[GAME] Pangolin – [physics arcade game w/unique multitouch interaction]

cocos2d for iPhone » cocos2d games

[GAME] Pangolin – [physics arcade game w/unique multitouch interaction]

(50 posts) (16 voices)

Started 5 months ago by feedtank
Latest reply from KeitZer

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feedtank
Member

After over a year of development, Feedtank is extremely proud to announce the release of Pangolin, our first completely self-funded, self-released app. It is available for iPhone (and iPod Touch) and in the App Store today.

About Pangolin:
• It's an action game where the user creates trampolines of varying strength to bounce Pangolin to a goal.
• It is based around a unique, two-handed, multi-touch interaction.
• The app is free and includes all 10 levels of the Education world. The Exploration world is available as an in-app purchase ($0.99 for a limited time). It includes 40 levels and a number of additional game elements.
• An iPad version and other worlds are in the works.

You can download the app in the App Store here:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pangolin/id514959471?ls=1&mt=8

Also, I just wanted to give a BIG thank you to Riq and everyone in the Cocos2d community for making this game possible one last time!

Trailer:

Screenshots:

Find more info here:
http://feedtank.com/pangolin

Posted 5 months ago #
RobinK
Member

I played all the free levels... I really like the look of the game. Its very polished. The music also fits well.
But i think the friction with walls is a little to high. I often got slowed down pretty hard by friction when I didnt hit such a tube at the right angle.
Gameplay itself is something new and it works well. I wish you good luck in the appstore.
If you don´t mind you could tell us about your download numbers in a few days :)

Robin

P.S. yeeeehaaa.. number 1 in gamecenter...wasn´t hard cuz i´m the only one

Posted 5 months ago #
feedtank
Member

@RobinK Thanks! Interesting comment about the friction. Noted.

We'll post some #s.

Thanks for the well wishes... and enjoy #1 while it lasts! ;)

Posted 5 months ago #
yeahdixon
Member

love this game :)

Posted 5 months ago #
KeitZer
Member

O_O

HOLY SHIT.

First level in, LOVING the animations and graphics (even down to the "Hole In one" graphic that comes up)

Posted 5 months ago #
feedtank
Member

Awesome! Thanks KeitZer!

We got 437 downloads yesterday (day 1).

Posted 5 months ago #
RobinK
Member

Thats a bit disappointing especially because its free. But maybe youre lucky and apple will feature it soon :)
I think in the old appstore you would´ve get a few thousands of DLs on the first day beause lot of people used to check the "new" section.

Robin

Posted 5 months ago #
feedtank
Member

Well, we wanted it in the store before sending it to reviewers:
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2011/04/how-early-reviews-hurt-sales-of-indie-games/

We're just starting that process. Crossing our fingers we'll get some.

Posted 5 months ago #
KeitZer
Member

Hopefully in time for xmas too!

Posted 5 months ago #
feedtank
Member

@KeitZer Hell yeah!

Posted 5 months ago #
feedtank
Member

Just giving an update here. Numbers aren't good. Since release we've gone down to average about maybe 30-40 a day. We've gotten some really good reviews though:

----------
“Pangolin is easily one of the best mobile games of the year.”
– Short and Sweet Reviews

“Sonic the Hedgehog would be jealous... extremely well crafted and addictive.”
– Indie Love

“Very different, very entertaining.”
– JayIsGames

“A loveable iOS anti-platformer.”
– Independent Gaming

“Simply beautiful... keeps you coming back.”
– The Indie Developer
----------

We also have 32 / 32 five star ratings.

Anyway, we're still hoping it picks up. Note to indie devs. DO NOT release in December. Reviewers are completely overwhelmed.

Posted 4 months ago #
KeitZer
Member

what are your total numbers?

Posted 4 months ago #
mster50
Moderator

@feedtank

Good advice about December. Sorry your numbers aren't that great. Don't give up though, the battle's not over.

Posted 4 months ago #
feedtank
Member

Well, it's pretty weird actually. We have ~3000 total. Only 1500 of them show up in iTunesConnect. We're pretty sure the additional 1500 are from jailbroken phones in China. We've found our IPA on multiple pirated Chinese sites, with full reviews and everything!

Posted 4 months ago #
cocojoe
Moderator

@feedtank thanks for the update, some great reviews. There is still hope, needs someone big to pick it up and push it out there to the masses, much like TrainYard...

Yeah December is not ideal, lot of releases and ppl wanting to hit that #1 spot for the charts getting locked over xmas (ready for all those new customers). I would tend to avoid anything hitting on the main seasonal dates with the big boys pushing out their 'seasonal content' updates.

Posted 4 months ago #
feedtank
Member

@cocojoe No problem. Yeah we learned that exact lesson the hard way.

We're not giving up. I just realized we should push that "one of the best mobile games of the year" review. It's doing very well at IndieGaming on reddit right now. Guess that's another lesson for indies. Get a good quote, and spread the news!

Here's the reddit post.

Posted 4 months ago #
mster50
Moderator

@feedtank

YES! Good job using Reddit. That's some good work.

Also, I purchased the game to show some support. It's a good piece. Nice job.

Posted 4 months ago #
feedtank
Member

@mster50

Thanks! It's got a good head of steam. It's definitely the best thing we've done so far.

Posted 4 months ago #
Lucky
Member

This is a beautiful app! What's depressing is the iTunes store numbers compared to how much hard work was put into it.

Posted 4 months ago #
cocojoe
Moderator

@feedtank you should put some of those good reviews into your iTunes meta description, little bit of social proof is always good.

Posted 4 months ago #
Thomvis
Member

I really love the overall look and feel of your game, very well executed.

I am sorry to hear that your download stats are disappointing. It makes no sense/is not fair. For your game to pick up, I guess you'll need some popular blogs to write about you. For example, I launched my game the day before the iTunes Connect Holiday Shutdown, in the middle of the December heat. Thanks to a post on http://www.iphoneclub.nl/ (the most popular Dutch blog) and http://iphone-ticker.de/ (a popular German iOS blog) I was still able to get 5000 downloads in each of those two countries for my game (http://turnacle.thomvis.nl/). Your game appeals to a much wider audience so I could imagine it having even a bigger effect. It is definitely worth the time finding out about all the local/national blogs and request a review.

Good luck!

Posted 4 months ago #
feedtank
Member

@cocojoe Yeah, that's a good idea. We're planning to in an update shortly.

@thomvis Thanks for the kinds words. We've been contacting blogs... a lot of them. Just within the past few days we've started to get a few responses from some decent sized ones. We are actually getting a few inquiries because of the reddit post. We got ~375 downloads yesterday. 42 reviews. All 5 stars.

Anyway, I really appreciate the links... we'll be sure to contact them. Those are some good numbers! Looks like a quality game... and great trailer. Congrats!

Posted 4 months ago #
KeitZer
Member

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=XqTvKFzvv1Y#t=978s

Here, this video at this time (was linked in a previous post on this forum, sharing here b/c it's completely relevant)

It's the marketing guy for Angry Birds and how they went from not even being considered by Apple, to being #1 in 79 countries....

Posted 4 months ago #
collidernyc
Member

Hey - really great job on this, looks and plays fantastic!

One super minor thing though.... I'm not a huge fan of IAP the way it's used here - I would rather have the first 10 levels and 1 or 2 dollars to unlock the rest of the game - I bought the 1.99 pack just to support you, but I hate the fact that my purchase "goes away" after I've used it, just a psychological thing.... not sure if that makes sense. I'm super sure you've researched the best way to monetize, so take this with a grain of salt....
Also - since you are doing it this way, I suggest you add a way to purchase from the home screen - pausing the game to purchase interrupts the flow, I barely look at those top buttons and it took me a few minutes to figure out where to spend $$ (I sort of glossed over the tutorial page where you showed it - if that happens, you don't really know where to add). Maybe the + button only pauses the game if your extras are empty, otherwise quickly hitting the + just adds 1 extra to your count (maybe small counter for the amount left on the + somewhere).

Anyway - really really nice work.

Posted 4 months ago #
feedtank
Member

@KeitZer Thanks for posting that! Watched a bit of the marketing guy, and there were definitely some gems. I'll be sure to watch the rest.

Posted 4 months ago #
feedtank
Member

@collidernyc Hmmm... I'm not sure, but I think you might be a bit confused. Or I am. Perhaps it could be a bit clearer... but the model is what you described: the first 10 levels free, and $0.99 to unlock the additional 40 levels ($1.99 normally, but we're starting at $0.99). What you are describing are extra shots, which is a separate IAP. They are mostly just for people who get stuck on a level, kind of like Angry Bird's mighty eagle. You don't need to use them to play the game, which is why we don't push it.

To purchase the next world, you can either finish the first 10 levels... or just swipe on the "select world" page. Apologies if this wasn't clear.

Thanks for the kind words!

Posted 4 months ago #
collidernyc
Member

Ahhhh - I see. Here's the problem then... If I see a game I love (or want to support for some reason) I play a level or 2, then buy it. In this case, I didn't even know the game ended at level 10 - I think offering a dedicated unlock (that goes away after purchase) would be much more useful (and grab people like me who want to make a snap purchase). On the select worlds page you only have locks on the unfinished levels, no way to buy the next worlds (or whatever comes next). It will come as a shock for idiots like me (who don't bother reading the app store description) when you finally do ask for $$. I would make it more obvious that this is a paid game, on the home page, and on the world select page (unlock the other 140 levels here!). I think there is a fine line between bludgeoning people with IAP and not adding enough (just ask Punch Quest!). I think you're slightly on the not enough side. You can definitely make it subtle, but add it for people that know they want to buy before they get through the first levels.

And I would consider revamping the extra shots so it doesn't pause during a game unless you need to reload.

Again - beautiful job.

Posted 4 months ago #
feedtank
Member

@collidernyc The "select a world" page should allow you to buy the next world immediately, without finishing any levels. The only thing is that you have to know to swipe to the next one, which, might not be obvious. I think you are getting the "select a world" and "select a level" screens mixed up. If you touch the back (top left) button from the "select a level" screen, you'll get to the "select a world" screen. That's the pangolin with the glasses. Swipe left from there.

I think one of our problems is that we don't show enough of the next world icon for people to realize that there is another world to swipe to. We are going to fix this in our next update.

Thanks so much for sharing your experience. We're trying to get this right.

Posted 4 months ago #
collidernyc
Member

What a great problem to have... "I can't pay you fast enough". :)

And holy moley, you're right - I thought the world page was locked - I swiped the area to the right rather than the icon and nothing happened, so I just assumed I couldn't do anything on that page - and now of course I see the 4 dots at the bottom. If you haven't already, maybe make the swipe area much wider.

I hope you do really well with this.

Posted 4 months ago #
cocosbean
Member

Just downloaded it. Excellent production values! The feel of it reminds me of the game, Okami.

Keep working on getting the game get noticed and I believe it could be a big hit on the appstore.

Posted 4 months ago #

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