Tiny wings is a good product that got lucky. There are tons of games that are just as fun or even more fun that didnt blow up. Dino run, pizza boy,the hero,soosiz,etc are all better than tiny wings but only got semi-major success.
I wouldn't say Soosiz was a flop, it made it into the top 10 in many countries. I'd kill for that kind of result. The other games you mentioned are fun, but have a free online equivalent. I think for those type of games to succeed they need a huge online following like The Blocks Cometh or Fantastic Contraption, so most of the people interested don't just decide to skip and play the free online version. I think beauty of Tiny Wings is that it screams iPhone game, there is only one touch to worry about making it dead simple to get, graphics are cute and appeal to just about anyone, and it has several hooks to keep you playing: higher islands, scores, nest upgrades and achievements. As you get better at the game you start to try for the different nest achievements and then it becomes fresh and new all over again. And of course you can play it with only a few minutes to spare.
Yes I say semi-major success I meant the games did sell , some into the magic 1 million mark. What I am saying is in iphone the best games will hover around the 25-50 spot , mainly becuase of price. The top games in iphone marketplace arent close to the best games, but angry birds is pretty good. Doodle jump and the rest get boring fast for those type of gamers that are used to gameboy,DS type games.
Tiny Wings (to the best of my knowledge) didn't get featured by Apple and didn't even have much pre-release hype either. The App Store really is a Meritocracy and while there are many cool games on the platform, I think Tiny Wings deserves it's success.
YES I did say its a good product right!! But there are other products that are better that never make it. Hence forth why I say its luck too.
I hear you, but since "Tiny Wings" got no "special treatment" I contend it was a better product. There's a lot to learn from it. For one, the audio is MAGNIFICENT. The music, the way the bird's sounds reflect how you are doing. It's amazing.
On a side note, artwork is a huge component to success that's often overlooked in these discussions. Especially with casual games, they have to be visually appealing and seem both familiar and novel. A lot of customers are compelled to buy casual games just because the artwork triggers some childhood memory, for example. It doesn't hurt to be reference not just other videogames, but styles both past and present in design and animation as well. Instead of being the millionth game to try and look like old Nintendo cartridges or generic anime, try looking at stuff like UPA cartoons from the 50s and 60s, or even vintage (and often very psychedelic) Sesame Street and Electric Company animations from the 70s.
It goes without saying, but "Tiny Wings" is very derivative of "Sonic the Hedgehog." They managed to simplify this into a one-button game. Impressive, at least to this old time video game guy.
Honestly, you keep taking the words out of my mouth. We must have a similar design philosophy. Let's see Bug Heroes- Shooter-TD-RPG. LW- RTS-TD-RPG pretty close as in they are both good at combining genres, yet are completely different games
In Italy, Bocce-Ball was sort of niche game. We didn't do any marketing and it hit #1 on all apps. So there's probabily a good market for games that hit a cultural favorite in a specific nation. I agree that there's also a niche for specific mainstream games. Gameloft does a pretty good job of coming up with games that are based on popular console hits.
Ok make a paid game with your theory and we see if your "theory" holds true. Then I will say yes you found the secret. I myself have 2 projects 1 for casual and 1 for middle-ground gamer types. Since I dont know the secret to iphone market I cant predicte what will blow up. All I can do is make sure my games are high-quality and fun.
I think "Tiny Wings" may have just done that. You can't 'bottle' that. All you can do is have a strategy based on the iPhone marketplace and do the best job you can do in design and execution. Tiny Wings may have the best user ratings of any title in the App Store. 21011 5-Stars vs. 493 1-Stars is pretty amazing. Something to shoot for. Personally, since 4 of the top 10 iPhone grossing games are 'Freemium' ... I have to agree with Mr. Young (NgMoCo) that this is a good way to go.
Here's the article on NgMoCo's switch: http://gigaom.com/2011/03/07/what-ngmoco-intel-and-a-donkey-have-in-common/
Ok but you said you see the secret so Iam sure you can duplicate. One game doesnt constitute proof . Spike Dislike is a simple,one-button, addictive game that despite being featured didnt blow up. Plus the developer is really cool the few times I spoke with him. Lets see if you can duplicate tiny wings recipe.
I'm not going to try to match Tiny Wings. But I won't take the tact we did in the past, with overly complex interfaces or long-times for the user to figure out the play. So, why do you think Spike Dislike didn't "blow up?" Maybe it pays to have cute characters and all of that. THAT's a topic all by itself. This sure isn't like doing carts for the NES or DOS games in 1992. That was an easier path to success (but it was never easy, just easier).
On iphone/ipod there really is only 2 paths you can take. 1) Quick simple game with catchy charactors. 2) A console like game for gamers. The 2nd choice is pretty hard , to be honest though alot of these console type games just have graphics , gameplay is still basic. I say its hard becuase making those graphics take forever. Well Iam polishing up my 1st game , its going to be casual ,Iam just getting the dynamics of the feel of the game. Casual games have to have a certain smoothy feel and Iam just touching this and that part of it. Iam also working on a longer game ,but thats going to take a while to finish up.
Congratulations, wish you the best ^^ Although, would mind answering an innocent question : By success, do you mean financial success, or popularity success ?
yes. ok, both. I do think NgMoCo was very very smart to launch with a bunch of free games (Mazefinger etc.). Hindsight is 20/20. I also think once you have something that works for you, you need to figure out the implications of where that should lead you.
