iPhone/Web 2.0

As a continuation of my interview series with leading iPhone developers, I have with me Christina, the developer of Fuzzle from Candy Cane Apps in Estonia.

I’ve played a lot of puzzle games, but have never quite seen anything like Fuzzle before. What other puzzle-type games have you regularly played and which were your inspirations for Fuzzle?

I’m glad you like it . The concept of moving colored balls to get five in a row isn’t actually new, just not too well known. I came up with the idea of adding rainbow balls and bombs, and also added the levels + timer to try to make the game exciting, so that it starts easy (at least on easy difficulty) but gets slowly harder and thus doesn’t go on forever. I think a lot of players want a quick game for iPhone, which they can for example play on the tube/bus. So we tried to cater for them, as well as people looking for a longer, slower game by adding the different modes.

I like most of these kind of puzzle games that come mostly from Japan, such as some games by the Japanese company that invented SuDoku. I’m working on another game now that’s based on one of these. I also tend to prefer multi-player games, as gaming can otherwise tend to be somewhat anti-social. I even have some ideas about adding a two-player mode to Fuzzle, but I can’t promise anything there yet.

Why did you decide to develop it for iPhone? Have you developed on other platforms before? If so, how does developing for the iPhone compare to what you’ve developed before?

The iPhone for me represents the first platform where I can make a simple game and be provided a platform to be exposed to potentially millions of customers, and thus can sell it cheap and hopefully still make a bit of money out of it. I think its a revolution for small game developers. And it is the perfect platform for these kind of puzzle games like Fuzzle.

I previously only developed on Windows. Apple has a nice setup for iPhone development so it wasn’t hard to adjust. We faced some challenges, but on the whole it was a good experience. I find the touch screen the most interesting thing – it provides challenges for some games, but also provides an opportunity for new game ideas and possibilities.

In the latest Touch Arcade article mentioning Fuzzle, they note that “Mikael Suvi” was formerly listed as the seller and some therefore speculate that you were simply the girlfriend of the developer used for the Fuzzle YouTube video. However, my girlfriend is also a programmer, thus I know it is possible to be a good programmer and attractive. In any case, we were wondering, what is Mikael’s role in Candy Cane Apps?

Yeah, Mikael owns the company and he’s a Mac expert. So I designed the gameplay and programmed it in C++, while he dealt with most of the Mac/iPhone issues and wrote the Objective-C code. We tried to keep most of it in C++ though so it should be easier to port to other platforms in the future. We also have another guy who designed the cute graphics.

Being a female iPhone developer isn’t unusual, as we all know of Erica Sadun (author of The iPhone Developer’s Cookbook) and Eliza Block (developer of 2across, which made $2000 per day for the first month). What is the state of women computer programmers in Estonia? Also, do you know many other female iPhone developers?

In Estonia computer programmers are highly sought after – we have a very small population and some big tech companies like Skype are employing many programmers, so it’s an attractive career path for many people, thus I think you’ll find more women computer programmers here than in most countries. I don’t know any other female iPhone developers – the iPhone only just officially arrived in this country a month ago actually.

My girlfriend regularly plays Galcon, Spore and Wurdle on my iPhone. What is your impression of the female iPhone gaming market?

Well, we have had a lot of feedback from women and even some reviews like this one – … so there seems to be a few of us out there.

As we all know, the freedom to change prices is making the App Store an interesting “experiment” in the free market. What was your reason for making Fuzzle free for a limited time? Does this strategy appear to work well?

Well, the reason we made Fuzzle for free for a limited time was to generate publicity and get a lot of users playing and talking about it – if we hadn’t done this, Fuzzle might never have been noticed among the 1000′s of applications in the App Store. I think it did quite well in this regard – we had over 100,000 downloads in just three days, and a lot of reviews in blogs etc. And now we have recently released a Fuzzle Lite version which hopefully also gives a lot of users a taste of the game.

One thing that happened when we switched to paid is that Fuzzle jumped to the number one selling paid app, until Apple removed it from the top a couple of hours later. I think there’s still some things Apple needs to sort out here, because a lot of applications have done this switch, and while ours was removed from the top almost instantly, some others – both prior to, and after, our switch – were allowed to remain at the top for days. So it’s a bit like a lottery. The apps that make the front page – the top apps, the what’s hot and what’s new etc – can receive 10-100x as many purchases as the rest, and the current system for putting apps on the front of the App Store is untransparent, and largely up to Apple’s whims.

So we’re talking to Apple to try and clarify this issue – we felt that what happened with Fuzzle was quite arbitrary and unfair of Apple initially, but now we’re just focusing on our next release, which we hope you will enjoy as much as Fuzzle.

Thank you for your time. Now that I’ve finished posting this interview, I can get back to playing Fuzzle some more!

My app Random Chess is now available on the App Store for only 0,79 € ($0.99)! It randomizes the opening chess position according to rules such as the bishops must be on separate squares and the king must be between the two rooks. For more details, see my page on Random Chess.

So, this time you can interview me. What questions do you have? I’ll either reply within the comments or in a future blog entry.

Today in my series of interviews with iPhone developers, I have with me Phil Hassey of the acclaimed Galcon for iPhone. At first I was skeptical when I read that Galcon is “an awesome high-paced multi-player galactic … arcade action Risk with planets!” When I read that it now has a colorblind mode, that was enough to push me over the edge to purchase it. But actually, it does live up to the hype! In fact, it’s the only game I’ve ever got for my iPhone which I actually can’t stop playing. It’s that addicting. Oh, and my girlfriend is addicted too, even though she told me yesterday “it’s not my type of game”. So, it’s a pleasure to have you for an interview.

I see on your homepage you mention that your inspiration comes from Risk. Did any other games inspire you?

Well, actually, I’ve never played Risk. Many folks have compared it to Risk Galcon is a remake of the game “Galactic Conquest” which was a MS-DOS based game put out in 1987.

I see that you also have desktop versions out for Linux, Windows and Mac. I must say that I was surprised to find the interface and gameplay better on the iPhone! But, now I’m curious, did you write the game for each OS independently? Did you already have Galcon written in Objective-C? How difficult was it to port to the iPhone? What were the specific challenges in developing for the iPhone in contrast with desktop game development?

The desktop versions of Galcon are written mostly in python and partly in C. The iPhone edition is a C port of the desktop version of Galcon. I only used Objective-C for a few of the iPhone related things (such as reading the accelerometer data). I suppose the largest challenge in porting it to the iPhone is that the developer documentation doesn’t have a “Search” box as far as I can tell. So sometimes it took me a while to find what I was looking for.

What has been the general reaction from people who already have the desktop version of Galcon to the iPhone version?

They like it Now they have one more way to play Galcon all the time!

I noticed that there’s always people online for multiplayer play. To my knowledge that’s not true for any other iPhone game that I know. Most new games have the problem that people aren’t patient enough to wait for others to come online. How were you able to get enough people to play online to keep it going?

I think people play on-line because the game works so well as a multi-player game. The MP experience gives you so much more than just the single player. I haven’t really done anything but make the game, to be honest.

I would guess the average iPhone gamer has heard of Galcon, but not the average iPhone owner. What have you done to promote Galcon and what response have you received?

Yeah, uh, nothing. But the response has been great I posted a couple youtube videos. I’m going to try to do some more marketing type activities over time. I probably need to ask my marketing friends for some tips.

What are your future plans for improving Galcon on the iPhone?

My primary goal is to increase the MP user base so that around 100+ people are playing all the time. At that size, I can add better user match-up features so players can compete against folks with similar skill levels.

I see that you have another game called Watermelons which is, according to the description, “the ultimate fruit rescue mission game.” Could you tell us how you came up with that idea? Also, do you have more games in the works?

I was chatting with some friends and we thought it would just be a funny idea. It’s actually available as a flash game as well … I just ported it to the iPhone for fun.

I haven’t started on any new games yet, but I’m thinking about it. I’ll probably start later this week or next week on my next game.

Thanks for the interesting interview. I wish you the best with Galcon and hopefully my girlfriend and I can stop playing it and get back to work sometime soon!

Thanks!

iPhone Galcon reviews:

• Tilt Gamer
• Slide to Play
• All About the Games

I’m starting a series of interviews with iPhone developers of the most interesting apps on the iPhone. You can also read my interview with the developer of Metasquares. I strive to cover the most worthy apps that aren’t getting coverage from other sources. If you’re an iPhone developer and have an interesting application, let me know and if I like it, I’d be happy to give you an interview.

Today I’m interviewing BoB from Terminal Core Games about his new game BloXoR which I feel has a “Sokoban meets accelerometer” feel to it, but with a fresh twist. I bought this a few days ago and have been quite happy with it. I’m currently only up to level 16, but I’m getting there…

How did you get the idea for the game and what was your inspiration?

Well, I don’t think I’ve ever played the actual game of “Sokoban,” but I’ve played many “block pushing” puzzle games and other tile-based puzzles going all the way back to The Adventures of Lolo series on the NES. One of my more recent favorites has been Vexed for the Palm, which is also out now on the iPhone. (Although, I wish they would give us the classic block graphic set; I don’t care for the circles.) I’ve played Vexed for years on my palm smartphone.

When the iPhone 3G and the iPhone SDK was announced, and I decided to try and create a game for it, Vexed was the first thing to come to mind. Now, I’m not the kind of person to just re-implement something, I want to create my own things. So I started thinking about a new, unique puzzle block game. One choice was easy—the new iPhone had an accelerometer. New interfaces mean new game mechanics. But, sliding a block or two around a box sounds an awful lot like Labyrinth, and I knew there would already be people out there creating Labyrinth clones. Plus, I wanted something new. So, some how or another that lead to the idea of sliding around multiple blocks at the same time. The idea of bringing together specific blocks and the name BloXoR kind of came to me at the same time—the three blocks (or Blox) would be an [o], [X], and [o]—a BloXoR! From there it was just a matter of coding up the sliding physics, and trying out some levels. With all my past puzzle experience, it was a no-brainer that there would have to be many types of Blox for variety. Holes, breakable walls, bombs to blow them up, bridges to cross holes—It’s important to have a balance of hazards and helpers.

Funny that you didn’t call the name BlOXOr then, but I guess that looks even stranger. In any case, I’m really glad you took the time to make something original. Seeing all the copycats in the App Store leaves something to be desired. Unfortunately though, I see you have relatively few reviews, although the majority are 5 stars. How are you marketing your game to compete against the other 700 games in the App Store? Do you find it difficult and does it seem like the larger game companies have an unfair advantage in this regard?

First, I do have relatively few reviews, and it’s kind of a bummer, because it really gives the impression of disinterest in BloXoR. There’s really nothing I can do about it but hope that more people who downloaded the game and liked it put in a review.

As for marketing and exposure, I’ll be honest; I’ve found it somewhat difficult. I’ve had a couple reviews of BloXoR posted: one at Pocket Gaming and another at Finger Gaming. The one from Pocket Gamer was most exciting, because it was completely a surprise. I found it through google (I google BloXoR about 20 times a day!). And it was a glowing review, to boot! I immediately updated my App description to point it out. Matt’s review on FingerGaming is a little less stellar, but he made a video of my game play [mp4] which is really cool, thanks Matt!

Beyond that, I’ve had a very hard time getting exposure. Of the other half dozen sites I’ve contacted about reviewing BloXoR, none have come through. In fact, two of them asked for demo copies that I sent them money for, and still no reviews up from either of them. And sadly, I’ve had no exposure on any sort of big game site like IGN or Joystiq. I think this is where the “App Store open to all Devs” thing may really fall down. Big sites are just going to write about the same companies and games they already do—like for Super Monkey Ball or Spore Origins. Not that those games don’t deserve coverage.

Of course, this is assuming the reason isn’t just that my game isn’t worth reviewing. But my gut and the feedback I have gotten is that BloXoR is a good game. I also think that honestly part of the problem is that BloXoR is unique. So, people have to discover it, and not just go, “Hey have you tried the port of Pac-Man?” Or, “Have you tried the Texas Hold’em game, yet?”

The other thing that has bummed me out is the App Store itself. Your app gets pushed to the bottom of the list so fast that only the most dedicated iTunes store shopper is going to make it to page 100 to see BloXoR. Case in point, my biggest spike in sales was when I made a small update to BloXoR. When App updates go through, the App is bumped back to the top of the list on iTunes. It’s really a flawed system because it promotes devs putting in meaningless updates to bump their apps to the top of the list. It’s hard to blame them, though. If Apple doesn’t improve the system, I can’t imagine how bad it will be, say, a year from now when there will be literally 1000s of games on there.

Well, actually I do know what it will be like; an App will have to get ALL of its exposure from outside of iTunes. It kind of starts to bring into question the validity of Apples 30% cut of all profits when they really aren’t doing much more than hosting your app.

It probably sounds like I’m bashing Apple a lot here. Bottom line is, I got a game “published” that is being delivered to the masses, and people all over the world, literally, are playing it—that’s pretty cool. Thanks Apple.

Yeah, I think pretty much all iPhone developers have a love-hate relationship with Apple right now. While it’s great that we can have a worldwide platform for distribution, don’t have to worry about payment processing, etc., it would be nice if Apple were more open. Also, you have fiascos like Apple rejecting a podcast catching app, because it “duplicates functionality in iTunes” and we all know about the F***ing NDA, but I digress. So, back to BloXoR, how do you see it evolving in the future? With most games I could see updates being welcome, but with puzzle games, how much can you really improve besides adding more levels?

I have multiple plans laid out for BloXoR. BloXoR 2 is a given. I have plenty of more ideas for new levels (I have a lot of fun making the levels), as well as ideas for new types of Blox.

Also, I’m considering developing a BloXoR level creator and releasing it for free. It would come with a few sample levels, so it would also work as a free demo to the real game. I’m also kicking around the idea of putting in functionality to submit the user-created levels. The plan would be to release a BloXoR with all user generated levels. I would probably make it into a contest—something along the lines of the best 30 levels get put into the game, and the submitting users would get their name on the level of course, but also something like a $10 iTunes gift certificate. What do you think?

I think it’s a great idea! However, if I were you, I would try to get a lite version out quickly for free, so people can play, say the first 5-10 levels to get a desire for more. I think the problem with original games on the App Store is that people are too afraid of spending money on junk without being able to try it out. Later I would just build the level generator into the paid version, so it would give paying customers the ability to create new levels. But enough about BloXoR, what about other original games?

I also have plans for many other games. I’m actually coming close to finishing and submitting one, now.

Great! When you have a new game, let me know and the least I can do is tweet about it. What have you developed for other platforms before? Why did you decide to switch to iPhone development?

Well, I’m a software guy by trade and by hobby. I’ve been coding since I was 10 (I’m 33) and have been writing games the whole time. I have silly little dice games and Pac-man like games that I wrote on the Atari 800, back when Atari was the dominant hardware maker, and not just a washed-up software house. (They’re really not Atari in anything more than name, now.) More recently, I’ve dabbled in creating Flash games. The problem was how do I get them out there to people? How do I make (any) money off of them? Not that I make games to make money. But, man, that’s the goal, right? Doing what you love for a living, not just in the couple hours a week that you eek out. Anyway, the App Store with all its faults provided the most important thing—it gave a clear path to publishing and selling a game. So, I took the plunge. It’s already paid off—people around the world are playing and (most, hopefully) enjoying a game that I created.

I agree that it’s very exciting to see where this platform is going. I’ll be looking to find the gems among all the copycats and clones out there. Thank you very much for your time!

It was my pleasure. Happy gaming!

Applications not loading? Probably because too much RAM has been used up by programs you’ve already ran. The solution is very simple. Do a hard reboot. Hold down home and the power button for 10 seconds. Yes, you will even have to hold them down while it asks if you want to turn the power off normally. After the hard reset, everything should work again. No need to reinstall the OS!

I discovered this by reading the description of Billy Frontier which says, “Technical note: if this game (or any other iPhone app) exhibits crashing, simply reboot your iPhone (hold down power + home button for 10 seconds) to fix it.” Nice game btw. Now I can play Blue Skies and Asphalt 4 Elite Racing again. Unbelieveable games, I’d like to add…

To keep your iPhone more stable, I’d also recommend having no more than three pages of apps. The Apple Logo of Death comes because when you install a new program, the OS has to do something called application remapping. There’s a watchdog process that shuts down any process that takes longer than 2 minutes. Thus, if this application remapping takes more than 2 minutes, it’ll reboot. Then on boot, it will do the application remapping, longer than 2 minutes, reboot ad infinitum. Found on iphonefreakz.

It’s been rumored that iTunes 8 will be released on Sep 9 and I hope iPhone OS 2.1 will be as well, so I can start using the full power of my iPhone and stop having to handle it with baby gloves.