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Free iPhone App Costs Developers

ratings.pngMy team and I created WordPop! for iPhone. Like many developers we decided to create a “free” version of our game so potential players could try it before they purchased. Over the last six months I noticed ratings for our free version was lower than our paid version. I wondered if other developers were having the same experience. I did an analysis of the top 20 best selling games in November in the Games: Word category.

I compared the ratings from the Paid version to the Free Version. If the paid version had an average 3.5 rating and the free version had a 3.0 rating, then there was a .5 negative change.

N/A     45%
No Change    10%
.5  Neg Change    35%
1.0 Neg Change    5%
1.5 Neg Change     5%
Total         100%

Not one application had a better rating for the free version and 45% had worse ratings.

Then I was curious if ratings determine if an application will be a best seller.

5       5%
4.5   5%
4    25%
3.5 35%
3     25%
2.5    5%
Total 100%

I was surprised that 65% had 3.5 or worse rating.

Although a small sample and taken from the Word Games category I came to the following conclusions.

1.  Creating a free version was once thought of as an important strategy to getting noticed and to be a top seller. Since almost half (45%) of the top selling word games do not have a free version I no longer think this is true.

2. Either players of free versions are much more critical of apps in general or the free version is missing a feature that makes it higher rated

3.  You can be a best seller without having a free version

4. You can be a best seller with lower than average ratings

All in all, as a developer I no longer believe it is critical for my team to create a fee version to drive sales or to become a best seller. And I think the costs to make the free version may not justify the return on investment (ROI).

You can read more about our game WordPop! here and the free version, Diet WordPop! here.

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WordPop! for the iPhone and iPod Touch on Sale for 99 Cents

wordpop_gameboard.jpg

You loved it on the Palm, you played it on Windows Mobile, now get it for your iPhone or iPod Touch. New look, new interface, but same refreshing word game.

·  On sale for only 99 cents

·  Unique blend of puzzle and word-creation game

·  Three difficulty levels to fit your skill level

·  Best Words screen to show off your big words

·  High Score screen to impress your friends

·  Word List with 180,000+ entries

·  Beautiful Graphics

·  Help section with rules and scoring

·  Play a little or play a lot

Visit the iTunes Store for More Information or to Purchase

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WordPop! iPhone Review on PalmAddicts

I recently downloaded Wordpop for my iPhone as I have played this game on my Palm device and thoroughly enjoyed the iPhone experience. After I downloaded from the App Store I immediately liked the user interface and thought I would share with you my thoughts and opinions on the game and give you an insight on how to play as well.Firstly you have to pick which setting you want to play the game at easy, medium or hard for first time players I suggest you choose the easy mode until you get used to how the game works. Also for first time players there is a how you can play button this is very useful and gives you full instructions how to play the game.

Once you have chosen your difficulty level for the game you enter into the main game board at the top of the screen you will see what round you are on and the total amount of points you have accumulated. Below this a rectangle box spells the word you have just created alongside with the point value, then at the side of this you will see a grey circle with a tick in the middle when you have spelt a word and the word is a proper word it will illuminate yellow.

Below you will see the quit button and an undo button which is explanatory. In the middle of the screen you will see the main grid which is full of cubes each with a letter and in the bottom right corner of each cube you will see a number this indicates how many points you will get for creating a word with this letter. Finally at the right hand side of the screen you will see three empty cubes these can be used as any letter to help you create more words when you are running out of needed letters.

The aim of the game is to spell as many words as you can out of the letters provided, when you have found a word you want, tap on the first letter or the word then tap on the next and so on till you have created the word. When you have spelt the word the tick should illuminate yellow and you should get an indication on how many points you have received. Select if the tick is yellow click on it and the word will disappear from the screen and your points will be added to your total.

Continue to create words from the grid to build your points up and if you get stuck don’t forget the spare cubes on the right hand side of the screen they become very helpful near the end of the round when you have used most of the letters. If you want to rearrange the letters just give the iPhone a slight shake and the cubes will mix up helping you to try and create more words.

To move on to the next round you have to use up every letter from the grid it may sound easy but it is realty Z which will earn you more points. So far I have managed to get to round four which I found difficult to get to the best thing about this game is your not against the clock so you are not rushing to try and create words before the game is up.

The screen is bright and the interface is great, and the letters are a good size making the game much easier to play. I really enjoyed playing this game and cant wait to get a free minute to play it again, I recommend this game to anyone who enjoys playing word games as you will have hours of fun!! It truly deserves a Palm Addict Reader Award of Excellence and is one of the best games that I have played on my Palm OS device and certainly makes a great addition to the iPhone / iPod Touch. Available for Palm OS / Windows Mobile & the iPhone / iPod Touch via http://www.smartboxdesign.com/wordpopiphone.html

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Global High Scores are Cool

wordpop_globalhighscores75.jpgFor the last month, the team has been working on Global High scores for WordPop for the iPhone and iPod Touch.  A real challenge was how to lay out the screen. Wyatt was driving the effort and through several iterations with Jim and I, a series of screens were created and tested. The driving goal of the High Score screen was to allow players to easily and quickly compare their scores to other players. It was complicated because we have three different scores, Easy, Medium, and Hard. It was a lot of information to squeeze into one page. It was tempting to split this to separate screens. The feedback from our testers to Wyatt was very helpful and I am very pleased with the final vesion. 

 A feature we added that is not new, but not seen too often, is Today scores. Typically, All Time high scores are posted and compared. However, I wanted new and occasional player to see how they are doing in comparison to others. The Today High Score posts scores from the last 24 hours, Pacific Time. It has been great fun watching the Easy, Medium, and Hard lists fill up through out the day.

 An interesting side note in releasing a Global High score feature.  Our first version was rejected by Apple as violating their privacy policy. We assumed the term Global High scores was enough to alert players that their scores are being posted to the net. Scores are considered private data by Apple, so we needed to add some language alerting the player is a more transparent way. Although Apple was more strict than I liked it did push us to be more creative in our presentation.

I highly recommend all owners of WordPop for iPhone to upgrade to the latest version. It is free and the new feature is a real incentive to get those high scores. I know during testing that I really wanted to beat some of the other scores I saw.

Click here to download the latest version from the Apple Store.

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Diet WordPop! – Free Version of WordPop! for the iPhone

wordpop_game_diet.jpgWe are thrilled to announce Diet WordPop! Same great game but with fewer calories. Diet WordPop! provides a risk free experience of the game and if you fall in love with it and want the full version, we’ve included a convenient buy button right in the game. If you don’t want to upgrade, but love the free version, we hope you tell your friends, family, and co-workers about WordPop!

Get the free version here.

Features

  • Unlimited play, the fun never ends
  • Unique blend of strategy puzzle and word-creation
  • Word List with 80,000+ entries
  • Beautiful Graphics
  • Help section with rules and scoring
  • Shake to rotate game board to mix the letters
  • Fewer calories but fully entertaining.

We love receiving suggestions and comments. Email us at support@smartboxdesign.com.

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