In this article I want to share my modest experience in the field of mobile development. The numbers will also be.

Intro

It all started in February 2012. It was during this period that we and like-minded people began to create applications for mobile platforms. We started with entertainment applications for the android platform, of which there were countless in the market. We wanted to make the project more serious, we thought about entering the iOS market. In the summer of the same year, with the help of money earned on advertising, they acquired a mac-mini and created the puzzle “Mysteries of Davinchi”. At this time, our "company" acquired the proud name of Planemo Studio . The idea of ​​the application was based on mathematical and logical riddles. Suddenly, our puzzle began to enjoy success, despite the fact that kazualki usually settled in top places. A couple of weeks after launch, our application was in first place in the "puzzles". But the income is not much affected. Everything changed with the release of the appstore app. We witnessed how, with the same number of races, the yield of the ios version was about 6-7 times greater. In the fall, the downloads of the application went uphill again, which ensured that the market tops for both platforms hit the tops. It is worth noting that at that time this way of earnings was considered as an additional one, and all team members had the main work, which undoubtedly affected the release dates, updates and the quality of product sales. As time went by, we “probed” other platforms and other game genres. Have made some less successful projects.

Mysteries of Da'Vinci II: Renaissance

This spring, the development of the second part of the "Mysteries of Davinchi" began.
In the second part, we decided to add more interactive component, as well as refresh the design.
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We carefully worked the content and selected the most interesting puzzles. All puzzles were sorted by complexity and a phased game play system was introduced. The most difficult tasks were marked by “bosses”, and in order to get to them, it is necessary to solve a decent number of ordinary tasks. Standard game elements were also added: achievements, revealing facts about Da'Vinci's inventions and the possibility of reposting riddles to social networks. Graphic and text prompts are attached to each task, pushing the player to the correct answer.
The gameplay is “refreshed”, thanks to logical mini-games (tag games and riddles with marble matches).




We also added a smarter system for checking the response entered by the player. It works on the principle of "hot-cold", prompting, pushing the user to the correct answer option.
In addition to all this, we have made a selection of various puzzles in three languages: Russian, English and Chinese. Thus, the total number of puzzles in the second part approaches six hundred.



It should be noted that the localization of puzzles in Chinese and attempts to enter the Asian market have come to nothing. Chinese publishers have rather sluggishly responded to the application, most likely this is due to the low popularity of games of this genre.



It is logical that the music in the game should be classical, so we chose the right style. Preference was given to Gustav Mahler. His compositions allow you to perfectly feel the atmosphere of the game.

Monetization and promotion

The main focus in terms of monetization, we have done on domestic sales. Our idea was to present as many choices to the user as possible. Every fan can break his head in the game find something of their own. Initially, about 70 riddles were discovered for each language, which allows you to fully experience the spirit of the game. If you want more tips or levels - please, we have this opportunity.
We also use advertising; in the previous post we made a small review of advertising networks. We are currently using Admob, Mobfox, iAd. We test the "exhaust" of other networks, for example, PlayHaven and Vungle.
They promoted the game on their own, used a set of standard channels, such as: sending press releases, review orders on thematic resources and publications in support of developers on major portals on the mobile industry. We also posted in thematic groups in social networks vk, facebook and twitter. In addition, we have accounts in all more or less popular networks and promptly notify subscribers about updates and plans to release new games. We actively communicate on the forums, promptly respond to messages from our users by email.

Result

On the fourth of June, “The Riddles of Da'Vinci: Renaissance” received the long-awaited Ready For Sale status on the App Store. The results exceeded all our expectations; over the next three days we achieved the following results:

• 1st place in the category of "Educational"
• 1st place in the "Puzzle" category
• 1 place in the top box office in the category "Educational"
• 1 place in the top paid in the category "Educational"
• 2 place in the top of all applications

And also got places in New & Notherworthy in about 150 countries in the categories “Puzzles” and “Educational”. On the best days, the number of downloads in the appstore reached 30 thousand.








Version for android, unfortunately, could not boast of such results. For some time the application was in the top of the new free on the first page and that was it. Perhaps this is due to the fact that we almost never engaged in promotion on the android-market, making all bets on profits from the appstore. Numerous crashes have also played their part, the probability of occurrence of which could not be reduced to zero.
In the autumn, we are waiting for a new boost race, associated with the end of the holiday season. There is a chance to get into the top 5 Russian appstore.

In total, over the summer, the total revenue from sales and advertising amounted to more than 1 million rubles (taking into account the first part of the “Mysteries of Davinchi”), of which 80% came from the ios platform. In fact, given that there are several of us, this amount does not seem to be transcendental. Part of the income is drunk invested in equipment, software licenses, devices, promotions.

Future plans

Over the year, our little hobby has evolved into a small studio, now all the participants have left their main job and are working on their full-time products. The resulting financial "pillow" will allow you to experiment with various projects that we are going to release in the next few months. Now priority are logic games and puzzles.

ios version
android version

In connection with the update, the pro version will be free until tomorrow!
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