We released our first Android videogame, Vector Ace, last December 28th. And have enjoyed already one month of learning and happy understanding of the Market, the OS and the personal goal we set for ourselves, which was our main interest when we decided as a hobbyist team to develop, publish, distribute and communicate & market Android videogames.
We wanted to create original games, not replying other´s initiatives. That is why we decided the motto "Smart Weird Games" for the company. And that is why Vector Ace was created. It is a game that makes us remember our old school times, since it is an interactive recreation of the paper-and-pencil game we used to play together during boring classes. So we are very happy just with the release: only that it is indeed a big success for us. But we have found even more.
First of all, gamers´ critics and opinions. We knew from the very beginning that Vector Ace is a very strange, weird and even freaky game. In fact, we think it is opening a new genera. So we knew it was going to be difficult for gamers to properly understand it. And that has happened. We have suffered some bad critics by people who have not understood the game at all, and even have thought their time spent on it has been a loss. We knew that was going to happen, but the surprise has been other people´s opinions saying the game has been interesting for them, gifting us with good valuations. In fact, after 32 qualifications we have an average of 4.25 stars over 5. Taking into account those negative approaches we mentioned before, it is not bad at all! Thank you all!
We have even received very deep test and feedback by some smart gamers, who reviewed our game and provided us with very useful information and reported some small bugs or good and easy improvements we have been solving in the game updates. Thank you community for your support and feedback!
Beside that, the mentions we have achieved on the Internet, via games sites and blogs, have been impressive. We have been collecting them on this page of our site. Even in other languages different from English, the mother tongue of the game in this first versions of it. It is so nice when someone recommends your creation on a different language. Thank you Google Translate for letting us enjoy this!
And what about THE NUMBERS? We suppose many of you are waiting for them. But, before them, we wanted to say that our target was not (and it is not) gaining money or become rich, but enjoying the experience. Of course, we hoped (and still hope) to obtain some money with our games, but not as a primary goal. Remember we do this from a hobbyist perspective, since every member of the team has its full-time job.
So the numbers are these ones: we have obtained 3.100 downloads within the first month. Please do note the game is free and it has not ads to monetize it. Is this number good or bad? Since we had no expectations, it is just the number we achieved in the first month. And we are happy with it. But we do not want to stop here.
We have seen a very big number of downloads in the first days in the market, while after that, the game entered in a long tail where we gain an average of about 50 new installations per day. Of course, we have peaks when releasing updates of the game, and other small or big ones after some PR & communication actions. By the way, the most interesting and fruitful PR action was talking about our game from a very honest and fresh perspective in the reddit Android community.
This post could be a post mortem post, but it is not. We do not understand why some developers write "post mortem" texts about their apps, since we think this is a live environment, and a lot of things have to be tested, learned, achieved and enjoyed!
In fact, we have a lot of plans and projects we shall implement. But not only about new games, but also about this particular game, Vector Ace, which is just starting to live now. And we may explain them on this blog. Stay tuned!
Smart Weird Games We do games for Android
