Poker Tournament - Texas Hold'em
So far, after week 1, the poker app has already received more downloads than Boxes and is closing in on Matchee. While perhaps not paying the bills, it is at least promising that poker is receiving more traction than the previous efforts.
Proceeds:
Total Cost: $1330
Matchee Earnings: $44
Boxes Earnings: $23
Poker Tournament - Texas Hold'em Earnings: $33
Total Proceeds: ($1230)
Monday, May 27, 2013
Poker Tournament - Texas Hold'em Summary
Poker Tournament - Texas Hold'em
To Date:
1 week in the Windows 8 app store
205 hours spent
33 sales for $33.97
195 page views
0 non-friend comments
1 friend comments
To Date:
1 week in the Windows 8 app store
205 hours spent
33 sales for $33.97
195 page views
0 non-friend comments
1 friend comments
Poker Tournament - Texas Hold'em
I lost ~2 months of development time due to working overtime at my real job, but on 5/20/2013, I was able to pass the certification and get into the app store a 3rd time.
Poker Tournament - Texas Hold'em
A screenshot from the gameplay:
When playing tournament mode, this it map that shows where you are in the country on the path to Vegas:
Showing the winning of a badge during gameplay. There are 45 different badges that can be earned in the game.
The trophy room showing the badges/trophies that have been earned to date:
The start screen:
It took me longer to complete poker than my previous apps.
Code: 185 hours
Art: 20 hours
Total Time: 205 hours
Poker Tournament - Texas Hold'em
A screenshot from the gameplay:
When playing tournament mode, this it map that shows where you are in the country on the path to Vegas:
Showing the winning of a badge during gameplay. There are 45 different badges that can be earned in the game.
The trophy room showing the badges/trophies that have been earned to date:
The start screen:
It took me longer to complete poker than my previous apps.
Code: 185 hours
Art: 20 hours
Total Time: 205 hours
Sunday, May 26, 2013
App #3
With the holiday I took a short break for creating apps to try to think of the next idea. I settled on creating a Texas Hold'em poker app. I wanted to create a framework where I could use the idea for other card games in the future. My hope would be that after an initial investment, I would be able to turn around and produce new games such as Blackjack, etc. using the same code base.
My other thought was that I needed to turn out a higher quality app. While I was pleased with Matchee and had added new twists to the game, I hadn't taken the same enhancement to Boxes and that was showing in the sales.
My other thought was that I needed to turn out a higher quality app. While I was pleased with Matchee and had added new twists to the game, I hadn't taken the same enhancement to Boxes and that was showing in the sales.
Proceeds
6 months in:
Total Costs: $1330
Matchee Proceeds: $44
Boxes Proceeds: $24
Net Proceeds: ($1262)
Total Costs: $1330
Matchee Proceeds: $44
Boxes Proceeds: $24
Net Proceeds: ($1262)
Boxes Summary
Boxes
To date:
6 months in the Windows 8 app store
25 hours spent
24 sales for $24.82
666 page views
0 non-friend comments
3 friend comments
To date:
6 months in the Windows 8 app store
25 hours spent
24 sales for $24.82
666 page views
0 non-friend comments
3 friend comments
Boxes: 6 Months Later
Boxes
After 6 months in the app store Boxes followed a similar start to Matchee, though quickly showed signs of not selling at the same pace, even though that was very slow.
Looking at the graph for Boxes:
Things looked promising in November in the launch and then in December with 11 sales. Things took a dramatic plunge after the holidays and to date sales are almost non existent. In the last 3 months I've had 3 sales.
Let's take a look at how many views Boxes has had:
This makes the conversion rate 24/666 = 3.6%
Compared to Matchee for a similar 6 month period
Matchee: 755 page views for 43 sales
Boxes: 666 page views for 24 sales
After 6 months in the app store Boxes followed a similar start to Matchee, though quickly showed signs of not selling at the same pace, even though that was very slow.
Looking at the graph for Boxes:
Let's take a look at how many views Boxes has had:
Compared to Matchee for a similar 6 month period
Matchee: 755 page views for 43 sales
Boxes: 666 page views for 24 sales
Boxes
On 11/26/13 my second app, Boxes, passed certification and was available in the app store. I was happy that in 2 weeks I was able to go through the process and get an app in for the Christmas rush.
http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/app/boxes/a7ebc33d-1abd-4248-80fe-6e18e3dd7614
Human vs. Human game on hard difficulty:
Start screen:
Statistics screen:
Human vs computer on easy difficulty:
Medium difficulty:
http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/app/boxes/a7ebc33d-1abd-4248-80fe-6e18e3dd7614
Human vs. Human game on hard difficulty:
Start screen:
Statistics screen:
Human vs computer on easy difficulty:
Medium difficulty:
Windows Store Submission Part 2
Having learned my lesson with the two lost weeks in the store with Matchee, I made sure that I focused on the startup time of the app. I was fairly confident that Dots and Boxes would pass the tests and sure enough, I was able to make it through the process on the first attempt.
Dots and Boxes App Completion
Dots and Boxes went fairly according to schedule. I was able to turn out the finished product in much shorter time frame than the previous effort with Matchee.
Coding: 20 hours
Artwork: 5 hours
Total hours: 25 hours
I was happy with the turn around of the app in the short time, I hoped it was proof that the setup of my framework would pay off for future apps.
Coding: 20 hours
Artwork: 5 hours
Total hours: 25 hours
I was happy with the turn around of the app in the short time, I hoped it was proof that the setup of my framework would pay off for future apps.
Friday, May 24, 2013
App #2
As Matchee was completing its approval process I decided to start my next app. In retrospect I was concerned that targeting essentially a kids game with my first app wasn't a smart move as families were probably not going to be the first adopters of Windows 8.
I also wanted to work on an app that required less effort on the art aspect and more on the code. I decided to work on an app based on the game Dots and Boxes. I figured that I would be able to finish the app in time for the Christmas rush.
I also wanted to work on an app that required less effort on the art aspect and more on the code. I decided to work on an app based on the game Dots and Boxes. I figured that I would be able to finish the app in time for the Christmas rush.
Matchee: Summary
Matchee
To date:
6 months in the Windows 8 app store
115 hours spent
43 sales for $44
755 page views
0 non-friend comments
3 friend comments
To date:
6 months in the Windows 8 app store
115 hours spent
43 sales for $44
755 page views
0 non-friend comments
3 friend comments
Laptop
After completing my first app I decided that my work environment was not conducive to generating apps on a regular basis. Not only was my desk setup uncomfortable, but sitting in the office away from my family was not going to be a long term solution that would allow me to continue to develop new apps.
Still not frustrated by the lack of initial success, I decided to go all in and purchase a new Windows 8 touch screen laptop. I figured this would allow me to develop in the family room when the kids were in bed and we were watching TV. In addition it would provide a touch enabled device that would allow me to test a more representative piece of hardware as my target systems. Finally, buying a new laptop with an i5 processor would allow me to emulate ARM mode to have more complete testing.
After much research I settled on the Lenovo Yoga 13 and found a holiday sale for roughly $1080 with tax.
Total Costs: $1330
Total Sales: $44
Net Proceeds: ($1286)
Still not frustrated by the lack of initial success, I decided to go all in and purchase a new Windows 8 touch screen laptop. I figured this would allow me to develop in the family room when the kids were in bed and we were watching TV. In addition it would provide a touch enabled device that would allow me to test a more representative piece of hardware as my target systems. Finally, buying a new laptop with an i5 processor would allow me to emulate ARM mode to have more complete testing.
After much research I settled on the Lenovo Yoga 13 and found a holiday sale for roughly $1080 with tax.
Total Costs: $1330
Total Sales: $44
Net Proceeds: ($1286)
Matchee: 6 Months Later
Matchee
After 6 months in the Windows 8 app store with Matchee I have sold 43 copies to date. The following graph shows the adoption per month:
As you can see, I had an initial lead up of sales towards Christmas that gave some promise, but things have stalled in 2013. The 11 sales in January was sort of exciting because I took it as indicative that more families with kids ( my target audience ) had been purchasing my app, or an increase of Microsoft Surface RTs was paying dividends.
Up until this point I'd done no advertising and relied solely on the Windows App Store search in order to lead to the discovery of Matchee. Apparently this was not a winning strategy.
To date, Matchee has had 755 page views:
It is hard to tell how many of those 755 views were me in my initial excitement at having the app in the store and refreshing the page :). Ignoring that, my conversion rate is currently 43/755 = 5.7%
After 6 months in the Windows 8 app store with Matchee I have sold 43 copies to date. The following graph shows the adoption per month:
As you can see, I had an initial lead up of sales towards Christmas that gave some promise, but things have stalled in 2013. The 11 sales in January was sort of exciting because I took it as indicative that more families with kids ( my target audience ) had been purchasing my app, or an increase of Microsoft Surface RTs was paying dividends.
Up until this point I'd done no advertising and relied solely on the Windows App Store search in order to lead to the discovery of Matchee. Apparently this was not a winning strategy.
To date, Matchee has had 755 page views:
It is hard to tell how many of those 755 views were me in my initial excitement at having the app in the store and refreshing the page :). Ignoring that, my conversion rate is currently 43/755 = 5.7%
Matchee: Month 1
As my first month ended within the app store, it came with dubious results. I had a grand total of .... 7 sales. 4 of which had come from friends I had enlisted. Not the start I had hoped for, but I was willing to chalk it up to not many people having Windows 8 and hoped that it would get better.
I made $1.49 per sale, of which Microsoft takes 30%. I have to earn up to $200 in my account before receiving payment.
Total Costs: $250
Total Sales: ~$7
Net Proceeds: ($243)
Matchee
I made $1.49 per sale, of which Microsoft takes 30%. I have to earn up to $200 in my account before receiving payment.
Total Costs: $250
Total Sales: ~$7
Net Proceeds: ($243)
Matchee
Matchee: Windows 8 Store Search
Excited to see my app finally make it into the store I wanted to see what the competition looked like and how easy it was to find my app. On submission to the store you were asked to select a handful of keywords that were associated with your app. I assumed that these would be the criteria used for searching the Windows 8 app store.
The first step was looking at the New Releases in the store. Hmm, Matchee didn't appear to be listed here. Why not? I never figured that out.
Next, I decided to search for one of my keywords: Memory. Sure enough, putting memory into the search bar returned over 100 apps, but unfortunately, none of them were Matchee. This was also frustrating as it was one of the keywords I had selected.
A search for "Match" did return Matchee, though I presume only because "Match" was in the name Matchee. It appeared the keywords I had entered did not carry the same weight as the title of the app, at the moment it appeared that they carried almost no weight.
By this time, I had enlisted 4 friends to purchase Matchee and 1 of them had given the game a 5 star review. Because of the review I instantly shot up to the top spot in the Games->Kids category when sorted by rating.
Not super excited about searching for my own app, I was at least encouraged that people looking for games within the Kids subcategory would at least be presented with my app in the top 10.
Matchee
The first step was looking at the New Releases in the store. Hmm, Matchee didn't appear to be listed here. Why not? I never figured that out.
Next, I decided to search for one of my keywords: Memory. Sure enough, putting memory into the search bar returned over 100 apps, but unfortunately, none of them were Matchee. This was also frustrating as it was one of the keywords I had selected.
A search for "Match" did return Matchee, though I presume only because "Match" was in the name Matchee. It appeared the keywords I had entered did not carry the same weight as the title of the app, at the moment it appeared that they carried almost no weight.
By this time, I had enlisted 4 friends to purchase Matchee and 1 of them had given the game a 5 star review. Because of the review I instantly shot up to the top spot in the Games->Kids category when sorted by rating.
Not super excited about searching for my own app, I was at least encouraged that people looking for games within the Kids subcategory would at least be presented with my app in the top 10.
Matchee
Matchee: Kid Testing
With the initial release into the store, I celebrated by convincing some of my Windows 8 early adopter friends with kids to buy the app and give me feedback. In addition to my 2 daughters, I had 4 kids aged 3-5 try Matchee with glowing reviews. All four of the kids seemed into the app and asked to play on future days. Feeling confident I was ready for the app store, or so I thought.
Matchee
Matchee
Windows 8 Monetization
When submitting to the Windows 8 app store Microsoft gives developers four options for making money with your app:
- Advertisements in the application
- In-app purchases
- Sell the app at a fixed price ( minimum price of $1.49 )
- Offer a free trial of a fixed price app
Matchee
Excited, my first app made it into the Windows 8 app store on 11/13/2013.
http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-US/app/matchee/358ef7d2-ffb5-4f53-92db-73defcf00fbb
I was pretty happy with the outcome, while it took longer than I anticipated and I took a few shortcuts, the overall product seemed good and in my (humble?) opinion was of higher quality of the competing matching applications ( which had gone from near 0 at the start of my development to over 10 )
Here is a look at some of the final product.
Matching from the farm set on medium difficulty:
The level selection screen showing the 9 different levels that could be selected:
Ocean level on medium difficulty:
Halloween on easy difficulty:
Space on hard difficulty ( note the alphabet cards instead of the set ):
Christmas on easy difficulty:
Dollhouse on easy difficulty:
Thanksgiving showing the complete/replay screen:
http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-US/app/matchee/358ef7d2-ffb5-4f53-92db-73defcf00fbb
I was pretty happy with the outcome, while it took longer than I anticipated and I took a few shortcuts, the overall product seemed good and in my (humble?) opinion was of higher quality of the competing matching applications ( which had gone from near 0 at the start of my development to over 10 )
Here is a look at some of the final product.
Matching from the farm set on medium difficulty:
The level selection screen showing the 9 different levels that could be selected:
Ocean level on medium difficulty:
Halloween on easy difficulty:
Space on hard difficulty ( note the alphabet cards instead of the set ):
Christmas on easy difficulty:
Dollhouse on easy difficulty:
Thanksgiving showing the complete/replay screen:
App Store Submission
Now that I'd passed my local testing it was time to submit to the official app store.
My test/development was an 4-5 year old desktop PC. Because of the age of the PC and the processor ( Intel Q9330 ) I was not able to emulate an ARM cpu for testing. I could either choose to deploy on x86, x64 and/or ARM when submitting to the store. I decided to take the risk and submit to all three even though I didn't have the opportunity to test on ARM.
This ultimately also became a problem as after almost 7 days of processing in the app store my first submission was rejected. The rejection reason was fairly obtuse and there wasn't much information to be found on it.
At this point I was now almost 2 weeks past my planned deadline.
I made a guess that the reason was that my startup time must have been too slow on the ARM platform ( which I wasn't able to test ). I did some fairly benign code changes and cut the startup time in half, from roughly 4 seconds on my x86 to 2 seconds. Was this good enough to pass the tests?
Another 5 days later I found out that it was not. Rejected again.
Frustrated and feeling like I was missing out on potential sales, I did a radical design change and moved the loading of all of my artwork 20 seconds into the app instead of at the start. The only problem was that if the user selected a game prior to this timer firing they'd be missing the artwork for the first 20 seconds ( but then have it after ). I decided this was fine, I just wanted to get approved.
Sure enough, this worked and I was into the store, 2-3 weeks later than I had hoped.
My test/development was an 4-5 year old desktop PC. Because of the age of the PC and the processor ( Intel Q9330 ) I was not able to emulate an ARM cpu for testing. I could either choose to deploy on x86, x64 and/or ARM when submitting to the store. I decided to take the risk and submit to all three even though I didn't have the opportunity to test on ARM.
This ultimately also became a problem as after almost 7 days of processing in the app store my first submission was rejected. The rejection reason was fairly obtuse and there wasn't much information to be found on it.
At this point I was now almost 2 weeks past my planned deadline.
I made a guess that the reason was that my startup time must have been too slow on the ARM platform ( which I wasn't able to test ). I did some fairly benign code changes and cut the startup time in half, from roughly 4 seconds on my x86 to 2 seconds. Was this good enough to pass the tests?
Another 5 days later I found out that it was not. Rejected again.
Frustrated and feeling like I was missing out on potential sales, I did a radical design change and moved the loading of all of my artwork 20 seconds into the app instead of at the start. The only problem was that if the user selected a game prior to this timer firing they'd be missing the artwork for the first 20 seconds ( but then have it after ). I decided this was fine, I just wanted to get approved.
Sure enough, this worked and I was into the store, 2-3 weeks later than I had hoped.
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