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[Pawl]

App Store | Press Kit

Hello TIG!

I recently released a major update to a little side project I've been working on since 2013 and would love some more feedback. It's a relatively simple dexterity game that starts out easy and becomes increasingly difficult. The recent 2.0 update adds a Daily Rush mode that procedurally generates a new level every day at midnight (with daily online leaderboards). There's a bunch of other stuff in that update too, but if you've never played before it doesn't really matter since everything will be new to you.

I've provided some download codes as well (will add more if needed).

1) EJT939YMFA97
2) 3T6T73L6LP64
3) 4YPLPA4HT9MN
4) LF6T97TPKXEJ
5) 7JLY4YAMKATH

Thanks for reading -- I look forward to the feedback!

Paul

[metalim]

Took code #5

[eyeliner]

Sorry. Mistake in my part.

[metalim]

Nice distraction game, predicted playtime is 5-10 minutes per play to clear your brain, then it becomes more challenging. Would expect some slowdowns on crashes/explosions/bonus pickups. The rest is unobtrusive: hence - good.

[Pawl]

Thanks for the feedback!

I added a slow motion effect for the Apple Watch companion app, but utilizing it for explosions and the like is worth trying!

On another note, I was thinking of making the game free with a very basic in-app purchase to drive more downloads. I don't want to do ads, but I couldn't think of any great ideas for the IAP, other than locking all the levels after World 1 and requiring a one-time $0.99 purchase to unlock the rest of the levels. You could still play the Daily Rush mode for free though.

Any thoughts?

[Pawl]

Hey All,

Just an update, Star Thief is now free and has been updated to take advantage of the iPhone X screen.

Enjoy =)

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/star-thief/id629733958

[Mikk]

Hey Pawl,
I just downloaded your game on my iPhone X. I’ve gotten through the first level, so I don’t have much to say about the gameplay yet, but I noticed that the home indicator is very prominently visible. It distracts from the game, and you can hide it by telling the OS that your app is full-screen. https://developer.apple.com/documentation/uikit/uiviewcontroller/2887510-prefershomeindicatorautohidden should help you with that

Edit: I’ve played a bit more, I feel that the ordered ones are maybe a bit too strict, I’d consider maybe letting the player get a second chance at swiping in the right order after a one second timer.

If I’m trying to get a perfect score on a level, it can be frustrating to wait for the star tally before I can go back into the level. I’ve seen this handled in other games by having a replay button that can be pressed before the final score is given. I might also make that animation go a little quicker as well, I find that I get bored watching it fill up.

[Pawl]

Oh man, I didn't know it was possible to hide that... bar.

Will check that out and probably update with that hidden. Thanks for the tip!!

[Pawl]

Hey Pawl,
I just downloaded your game on my iPhone X. I’ve gotten through the first level, so I don’t have much to say about the gameplay yet, but I noticed that the home indicator is very prominently visible. It distracts from the game, and you can hide it by telling the OS that your app is full-screen. https://developer.apple.com/documentation/uikit/uiviewcontroller/2887510-prefershomeindicatorautohidden should help you with that

Edit: I’ve played a bit more, I feel that the ordered ones are maybe a bit too strict, I’d consider maybe letting the player get a second chance at swiping in the right order after a one second timer.

If I’m trying to get a perfect score on a level, it can be frustrating to wait for the star tally before I can go back into the level. I’ve seen this handled in other games by having a replay button that can be pressed before the final score is given. I might also make that animation go a little quicker as well, I find that I get bored watching it fill up.

Thanks for the updated feedback!

I have a build pending now that decreases the outro by 2 seconds. I would love to make the reset button appear earlier, but my codebase is 4+ years old now and I'm afraid to mess with the terrible state management code, heh... it was written in obj-c/c++ using cocos2d fwiw.

I also looked into hiding the iPhone X home bar, and it's a little more complicated than I would have thought. 'prefersHomeIndicatorAutoHidden' does hide the bar, but it will reappear whenever the user taps on the screen, which is almost more annoying. I was able to find another solution though, that essentially keeps the bar always visible, but more transparent.

- (UIRectEdge)preferredScreenEdgesDeferringSystemGestures {
   return UIRectEdgeAll;
}

I suspect the update will take a few days to be approved. Thanks again.

[Pawl]

Hi everyone, bumping this ancient thread to announce that version 2.5 has dropped which has a bunch of smaller improvements (native resolutions supported, 120 FPS on iPadPro with ProMotion, updated tile map art, etc).

The game is still free without ads or in-app purchases, so if you could leave a quick review that would really help!

Thanks

[JobLeonard]

Oh, this is cute! I think my partner would love it, she really likes Oh My Giraffe! too

EDIT: Oh, it's iOs only? Hmm, then we can't play it I'm afraid 

[Pawl]

Ah sorry about that, I've been meaning to do an Android port for a while now, but unfortunately I wrote the original game in objective-c for native iOS.

Oh My Giraffe looks really cool though!

[starjung]

Deserves 5 stars! It's not just a fun game, but without annoying ads every 30 seconds..

I only wish I was better at dexterity games, level 10 already is way too fast for my clumsy fingers

[JobLeonard]

Well, the good news is that practicing helps, in fact it's kind of the point 

[geo]

Installed and played world 1 and 2 (partially) in one go. Excellent pacing, I love it. Those fireworks and the clouds , just lovely ideas through and through. I enjoy smashing the rocks onto the stars the most. Well deserved 5 stars

[Pawl]

Hey thanks! The rock smashing is also one of my favorite interactions, too.

And thanks for the review! Every little bit helps the game become easier for others to find.