Back in October, the "HN Make November Launch an App Month" discussion was started and it sounded like a great opportunity, so I joined the Facebook group and decided to build my take on an iOS version of the classic Quotefalls puzzle game, thinking I would learn a ton and it would be a great way to get my feet wet with making, marketing, and managing my own software. A week before the group presentation (end of Nov.), I took my project off the project list because I was nowhere near finished. One of the many great things I’ve learned in all this is how easy it is to justify all the feature creep that bloated the design for my original MVP. Every time I decided to include a new, major chunk of functionality in the first version of my app, I convinced myself that it had to be in there otherwise it would make the wrong first impression and people would never give it another try. I still think that’s partially true, but only now that the first version is finished and in the wild am I’m realizing the incredible value of early feedback. It’s still early, but my early metrics show people aren’t really playing it and, if it turns that people don’t find the game as fun as I do (or at all), then sticking with the original, lean design for the MVP would have at least allowed me to recognize that early on and stop there rather than spend another three months tacking on all the single player and multiplayer functionality.But I’m obviously still seeking feedback and I would love to hear what you all think, since HN is what got me started down this road. Specifically, I’d like your feedback on the tutorial. Does it explain how to play the game? Is it a roadblock? Are there any other aspects of the game that need to be explained better? And most importantly, is the game any fun? Brutal honestly is happily accepted!
The game is called Quotiac and it’s available for free on the App Store. I even added a puzzle pack for the HN community, it’s called “The Hack Pack” and I think you’ll all enjoy puzzle #9 especially (http://quotiac.com/images/puzzle9.png).
Here’s a link to the app,
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/quotiac/id400583719?mt=8
Thanks gang, I hope you like it.