next »

[Seaport]

This is looking great, though your touch arcade link a few posts up seems to be dead.

[goshki]

Cute overload. Watching!

[tanis]

Bought and enjoying it!
I'll let you know more about what I like and what not after playing it for some days. Cheers!

[Rebusmind]

@tanis
Thanks for buying it! Awaiting your comments.

---

Android Release

Good news, everyone, next thursday the Android version of SwapQuest will be released on Google Play, so if you haven't tried the game, now's your chance!

It will be the same game (minus some bugs I fixed since the iOS release), but with a different payment model. Instead of paying upfront, you'll be able to download the game for free and then decide after the first two levels (and the first boss) if you want to buy it.
Additionally, you can also buy jewels via IAP in the caravan now. This is totally optional, I haven't changed the balancing to force people to buy jewels, it's just meant for people that don't want any kind of grinding for jewels. There's also the possibility to watch a video ad to get a small jewel boost, but again, totally optional, if you don't want it, you never have to visit that part of the caravan again.

[Dewfreak83]

but with a different payment model

Very interesting. What made you choose such a drastically different payment model? Was the iOS model not working or have you found/read that this payment model would be more successful over the premium model?

Any chance on sharing a launch post-mortem? Your game looks very nice, and seems to be marketed well (I've seen it a few times around the web), so just curious how rough or successful the road has been

[blekdar]

Congrats guys, glad to see you're expanding.

Very interesting. What made you choose such a drastically different payment model? Was the iOS model not working or have you found/read that this payment model would be more successful over the premium model?

Easy answer, iOS users have a higher rate of purchasing paid apps, and android users less. Android also has a very high piracy rate, so providing the game for free with an in-app unlock helps negate that potential issue.

Question, did you make that iphone/smartphone border you guys use to show the screenshot in? I need something like and need a good reference.

[Rebusmind]

Very interesting. What made you choose such a drastically different payment model? Was the iOS model not working or have you found/read that this payment model would be more successful over the premium model?

Any chance on sharing a launch post-mortem? Your game looks very nice, and seems to be marketed well (I've seen it a few times around the web), so just curious how rough or successful the road has been

blekdar already answered most of the first questions, but I can add that I just wanted to lower the barrier to try out the game. On iOS I probably lost a good amount of players because they didn't know if the game was worth the price, so by making it free, there's really no harm in downloading it.
Concerning the post-mortem: maybe later, I'm working two jobs right now (full-time freelance work and SwapQuest before and after that), which leaves me little time for extra tasks. But a synopsis would be:
1. The general feedback from the press and players was great.
2. The number of times it sold was disappointing, especially since I worked on the game for 2 years (full-time).

Congrats guys, glad to see you're expanding.

Question, did you make that iphone/smartphone border you guys use to show the screenshot in? I need something like and need a good reference.

Thanks, blekdar!
The pixel iPhone/iPad was done by the artist of SwapQuest. But you can find a lot of good references for devices on the web. Trace the lines in a low resolution and you should have a good start, I think.

[blekdar]

2. The number of times it sold was disappointing, especially since I worked on the game for 2 years (full-time).

That's disappointing to hear, I figured it would do quite well after reading all the positive press. Have you managed to get the game in the hands of youtubers/twich streamers? Those guys are usually pretty good for driving sales.

Also, are you planning on expanding past mobile, such as a PC release? With the right exposure this game could do quite well on steam, as long as the controls match.

The pixel iPhone/iPad was done by the artist of SwapQuest. But you can find a lot of good references for devices on the web. Trace the lines in a low resolution and you should have a good start, I think.

You know...the answer seems really obvious now. I'm not sure why it wasn't then. Thanks!

[Rebusmind]

Hi everyone,

today I'm celebrating the Android release of SwapQuest on Google Play. So if you have missed out on the iOS version of the game (or don't have an iDevice), now's your chance. And - even better - the download is free on Android, with an option to unlock the full game after the first two levels for $1.99!

Click here or on the image below to get to the game on Google Play

But that's not all. In celebration of the Android release, the iOS version is on sale for the next four days, selling for $1.99 instead of $2.99!

Get it here!

Have a great weekend, everyone, and I hope you have fun with SwapQuest.

[HopelessComposer]

Looks great. Love the old SNES style pixel art. You executed the look very well. =D

[Rebusmind]

Thanks a lot, the art was done by the very talented Jussi Simpanen.

[Rebusmind]

Good news: SwapQuest is featured on Google Play!
I'm not sure in which regions, but I hope this will help to get more visibility for the game.
If you haven't downloaded it, now's the best time.

And a rating/review would be very appreciated!

[Rebusmind]

It's been a while since the last news, but today I've got something big:

SwapQuest will come to the Playstation Vita soon!!

The game will get some brand-new content for the new platform:

• 3 new levels
• a new boss fight
• a new character class, called the Tinkerer
• button controls

Now button controls might not seem like a cool new feature - the game controls fine with touch, which is btw. also supported in the Vita version - but to me as a console player it kinda is. I couldn't believe it at first, but now that I've played it with a controller, I don't want to go back to touch. It might be just my personal preferences, but I can play a lot more efficient that way.

I've also created a little announcement trailer which you can watch on the official Playstation channel:

Also here's a little introduction to the new class, the Tinkerer. It's a class that's all about gadgets. For example, it can learn to throw bombs anywhere to hit multiple enemies at once. Another ability hardens your armor so that you get additional health at the beginning of each stage (which cannot be restored, so be careful).
To make things more interesting, this class behaves a little different than the rest. The Tinkerer is the only class that doesn't get better attack and health values when leveling up. It starts with a pretty good amount of strength and health, but doesn't develop from there (only the speed and luck values increase). To make up for this, the player has to get new equipment and invest in the abilities and enchantments. I hope this creates a new and exciting challenge for some player, especially on higher difficulty settings.

Here's a short gif showing the bomb ability of the Tinkerer.

[Ishi]

That's great, congrats!

[JobLeonard]

The first computer game I ever made is this: http://www.ticalc.org/archives/files/fileinfo/328/32817.html

... so naturally, I'm subbing to this devlog

Good luck with the Vita port!

[Rebusmind]

That's great, congrats!

Thanks a lot, Ishi! (I'm still waiting for your "Leilani for 3DS" announcement :D)

The first computer game I ever made is this: http://www.ticalc.org/archives/files/fileinfo/328/32817.html

... so naturally, I'm subbing to this devlog

Good luck with the Vita port!

Haha, that's awesome! I made my first games on the TI-83! Only very simple text adventures (Final Fantasy VII fan fiction) and dating sims in BASIC with images I drew directly on the calculator, though. :D
Your game looks pretty cool. Is it a conversion of a classic game or did you come up with the concept?

[JobLeonard]

Conversion

I learned Z80 just to make that game. Also because the TI83 rocks.

[JobLeonard]

Man, you have a lot of bitter one star reviews from people who can't read and are mad that you DON'T waste their bandwidth on ads :/

[Rebusmind]

Man, you have a lot of bitter one star reviews from people who can't read and are mad that you DON'T waste their bandwidth on ads :/

Yep, my experience with Android in a nutshell. Got loads of downloads through a feature on Google Play, but made almost no money. ^^'

[JobLeonard]

Well, if it runs on my 2012 Nexus 7, I'll be an exception to that rule