Hi all,
I spent 3 years finishing my game and tried to keep the quality bar as high as possible.
And I believe it has a unique concept and it has fun.
However, after closed and open testing stages,
Yesterday I put it into playstore and started some small advertisement campaigns on google.
But like I do (as a player), I believe people look at the install count (which is 10+ now) and don’t trust the game.
Which really creates a vicious circle (low install cause not install, not install cause low install).
So, where is the answer? 
BTW if you wonder about the game: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.BackyardGames.RamJohnbo
I watched the 2 minutes video in the playstore and have pretty much no idea what the game is. I found the video boring, not trying to be mean, just my honest opinion. Usually, if you don’t hook me with some exciting real in-game gameplay during the first 10 seconds, you lost me. There is just too much in the playstore that I would spent 2 minutes on a game I have never heard anything about.
In terms of more players. Find a publisher with a big player base who publishes the game for you.
thanks, good to hear
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But just because of curiosity, how about trying the game? just playing several levels after the first 4 tutorial levels. I really wonder your idea also after playing it.
Don’t review your own game, that does not look professional.
Do Increase efforts in the marketing material, more screenshots.
Don’t mention how long it took to make, people don’t care that much about it as you do.
Do focus on what makes your game stand out and whats fun for the player
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It wasn’t a review it was good wishes. But you are right.
The trailers and screenshots don’t show trust in your own product. It looks more liek you’re hiding the actual game behind visual effects.
Yeah, and that will keep me from installing it. It sounds like the most pretentious way to say you game has terrible and frustrating balancing. When a mobile game has that, there are multiple possible reasons why that is
- incompetence at balancing
- frustration by design to sell microtransactions
- its a military grade psychological masterpiece
I don’t believe it’s 3, and i have doubt about the size of your target audience.
Thanks, its good to learn how it sounds. Maybe it would be better to change the phrases to not sound like that
However to answer it:
I have a degree of 1% among 12 million people who get intellectual education (Attached picture). I really have those skills (fighter pilots’ education) the main reason of making this game to share (transect those skills to my players). It was a completely honest phrase.
By the way, as I said why don’t you play and test the game to be sure whether you are right or you are wrong.
If a iraq war vet creates a shooter about the iraq war, that increases credibility and may increase sales. I’m sure fighter pilot is an incredibly cool job, but when you try to sell that as a reason why “plant vs zombies with parody rambo” is frustrating, it sounds like made up nonsense.
That would take time i am not willing to spend. The most “interesting” this about this game and this topic is your weird attempts at marketing it. Have a nice weekend, Sir!
Aren’t we playing games to have fun, so, what is wrong with adding parodies to it?
Yes, this game is based on the idea “Plants vs zombies”, it is very successful game, so what is wrong with it too?
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Nothing is wrong with it. I like plants vs zombies and i like parodies. That sounds like fun.
So why the trailer movie that looks like you put images of random game assets into the opening minutes of a Shrek movie and that fighter pilot psychology nonsense? That doesn’t sell your game, thats just weird. It’s a plant vs zombies android game, it’s gonna be a fun 10 minutes per round that you play sitting on the toilet at work because thats where mobile games are played.
I understood your message, thanks for the contribution. I prepare a new video, nearly all of it from gameplays and I will share it in here.
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I found the presentation materials to be a wonderous mind expanding mystery.
But are fighter pilots any good at game dev?
Of course I am teasing you. But don’t forget when marketing a product to an audience, you will want to use a few elements they feel comfortable with and can relate to.
In this case I like the video a lot. It is strange, indie, unique. The text could be more interesting and less business-speak.
I have no idea how long genshin impact players sit on the throne, but I imagine it’s going to be imaginative.
You are definitely right. But again after spending 16 hours/day for a year I think I have lost some of the neurons from the right hemisphere of my brain(which is responsible for dreams and colors)
That’s right - it is why I recommend developers take a 2 week break after they finish. 2 weeks can save you from also losing money just because if you rest, you make better decisions.
Never make business decisions with a tired mind
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I see you added screenshots, but only one seems to be from the actual game, the others seem to be grabs from the video?
Add more in game screenshots, and a gameplay focused video.
Even on your website I’m struggling to find any actual videos that show the game itself: https://www.ramjohnbo.com/
yeah, today all I was doing was that.
I prepare even new ads video which nearly has everything in game.
The goal with free-to-play is to earn more per user (LTV, or Lifetime Value) than it costs to pay for a user to install it (UA, or User Acquisition).
Generally the way it works is this:
- you make the game, test it, release it, including analytics to find out how the game works, videos to show it off, tutorials to teach people how to play, etc.
NOW… you begin to operate the game. This part is FAR more time consuming and important than making the game. Making the game is the EASY part.
- you set a small budget of X and you spend money to advertise and get people to play the game.
Now you view the KPIs (key performance indicators) through the analytics.
Using A/B testing, you try to raise the KPIs up as much as possible.
KPIs for a free to play game are low cost per install and high lifetime value, obviously.
When the KPIs are sufficiently positive (this is up to your own choice) to warrant additional user acquisition spend, you then spend and buy more users.
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I will take for true the claim that you have a superior intellect than the most of us. For this I’m really surprised that you didn’t figured out these two facts.
Rest of us people, we are “dumb”, so create a game for us not for the 0.0001% intellectual elite. (I mean you can do that but don’t complain about low sales/downloads)
Get humble and watch youtube videos about creating and developing games. This youtube channel is a gold mine to learn how to fix the problem you have posted in this thread
good luck
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Thanks a lot. As far as I see my video didn’t have in-game play videos therefore it wasn’t enough to convince visitors to install the game.
Now, I am working on a new 30-second advertisement video nearly all of it from in-game scenes. I ll try it and I ll share video and results in here.