Hi,
I recently finished my first game for android devices, but it isn’t very popular and ads don’t bring me any money(0.06€ in 4 days…) . I know, the key to the popularity is a good game, but what other advices can you give to make a released game a little bit more popular? Or is it just luck?
Thanks :).
The key to a well selling game is advertising.
I don’t know too much about advertising(I am just a noob developer after all) but some good ways to advertise your game is asking your friends and family to tell people they know about your game, sharing in-game shots and descriptions on Facebook and twitter and making a video trailer and posting on YouTube.
I’m sorry to inform you that marketing the game is going to be hard work (even if you have money to spend).
Have you already created: website, twitter, facebook, youtube, indiedb etc pages?
Create a press release (look for guides) and try to approach websites. Contact small and big ones, there are guides on how to do that too.
Send your game to people who do reviews on youtube.
Use facebook ads, google ads, test them (you can for a small amount).
Look up gaming marketing guides, contact game marketing agencies, some have profit sharing programs.
Place your game in signatures if you use forums, if you are asking for advice on your game and it’s marketing, post a link to the game. For example here, we don’t even know your game.
Also this effort should have started long before you finished the game.
I personally hate games with ads,boosters,imob, hidden code to try and make money.
Because usually these games are poor, I would sell your game and remove all ads.
That way if customer buys game for cheap price and does not like he delete it.
But if he gets for free and does not like he deletes.
See the logic…
i’m not seeing any logic in that statement…
I can spot poor grammar though 
Is your game any good? At first glance would people get an impression that they want to play it? Does it look unpolished? Does the name suck? Just some thoughts.
Well, game is called Desert Zombies.I don’t think that it sucks that much, but it’s probably because I’m the developer 
.
Max, Google doesn’t allow in my country to sell apps(it’s not in the magic list).
As Cliffy B once said: “If in doubt…put chainsaw on it!”
@OP - Take a deep breath. Let it out. Take a deeper breath and hold. Release. Now take a 3rd breath, so deep it hurts, and hold. As you release, allow your mind to calm.
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(I’m serious - do that right now before reading on)
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(Still not kidding - Three breaths gives massive oxygen to your brain, allows you to think more clearly, and helps you calm down)
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(Last chance…)
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Now, say outloud. “I did it! I made a decent game, and it has reviews and it’s available on the Store!” Cause you have so much success going for you. Savoring is a key part of maintaining confidence. It’ll motivate you to keep going and it’ll increase your happiness.
Of course, there are lots of ways to go forward from here. You can advertise, you can spend months improving the game, you can do nothing, or … you can start another project!
With this success, one of the best ways to build an audience is to build more products. So … do that. And while you’re at it. Consider these things that help improve downloads and market share:
- Build a great product. The most important step.
- Pick a catchy title (that is searchable). Keywords matter.
- Be beautiful - icons, screenshots, graphics, demo, videos, descriptions … make them as attractive as you can. Learn to tell stories, etc…
There is a 4th item, though since you can’t sell products in your country, it’s not relevant. Congratulations and consider … this is not the end, it’s just the beginning.
Gigi.
Your icon could use some improvement. Read this:
Don’t underestimate how powerful a good icon can be. We doubled our sales when we change our icon last year. We are investing some time right now on coming up with a better one.
You should not put text in your icon. When on a phone it will be unreadable. Focus on making a simple instantly recognizable shape that stands out. You have kind of cute zombies, perhaps just put one as the icon, or just the cactus.
The most common way people will see your app is by browsing similar apps and seeing your icon in the “also bought”, or when browsing the store. Either way, all you have is your icon to convince people to take a look at your game. They will prejudge your app based solely on your icon, so it is the single most important texture/advertisement asset you will make.
Well holy heck, Goldbug!
Beautiful is focus area 3 for me. It applies to more than just the icon too. Cause after the icon, the next thing they’ll see is your FIRST SCREENSHOT! It is just as important that this is beautiful: easy to understand, inviting, tells a story, and sparks curiosity.
At one point, we used a screenshot like this:
And now, we use a screenshot like this:
The first emphasizes the interface … OMG! The second tells a story - Gigi and Jenilee are having a fight. And they still love each other. Beauty matters.
Gigi