HN Explorer

Ask HN: How Can We Make Our iPhone Game More Enjoyable?

10 points by nategraves ↗ HN
So, my friend and I just released our first iPhone application. The app, called Green Wars, is basically a remake of the old game Drug Wars (aka Dope Wars). You can find the app by searching in the app store or you can find screenshots and a link to it in the App Store http://www.orangatank.com/greenwars. The game is free and doesn't have any ads.

We've had an interesting time developing the app (filled with all kinds of Apple hoops to jump through). Now the application has been accepted and we're trying to figure out what to do next. We've got the original gameplay pretty well nailed, but now we're just twiddling our thumbs wondering what to do next. We don't know which direction to take things from here. So Hacker News, we're turning to you for some inspiration. What would you like to see come next? Any suggestions for new features or gameplay options?

While we're okay with you telling us that the game sucks, we're hoping for some constructive feedback.

14 comments

[ 4.8 ms ] story [ 46.9 ms ] thread
cubicle67
I'm not familiar with the original, and so I have no idea what this game is about or how it works. The screenshots and the description don't help at all either. Instead, they make it look like some sort of budgeting app.

Suggestion - Make me want to play it. Include a small description of the gameplay and have the screenshots reflect this. At the moment I'd give it a quick look and a wtf!? and then move on.

chris11
I haven't played this game, but it just looks like a variant of drug wars. Drug Wars pretty much about trading stock (drugs) in the market. You travel around New York and buy and sell different drugs. Sometimes you get busted, and the prices of drugs wildly fluctuate. It's been around for awhile. I first saw it in high school on a TI 83. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drugwars

So it just looks like they replaced drugs with energy efficient objects like recycled paper and hybrid cars.

I'd recommend that you replace the free version with a trial version. Unless this is a beta version and you are expecting users to test your product.

And I agree that the game could have a better description of the gameplay.

nategraves
Those are helpful suggestions, I'll add some better descriptions as well as captions for the screenshots tonight.
tmadsen
I don't know the game you're trying to remake, so I would like some info on how to play it (in the app). So far I bought some shopping bags, but I can't see how that helps me (I might be stupid though).

Otherwise nice interface, I like the travel screen :) Unfortunately I don't know what I gain from travelling.

nategraves
Points well taken. We need to make it clear what the objective of the game is. In this case, the point is to gain as much credibility and cash as you can in the amount of time you have to play. So, you buy products at low prices (say $1-$5 for reusable shopping bags) and then sell at higher prices ($10-$15 for the same bags). The simplicity of the game actually offers a fair amount of strategy (e.g. when to take out a loan, when to sell at a loss to take advantage of better prices, etc.)
dtap
I played the original game through many classes in middle school. As long as you don't have big dreams, maybe play it as an updated version of the old game. If the old game got 1000s of kids to play when the only way to transfer games was cables, you should be able to get some good traction.
harpastum
I think the major draw of Dope Wars (at least for me in high school) was a combination of two things: the general scarcity (and low quality) of calculator games, and the need to appear studious in class. As neither of these conditions is present for iPhones, I'm not sure how much success this will have.
nategraves
Heh, both good points. Maybe you'd be able to pass off that you're hard at work composing an email on your iPhone?
nategraves
Luckily our dreams have already come true. We were able to build the game, get it accepted, and we've had a couple thousand downloads in the three days since it's been up. But, we are hopeful that we can continue to improve what we've built.
teej
Are you familiar with the similiar apps on Facebook (Mob Wars, Mafia Wars, etc)? I'd love to draw a lesson from them, but if you're not too familiar with it, my advice might not be helpful.
nategraves
I've played a couple of those. I think one thing we'd like to incorporate at some point is the ability to apply some of the items for a particular purpose. If you can do that, then we could also introduce an option to trade with other users, because there would be a changing, real-life demand for in-game products.
nategraves
So, it sounds like a better description would be very helpful. We are adding some in-game instructions, but would it also be helpful to have some basic instructions in the description?
silencio
aww i'm sad. i was working on a dope wars clone for iPhone :( are you guys open source or just free as in beer?
nategraves
We're free as in beer, but we'd be happy to open up our code for some improvements!