweet to @AllGameBot - This bot will follow and RT.  Nice little tool actually.

Further, another tip if you have a blog like this one is to turn on Google+ comments.  It is under the Google+ item in the left menu and, if you also automatically post to Google+, you'll have a way of pulling together all your comments into one place!

Ok, so it is cheating a little, but it works.  In this strange game called Marketing, I'll take what I can get!!

The other thing worth noting is to tell people to RT.  If they don't they probably weren't going to anyway, but if they do, you might have just picked up a new RT that you might not have otherwise gotten.

That said, I have only found that this has limited success!! :)

REDDIT

The other interesting thing is Reddit.  This "subreddit" is an interesting way to join more with the online Indie community.  There are lots of good hints and tips here and I'll do what I can to test and share them!

http://www.reddit.com/r/IndieGaming/

One thing about reddit - you have have an account more than 1 week old or you cannot submit a new post.  You can comment to others, but not submit one of your own.

The journey continues...

AG

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An interesting Twitter tip I just learned!

Well, as I said, this blog is to track my marketing progress and it seems that there is a pretty good way to get RT (retweets).  I'm not sure about the audience just yet and whether they are valuable, or if it just more Twitter spam to enter the planet, but it is interesting nonetheless.

It seems that there are RT 'bots' out there, and if you find one that is in your sweet spot for marketing, you should use it.  For me, I have found that the following inclusion in your Tweet will get guaranteed RTs for your post.

#gamedev #indiedev #screenshotsaturday

There are a few bots out there that will take these messages and fire them out.

There has been a minor increase in traffic to this blog as a result of it.  It clearly works as a means to get a RT...but whether it 'spreads the word' in real terms is yet to be determined.

The journey continues!

AG

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Chartboost Chart - Week 7

Here is this week's Chartboost dashboard.  It has been a busy week, with most of my focus (for this app) being on Tweeting.

The new version was released last week (finally!!) and the inclusion of Global High Scores is good as it gives a few options on targets to aim for.  It has reminded me, yet again, that the Play Store is a lot more responsive, with the new version coming out in a matter of hours, and the App Store, one week later, is still "Waiting for Review".

I realise that this has a bearing on the quality of the apps in the various stores, but, as a publisher of apps, the wait is a little frustrating.

So, a little progress, but nothing worth getting too excited over.  BTW - Does anyone know the difference between "Earned" and "Balance"?

Here are this week's stats from the Stores:

Play Store
Install count (this week): 27 / 56
Ratings: 4.55 / 11

App Store
Install count (as at this week): 291
Reviews: 1

Slowly heading up again, we'll see what the week brings...

The journey continues...

AG

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Finally - the new release!

Well, I have to say, I am excited.  After all the delays around the new iOS8 release, we finally have the next version out.  Remember, this is a part of a three stage controlled release strategy to make Save My Bacon a little more 'sticky'.

This was the least exciting update, but it was still very useful.  This was the integration of the scoring into the various global High Score lists.  Now you can log in and have your score recorded thereby making a target for others to compete with.

You can still play if you are not logged in, but then the score is Local, not Global.

The Android version is now live (click on the link in the header of this page for your version!)

The Apple version is currently "Waiting for Review" and should be out in the next day or so.

Finally we have been able to progress down the path of this release.  At this stage the scores are quite low - how do you think you'll go?  Think you're good enough to get a ranking?

The journey continues...

AG

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Chartboost Chart - Week 6 (hmm...missed week 5 this time!)

Here is this week's Chartboost dashboard.  I have found that while waiting for development to complete, it is hard to maintain a focus on posting!

Finally, the new release is imminent.  Let's see how it goes.  Tidies up a lot of niggling little things and adds some nice (and needed) functionality.

As the app was new, with little marketing (I didn't really want to!), it has started to die down.  Let's hope with this new release it will be a little more engaging.

Here are this week's stats from the Stores:

Play Store
Install count (this week): 25 / 54
Ratings: 4.55 / 11

App Store
Install count (as at this week): 262
Reviews: 1

Stats are down a little this period.  Let's see what the new version can do?

The journey continues...

AG

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Funny the things you don't realise!!

We were getting close to the next release, and I was going through it with the team when I realised...things were getting more complex...it was, all of a sudden, no longer simply a pig balancing game, but there was a little more to it, and a lot more to come!

We needed instructions!  In hindsight it was obvious.  In reality, it should have been one of the first mandatory parts of the game build. Doh!

So, working through it, we decided that we needed to launch HELP on first run and include a HELP button.  We needed to explain that, if you wanted to complete on the High Score table, that you needed to log in.  We needed to be able to switch accounts...we needed to help people understand that you had to tap the screen, not tilt the device.

It was all obvious to us...but not to many others!

It looks like a another small delay - but a critical one!

The journey continues...

AG

Chartboost Chart - Week 4 (sorry! I missed week 3)

Here is this week's Chartboost dashboard.  Sorry I missed last week...other "real world" stuff got in the road.

Still no new release, for reasons that you'll see in a future post.

We seem to have established a kind of heart beat now.  It isn't awesome, but the trend is kind of steady.

I think I'll also include stats in these posts too.  It will be useful to see what happens over time:

Play Store
Install count (this week): 30 / 51
Ratings: 4.55 / 11

App Store
Install count (as at this week): 241
Reviews: 1

The journey continues...

AG

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Chartboost Chart - Week 2

Here is this week's Chartboost dashboard.  I have to confess, I am still not complete sure how to read it, but I am learning - any tips are always appreciated!

Still no new release, but some interesting movement on the charts.  The spike came after following the 'pig' people.  The trouble is, I know they didn't retweet or favourite for me, so that didn't make a lost of sense.

Interestingly, looking into it a little more, it seems that I got lucky(?) and Chartboost served up some well paying ads.  I don't really understand the trigger for it just yet.

So, stead progress, a little worse that Week 1, and a definitely downward spiral.  That said, we did get one more '5' rating on the Play Store.

The journey continues...

AG

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Making it 'Sticky' - Part 1

The first release of "Save My Bacon" (you can get it by clicking on a link at the top of the page!) was there for a few reasons:

1. To test the process of releasing the app
2. To start to get some traction on 'age'
3. Because I didn't really know what to expect or what to do, so I wanted a chance to learn (hence this blog...)
4. And I didn't really want to spend too much money at the start - I wanted to see if we could create what we had envisaged

I think, from my perspective, we have achieved (1) and (4).  I think (2) just happens over the course of time.

As for (3), it is fair to say, that is a daily learning. This is even further reinforced by the fact that this is a very part time effort for me at this stage.

I am happy with the game play so far, but I know it isn't sticky.  What is the reason people want to keep playing?  What is the driver that makes you think about starting it up and having a bit of fun?

At this stage, it is a great way to waste 1 - 5 mins.  Beyond that, not even I have that much of a reason to play.

Hmm...we guessed this might be the case.  v2 is definitely in order.

At the time of working through the app, the kids had determined that there should be something to 'spend' your bacon on.  Useless but fun upgrades.  We marked out a few of these as possible options. We also marked out a couple of little 'tools' to help the game play.

And of course, we need a proper high score table!!

So, v2 scoping was pretty high level, but it was a start.  There is something to this...as a result, development is currently underway to get these mods introduced into the app.  I'm thinking that we should be able to release the High Scores version this week.  It will be v2.0.

This will be followed by v2.1 (the shop) and v2.2 (the hose).  These mods will definitely help...but will they be enough?  I don't know.  But it will be a start.

What do you think?  What else is needed to make a simple game addictive?

The journey continues...

AG

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