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Show HN: My Newest iPhone Game - Dummy Defense

6 points by avgarrison ↗ HN
The game is Dummy Defense. It launched yesterday and is currently at #41 top overall in the US app store. I did some heavy promotion yesterday with a large email list, and FreeAppADay is promoting my other app, SimplePhysics, which is driving quite a few sales. I'd be glad to hear your feedback about the game as well as answer any questions regarding the development or marketing efforts.

Here's the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzk5WVb3JcE&feature=player_detailpage

Here's the app store page: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dummy-defense/id460832678?mt=8

12 comments

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Sword_Monkey
Should be obvious but put it up on Reddit too, free marketing. Though it's kind of pot luck whether your submission will draw attention, although somebody else might copy your submission and that may get better attention. And hey who cares? As long as it climbs, no reason why it couldn't see the front page.

Also Android plox. Or browser based version at least.

avgarrison
Good idea. What subreddit would you post something like this on?
Sword_Monkey
r/gaming in my opinion, very good demographic, they're aren't just PC/console nuts, but actual game enthusiasts who will have an interest in games across every medium they have access to which will include iOS. Be prepared for them asking about Android though.

Found your Android sign up thing too, good idea, excellent for grabbing emails. Throw that in all your messaging too though, don't leave people to find it!

dannytatom
Give /r/indiegaming & /r/iosgaming a try.
coryl
Looks great, was it built with any engines like Cocos2D? What email list did you use? How many downloads is it getting now?

Why did you decide to go with a 99c price point when you could have gone freemium, give away a few levels and do a 99c unlock? Thanks

avgarrison
I actually used a home-made framework that I have been kludging together since my first app, BridgeBasher. Back then, Cocos2D and Unity3D weren't as awesome as they are today. It worked out well though, having my own framework really lets me dig into the nuts and bolts and change any aspect that I need.

I have an email list of about 80k subscribers that I've accumulated from my other apps. About 28% have opened, and about 25% of those who opened actually clicked the link.

Yesterday I clocked 3879 downloads and landed at #52 in the charts. I'm not sure how many downloads I've gotten today.

I decided on the $0.99 price point because of the large e-mail list.

coryl
Thanks for replying. BTW, how do you get a good signup rate for your email list via the app? Do you load a prompt up after X amount of hours/app loads?
avgarrison
I pop up a dialog asking for their e-mail after 3 app loads. I'm not actually sure what the rate is (signups per impression). I have surprisingly little analytics in my apps, I really should incorporate some of that. Do you know of any good services for that?
coryl
Flurry or Mixpanel
mromanuk
Congratulations on your game, it looks pretty smooth, nice graphics too. According to http://topappcharts.com your game is #36 today, is that accurate? dummy defense is climbing the ladder, would be interesting to know the downloads per position in the charts.
avgarrison
Yesterday I climbed from 51 to 36 in the US app store and received 4,119 downloads.