Just because Hangry Giants is in the App Store, doesn't mean it's done. There are many improvements, both small and large, aesthetic and technical, that I'd like to make. I'm aiming to continue making these improvements and launching a new update every 2 weeks or so.
So what's coming up? Mostly some tweaks to the graphics, based on my own experience and feedback. Some of the colours will be toned down. The dialog boxes (when the King is speaking to you) are a considerably less...dark purple. The background behind the matching area is much darker, which I find is easier on the eyes and helps to distinguish it visually from the giants approaching.
What I'm more excited about is the new icon, a whole new set screenshots, and a gameplay video!
I really like the new icon - it's more expressive, captures more emotion. It's not done. Getting close, just a few more iterations. This is what it looks like now:
So what's coming up? Mostly some tweaks to the graphics, based on my own experience and feedback. Some of the colours will be toned down. The dialog boxes (when the King is speaking to you) are a considerably less...dark purple. The background behind the matching area is much darker, which I find is easier on the eyes and helps to distinguish it visually from the giants approaching.
What I'm more excited about is the new icon, a whole new set screenshots, and a gameplay video!
I really like the new icon - it's more expressive, captures more emotion. It's not done. Getting close, just a few more iterations. This is what it looks like now:
Icons are very important. The right icon can make a big difference in whether someone will click that GET button the App Store. Therefore, the "right" icon is the one that results in the most installs. And the only way to determine that is with some classic A/B testing!
Now that I've had a month with my existing icon, I've got solid data on how well the conversion funnel is working: 16.7% of people who view the product page are tapping GET. That's pretty good. Really good, in fact, since most games do around 5%. What I need to keep in mind is that many of these product page views are not people organically discovering my game. They're click-throughs from the press release, postings on Touch Arcade, Reddit, and so on, and therefore more motivated to try my game out.
I'm okay with that, because the next months will likely see more of the same traffic. Game promotion is a long, uphill climb! As with any scientific experiment, you need to understand the biases at play.
Here's the thing: I have no idea why icons are so important. Perhaps I've been unconsciously swayed to install or avoid an app because of its icon. It's certainly never been something I thought about. I do know I'm a wordy thinker rather than a visual one, so I wonder if there's more to it that I'll never fully understand?
I've seen it in others though. Long before launching Hangry Giants, I was telling my 13 year old son about how it would be in the App Store, just like a Real Game! His first question was, "What's the picture going to look like?"
He wasn't able to explain why it mattered to him. But it really mattered to him. And that means it matters to me.