iPhone/Web 2.0

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!

Trackback this Post | Feed on comments to this Post