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[LStro]

I've recently released my first game Plink and I was hoping to get some criticism/feedback from not just consumers, but from actual developers.
It's currently only available on android (will be ported to IOS eventually) and will be getting updates (more levels, content, etc) in the future. The game is free with no in-app purchases or ads (Although I will probably be adding optional ads in the future to get content like more levels etc).

I know we all love gifs, so here is a short one of gameplay.


Description:
Plink is a physics based platformer/puzzle game. You have to help navigate Plink through levels using all sorts of devices (force fields, kinetic barriers, switches, moving lifts, portals and gravity switchers) while making sure to collect energy along the way. There is plenty of danger to avoid as well, such as spikes and lasers.

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Leif.Plink&hl=en
Trailer:

[Uncle Scotty]

Hi, I tried your game and nice work! Really well done, you've got a great level of polish on it. It's really cool how the ball makes different sound tones when it hits based on the velocity, which creates a sort of musical feel. The control scheme also works really really well and is very unique; awesome job on that. I've never played another platformer game like it. I'm only a few levels in at this point but haven't run into any bugs which is great, and I'll let you know if I do as I play further. My only criticism, and it's a minor one, is that the red loading text doesn't really fit with the overall style of the UI. It would be nice if that text was the same blue font as everything else. It would also be cool if you could include Google Play Service leaderboards and achievements. A timer for each level and then a leaderboard for best times would be one way to do it... and it could add a competitive aspect to the game without making it any more difficult for people who just want to experience it at their own pace. Doing that might also help you get more downloads, since it would encourage people to compete with their friends. It's  really nice to see that you're getting a decent number of downloads anyway, because this is a high quality project and deserves the publicity.

Any chance you'd be able to answer a few questions about your project? I've been making games with Unity for ~2 years, under the name Anachronic Designs.You can find my apps if you want by searching for Anachronic Designs in the Google Play store. I'm curious if you are using any assets from the Asset Store in your project, and if so what your experience with them has been. I'm also interested to know if you've done any other marketing/promotions for your game besides posting here, or if your downloads have all been the result of people searching for and finding your game on Google Play?

Gave you a +1 and nice review on Google Play, and did a shout out on my Twitter for you. Hopefully that helps you get some more players. I hope you keep having success with this and other projects! I see from your Google Play description that you're based out of Surrey, B.C. I live  and work in Vancouver. If you ever want to meet up and talk games dev I'd be more than willing.

Cheers! 

[LStro]

Hey Uncle Scotty, thanks for taking the time to download and review Plink! Getting more exposure and greater publication have been the greatest hurdles I've faced thus far in developing on my own. Your suggestion ofadding more competitive aspects is a great idea, I will definitely be adding something like this is one of the next updates.

To answer some of your questions, the only assets I'm using in Plink are a few toon shaders from the standard assets packages. Everything else was done from the ground up.

As for other marketing/promotion, I have posted a self promotional post on the subreddit /r/androidgaming which most definitely generated some downloads. The main problem with that is that I had major bugs at the time that caused a bunch of people to not being able to play due to crashes etc. So all in all I think it had a negative impact on Plink as I got a bunch of 1-star ratings.

Thanks for the rating and review. I will pop over to some of your thread to talk about your app development.
I'm also down to meet up and chat, I will send you a PM on that.

[Uncle Scotty]

Hey no problem, and thanks for the answers. Good luck with your future development and looking forward to chatting eh.

[siskavard]

subscribing!

[LStro]

Haha dope! Yeah I'm really new to this whole community, it's become my new place for browsing. Always something cool going on.

[LStro]

So I found out about another option for getting quality play testers!
This company called Peek (http://peek.usertesting.com/) allows you to link them a website, mobile site or mobile app. They then get a randomly selected user to try it out for 5-6min while recording all their thoughts about the experience. They give you a result video within hours. They allow you to do 3 a month for free, I highly recommend trying them out.

I just did it for my game Plink, the video can be seen here:

http://peek.usertesting.com/result/3348915533120?autoplay=true

If you watched it, in the test the guy says that overall he thinks the app is good and quick to pick up on, it just isn't really his type of game. So definitely some valuable info for me to digest.