To A Successful Game: 8 Elements

8 ELEMENTS TO A SUCCESSFUL GAME
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A Sneak Peak
APP DEVELOPERS
IN 2013, THE BIG
THREE, AND
SAFTEY BELTS
ANDROID 4.2
JELLY BEAN SDK
AVAILABLE
JUST PEACHY: PEACH
PELLENS MUSINGS
ON WINDOWS 8 DEV
WINDOWS PHONE STORE

IS GROWING, ADDS 42
NEW MARKETS
iOS 6.1 BETA 3 OUT
FOR DEVELOPERS
APP STATS SNAPSHOT
DEV INTERVIEW:
ABOUT GLITCH
GAMES
EASIER TO DO:
FIND BIGFOOT OR DEV A
MILLION DOLLAR APP?
WWW.APPDEVELOPERMAGAZINE.COM
IMAGINE DEVELOP LAUNCH

INTRODUCING
App Developer Magazine
Successful app development is a lot more than
writing code. A whole lot more. Now you have a
resource that provides in-depth, relevant, and
knowledgeable information on what you really
need to know to be successful.
App Developer Magazine provides a snapshot
of that months highlights within the industry
as well as big picture analysis that you just
wont find anywhere else.
Available in print, digital, and mobile the
magazine is a serious publication dealing with
serious issues affecting App developers
Of course the industry changes every day and
AppDeveloperMagazine.com provides the most
comprehensive daily roundup of news, blogs,
and more. The format is smartly and logically
formatted so that you can quickly review the
content that you are interested in reading.
www.appdevelopermagazine.com
EDITORS NOTE
App Developers in 2013, The Big
Three, and Safety Belts
Sneak Peak Volume 1
Get More Online!

By Richard Harris
Isn't it amazing that most people
can't remember the color of the shirt they
put on that morning? It seems like a simple question but because we do it so routinely we rarely think about it past the
moment we did it. You just looked down
to see what color your shirt was didn't
you? Why did you do that, because you
wanted to make sure you knew what shirt
you had on. The funny thing is now that
you've done that you'll likely remember it
the rest of the day.
Being an app developer working day
in and day out to bring apps to the masses isn't all that different than trying to
remember what color of shirt you put on.
We get deluged each day with all sorts of
things and it's hard to remember them all,
even though some of them are important
when you read them in that moment
they get lost in the shuffle of doing what
you do. Things like new app store rules for
developers, the changing monetization
landscape, privacy policies, new devices
to support, marketing your apps, and what
are the new developer tools to use are just
a few of the things that can pass through
our email or web browsing on a daily
basis.
I am an app developer and I know
how difficult it is to keep up with everything going on around you. Time seems to
stand still when you put your head down
at 8 am, slave away at the keyboard for
while, then look up to see that it's 2
o'clock in the afternoon! You can miss a
lot going on outside of your 'world' in the
span of just a few hours, but when you
multiply that by an entire month you
could be missing mission-critical news
that as a mobile app developer you need
to know.
App Developer Magazine was born
out of a vision I saw to bring a snapshot
view of everything that happened that
month in mobile development into focus
for the app developer. That way you can
focus on what you do best developing
apps and we will do what we do best
bringing you the information you need.
We will compile each issue with only the
most important information and topics
that affect you as a mobile programmer
and entrepreneur. As the industry
Imagine Develop Launch
AppDeveloperMagazine.com
changes, so will we but we will always
be an advocate for only the best information to provide to you.
There will be monthly snapshots of
who's on top in the app stores, one of a
kind interviews, secrets from the pros,
monetization tips, articles to help you as a
developer, and so much more. The best
part is it's all going to be compiled in a
monthly magazine that you can hold in
your hands and take time away from all of
the electronic distractions that surround
you daily. Also, our website is going to
provide up to the minute news and information as well, and is a place where you
can read all of our issues online.
One of my favorite all-time quotes
comes from the famous NBA basketball
player Michael Jordan, Never be afraid to
fail. I know as our magazine grows and
many talented mobile developers get their
hands on our publication there might be
some mistakes pointed out, and errors
that need corrected. That is part of our
maturing process and my personal goal
for you the reader, is that we will always
be here to take your criticisms and your
praises, and pour them into making App
Developer Magazine the best publication
that a mobile developer can have.
2013 is already looking to be a huge
year in the mobile industry. I think it will
be the year iOS, Android, and Windows
phone square off, perhaps the year we will
finally see the Gold Rush stabilize, and
possibly even the year that mobile piracy
finally gets squashed. Whatever happens
you can bet that will be right there in the
middle of it, with our pen and paper ready
to report back anything we find.
On a final note, I want to extend a
warm thank you to all of the developers
who have already shown an overwhelming response of support to our announcement of bringing this magazine to fruition.
And to our publisher for seeing our vision
and recognizing the importance of the
information we provide to the mobile
developer community.
Yours Truly,
Richard Harris
Executive Editor
Daily News
The most complete outlet for news
affecting app developers with breaking
news updated daily.
Mobile Tech
Find out emerging trends and new introductions of smart phones, tablets, and
other technology utilizing apps.
App Markets
Coverage of top app development markets
including Apple, Android, Windows as
well as coverage of HTML5, Amazon and
emerging third party markets.
Monetization
Find tips, tricks and other strategies to
maximize the revenue potential for your
apps.
And Much More!
App Developer Magazine is published monthly by App Developer
Magazine, LLC. Bulk rate postage paid at Dallas, Texas, and additional
mailing offices. App Developer Magazine, LLC, all rights reserved. No
part of this publication or its Website may be reproduced without written permission of App Developer Magazine, LLC. App Developer
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App Developer Magazine, 2754 East Division Street, Springfield,
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App Developer Magazine
|3
APP STORE
NEWS, NOTES, AND MORE
OUR TAKE
In the Google Play store
apps can be named
exactly the same thing
even if from different
developers because they
use the package name to
distinguish the app. Its
interesting that a simple
word like memory can
be restricted from being
used because its so
common and describes
more of a function than
a title. But developers
always need to be careful of infringing on copy
written material.
APPLE REQUIRES SOME DEVELOPERS

TO RENAME THEIR APPS
Apple has asked developers to be
careful how they are titling their apps as
copyrights can and will be enforced
throughout the app store. In a recent
example, a game company in Germany
who owns the copyright on a kids memory board game titled Memory worked
with Apple have iOS developers abroad to
Closer To New iOS 6.1

Attention apple developers, Apple
is getting closer to the full version of
the new iOS 6.1 operating system
with the announcement that 6.1 Beta
3 is available for registered developers
to download.
The iDevices that are compatible
with iOS 6.1 Beta 3 include the iPad 4,
iPad mini, iPad 3, iPad 2, iPhone 5,
iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and
the fourth and fifth generation iPod
touch models. So far digging through
the 6.1 release notes we don't see
anything that has changed since the
last beta announcement to developers
but there are a number of changes in
the 6.1 OS release overall set to come.
The release notes are available on the
Apple developer website.
4 | App Developer Magazine
change any app name with the word

memory in it to something else, and
developers are no longer allowed to use
the term in any app title. The owners of
the copyright do not have own the rights
in the US but this comes as a stark
reminder that the app store is becoming
more competitive as it matures.
BETA 3
PUSH
NOTIFICATIONS
FROM AZURE
SERVICES FOR IOS
Apple developers now have
another choice for push
notification services from
within their app via a new
Microsoft offering called
Azure. The service uses a
Microsoft cloud server in
the back-end to communicate with iOS apps for
authentication, notification,
and saving data to the
cloud. The service is free
for the first 10 services registered. Microsoft says
Azure is the easiest way to
fire notification to your
users. Get more info at
windowsazure.com
HOT ON THE WEB!

Angry Birds The Movie?

Developers bring the characters to the big screen.
Windows 8 Hacks
New exploits can
jeopardize developer
revenue streams.
Android In-App Billing 3.0
Google has released the
latest billing API version
3.0.
FTC Hitting Developers
Mobile Privacy is a
Concern.
Android Getting Too
Complex?
Updates to OS Too Much?
Amazon App Store
Downloads Grow
More devices and more
users to thank.
Windows Phone Market
Grows
Microsoft added 42 new
markets.
It takes more than a bright idea.

So you launched your app and so far youre not a millionaire or even a thousandaire. So
what went wrong or maybe the better question is what didnt you do? Find the answers
in each monthly issue of App Develper Magazine and at AppDeveloperMagazine.com
ANDROID
Android App Revenue

Gaining Ground
HOT ON THE WEB!

The revenue from apps in the Google

play store is growing. As a matter of fact
an official android report from App Annie
states that it grew by 311% between
October 2011 and October 2012.
Despite that growth, in October 2012
global revenue from the iOS App Store
was four times larger than Google Plays.
App Annie was unable to disclose any
actual financial number in the report.
Amazon Appstore
Comes to Japan
ANDROID 4.2 JELLY

BEAN SDK AVAILABLE
Google has officially released Android 4.2
Jellybean. It has performance optimizations, a refreshed system UI, and new features for users and
developers. Here is a
glimpse of what's new
for developers.
There are some OS
behavior changes that
could affect how your
app functions.
Developers can also
use the new Daydream
API, which lets you create interactive
dreams on the
Android screen when
in screensaver mode.
Secondary screens
can be used from within your app, which
allows users to display
different content on
external screens while
using an app. You can
now create lock screen
widgets which appear
on a users device
when their Android
screen in locked.
Also available is
multiple user support,
which allows separate
accounts on any
Jellybean device. The
system settings have
been updated to support multiple users as
well.
RTL (right-to-left)
allows you to build user
interfaces that gracefully transform layout orientation to support languages that use rightto-left (RTL) UIs and
reading direction, such
as Arabic and Hebrew.
You can now
embed fragments
inside fragments. This
is useful for a variety of
situations in which you
want to place dynamic
and re-usable UI components into a UI component that is itself
dynamic and re-usable.
Renderscript computation functionality has
also been enhanced.
Japan welcomes the arrival of Amazon

as a new choice for an Android tablet portal. The giant online retailer announced
that customers in Japan can now access
content for their Android devices and
Kindle Fire products.
Android Wins in Australia

Study shows more Android
smartphones being used
down under.
AnDevCon Talks Monetization
Amazon tells developers
how to earn more money.
Private Play Stores
Businesses can now distribute apps among
employees.
Amazon A/B Testing for
Android Developers
The service is built on
Amazon Web Services
Google Wants Tablet App
Focus
Encourages developers to
create apps for large screen
Androids.
OUR TAKE
This API update
has been a long
time coming but it
looks to be worth
the wait, with the
multi-layering
feature and inside
maps I'm sure
developers will find
creative ways to
utilize.
AN UPDATE TO THE GOOGLE MAPS

API IS HERE
Google has updates its maps
API and the Android developer
community applauds its approval.
The maps API update includes a
number of enhancements that will
help developers bring map based
apps to life. Included is the ability
to create multiple layers on top of
screen, including satellite, hybrid,
terrain, and even traffic data.

As if that wasnt enough there
are indoor maps available for many
major airports and shopping centers across the globe. The apps
Trulia, Expedia Hotels and
FlightTrack are already using the
new maps API if you want a sneak
peek of what its capable of.

www.app deve lope rmag azine .com
WINDOWS
HOT ON THE WEB!

Windows 8 Hacks
Could jeopardize developer
revenue streams.
Visual Studio 2012
Microsoft has released
Visual Studio 2012
Update 1.
Surface App Development
Microsoft should encourage app development.
Rubicon Mobile
Shares dev tips for
Windows app store
WINDOWS PHONE STORE IS GROWING,

ADDS 42 NEW MARKETS
Despite the late arrival into the mobile
World, Windows phone is not going down
without a fight! Microsoft just put the
Windows phone market in front of a
whole lot more people adding 42 new
markets.
Now, any one the following countries
can get to the Windows phone app store:
Angola, Armenia, Bahrain, Bangladesh,
Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Burundi,
Cameroon, Chad,Congo (DRC), Dominican
Republic, El Salvador, Guinea, Haiti,
Honduras, Kenya, Liechtenstein,

Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali,
Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Pakistan,
Paraguay, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia,
Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Tajikistan,
Tanzania, Togo, Turkmenistan, United Arab
Emirates, Uganda, Yemen, Zambia, and
Zimbabwe.
The added exposure is great news for
developers outside of the US especially
because developing for just a few markets
didn't have nearly the appeal.
Windows Phone SDK

Version 8.0 Arrives
Microsoft Says App

Downloads and
Revenue is Climbing
If you want to develop apps for the

new Windows 8 platform youll need the
latest SDK from Microsoft now available
for developers. It includes everything youll
need to develop apps and games for
Windows 8. Its a vast improvement over
their older 7.1 SDK including Windows
Store Apps, Integrated DirectX, and a
smaller file size of roughly 300 MB
Microsoft recently announced that app

downloads and revenue all together have
more than doubled since the release of
Windows Version 8 which is mobile ready
and is designed to be universal across desktops and tablet style devices. Specific numbers were not provided as of press time.
SURFACE PHONES
BY MICROSOFT
RUMORED
It looks like Microsoft is
out to extend its Surface
brand
into
mobiles
and start
selling
handsets
under its
own
brand.
Rumor has it that the
software giant has signed
a contract with Chinese
manufacturer Foxconn,
which is also the manufacturer of iPhone. The making of the new Microsoft
Surface handsets is set for
next year.
Also rumored is
information that upstream
suppliers are also going
to provide part of a new
Amazon phone, which
could mean that next year
could be really interesting
for mobile tech.
You Wouldnt Search For Treasure

Without a Map Would You?
App Developer Magazine and AppDeveloperMagazine.com
are your roadmap to success. Youll be lost without us!
APP STATS
TOP TEN U.S. APP STATS

TOP FREE GOOGLE PLAY APPS BY DOWNLOADS
Rank
App
1
Facebook
2
Pandora
3
Instagram
4
Angry Birds
5
Skype
6
Facebook Messenger
7
Zedge
8
Netflix
9
Twitter
10
Hill Climb Racing
OP GOOGLE PLAY APPS BY REVENUE

Rank
App
1
Rage of Bahamut
2
Dark Summoner
3
Blood Brothers
4
Slotomania
5
Slot City
6
Zynga Poker
7
MARVEL War of Heroes
8
Live Holdem Poker Pro
9
Shipwrecked
10
FoxFi
TOP FREE IPHONE APPS BY DOWNLOADS

Rank
App
1
YouTube
2
SnapChat
3
Flick Golf!
4
Gangnam DanceBooth
5
Hill Climb Racing
6
Fun Run
7
Ski Safari
8
Gmail
9
Doors&Rooms
10
Instagram
TOP iPHONE APPS BY REVENUE

Rank
App
1
Clash of Clans
2
The Simpsons:Tapped Out
3
Kindoms of Camelet: Battle..
4
Pandora Radio
5
Hay Day
6
Legend of Cryptids
7
Slotomania
8
Angry Birds Star Wars
9
Poker By Zynga
10
Candy Crush Saga
TOP FREE WINDOWS APPS

RANK APP
1
Facebook
2
Youtube
3
Skype
4
Flashlght-X
5
AE Skee Ball
6
Skydrive
7
Flixter
8
Tunin Radio
9
Facebook Touch
10
Free Ringtones
TOP PAID WINDOWS APPS

RANK APP
1
Stop the Music
2
Mens Health
3
Human Japanese
4
Battery Level for Windows 8
5
Baconit - Donate
6
Grapher Calculator
7
Catholic's Campanion
8
Now Playing
9
Alpha Memory
10
Outsider
AMAZON'S TOP FREE APPS

RANK APP
1
Slots Journey
2
Mind Games
3
Farkle Live
4
Skyburger
5
Netflix
6
Temple Run
7
Angry Birds Free
8
Rocket Space: Universe Adventure
9
Facebook
10
Family Fued & Friends
AMAZON'S TOP PAID APPS

RANK APP
1
Angry Birds Star Wars Premium
2
Minecraft Pocket Edition
3
HD Camera
4
Cut the Rope
5
Skylanders Cloud Patrol
6
Where's my Water?
7
The Game of Life
8
Santa Salon
9
Where's my Perry?
10
Plants vs. Zombies
TOP APP
MOVERS AND
SHAKERS
Each issue we will to provide a
snapshot of the top apps in each
market. While rankings change
daily its nice to see something that
stamps out a whos who in the
app stores that you will be able to
compare month to month.
What surprises us most this
month is that we dont see more
Holiday themed apps in the top
rankings, usually developers can
ride the wave of the season, but I
think developers are starting to
think more long-term success
rather than bursts of seasonal
revenue.
In the iOS store for this issue
weve seen little movement in the
paid realm with the giants like
Facebook, Pandora, and Angry
Birds ruling there. Its no surprise to
see Gmail is in the top 10 free
apps, with the release of their new
client for iOS (partially HTML5
based).
Google Play top 10 paid is
dominated mostly by games, as is
the top Free. But apps like Foxfi
that turn your Android into a
Bluetooth or Wifi hotspot have also
made their mark this month.
The Amazon app store is a
mixed bag ranging from utility apps
to games all of which play nicely
on the Kindle Fire of course, well
keep our eye on movers for our
premier issue that use the new
Amazon map API.
And in the Windows market its
no surprise to see Facebook,
YouTube, and Skype in the top free
because they were missing on the
initial release of Windows 8. In the
top paid its interesting to see more
utility apps than games being
downloaded.
SOURCE: Includes App Annie Store Stats Date as of press time.
Everything that
can be invented
has been invented.
Charles H. Duell, U.S. Commissioner of Patents, 1899
Yeah Right!
Yes there are now over half a million apps, yes 1% of
apps make 90% of the revenues, so whats the use right?
Wrong! Yes, its not easy and yes, there is still money to
be made. Work smart with real world information at App
Developer Magazine and AppDeveloperMagazine.com.

My Thoughts on the
Windows Phone 8
Marketplace
JUST | PEACHY
By Peach Pellen
With the recent launch of

Windows Phone 8 I've had developers start asking me whether or
not I think it's worth trying to port
some of their more
successful
apps to the
mar-
ketplace,
questioning whether
or not they
might benefit from
the added visibility
that goes with having a fraction of
the apps to compete with compared to the App Store or Google
Play.
Honestly, it's a tough call. On
the one hand Microsoft just doesn't
have the audience Apple or Google
do. Gartner Inc. reported back in
November that Microsoft's current
(global smartphone) market share
was only 2.4% - ouch.
There's also the fact that with
120,000 apps in the store as of
October increased visibility for your
app isn't a sure thing. Statistically it
may be around 7 times less crowded the iOS or Android marketplaces
but bloated / 7 doesn't exactly
equate to empty.
On the plus side a developer's
license is only $99, (the same as
Apple charges,) and you get to
keep 100% of your revenue until
you hit the $25,000 mark, at which
point Microsoft will start taking
20% instead of the 30%
which has become industry
standard.
At the unveiling of the first
Nokia Windows 8 phone, (the
Lumia,) Steve Ballmer said "The
next app developer to hit it really,
really big will be a developer on
Windows." and to be honest I'm
pretty skeptical about
that; I think the next
app developer to hit
it big will be, as we
so often see, someone developing
cross-platform for
iOS and Android.
Like RIM,
Microsoft seems to
be trying to sell
developers the same gold rush
dream but without the same history of huge payday stories we see
coming from iOS and Android. It's
a nice gesture but without the market share to really back it up.
On a personal level I'd like to
see Windows Phone 8 take off; not
because I'm a Microsoft fan, (I'm
not,) but because I'm a Nokia fan. I

haven't tried a Lumia yet, I'm reluctant to spend money on it knowing
I won't be developing anything for
it until Appcelerator supports it,
however I admit my soft spot for
Nokia does give me an urge to see
an app of mine running on there.
(Although to be fair this could just
be me being somewhat nostalgic
for Symbian, a mobile OS I must
have spent upwards of 10,000
hours using in my teen years.)
Of course, there's always the
fear that using a Nokia running
Windows may scar the name forever for me - although
maybe that would be a
good thing, my hands
are pretty full dealing
with Android fragmentation
as it is!
Seriously though, if
you're already using an
SDK that supports or
will soon support the
platform I'd say go for it; if it's not
a huge time sink I'm a firm believer
in giving every marketplace a fair
go, if only to be able to blast it as
an informed individual at a later
date and not be called a "hater".
Maybe you'll be that first Windows
Phone 8 developer to "hit it really,
really big."
I'm a f irm
believer in
giving every
marketplace
a fair go
Peach Pellen has been involved in mobile app development for iOS and Android devices since
2009 and has over 60 published apps in the mobile market. She is also a support engineer for
Ansca Mobile, and operates PeachPellen.com and Techority.com in her spare time.
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DEV | INTERVIEW
We have a simple
system implemented. We
work on one large app,
which at the moment is the
episodic adventure game
Forever Lost, and during
this process we take
temporary breaks to work
on smaller projects
which take around one
week to create.
Ideas come to you at
the strangest of times and
it is important, especially
with the increasing number
of apps available now, to be
as innovative and creative
as possible. It is not simply
a case of sitting down and
thinking of an app idea.
During the development
process of the larger game
our minds are constantly
flowing and creating new
ideas for apps. As soon as
we think of an idea, no
matter how basic, we write
it down and when we feel
like a break we put together prototypes of the ideas
we like the most.
About
Glitch Games
We recently sat down with Graham Ranson, co-founder of Glitch

Games based in the United Kingdom. They are the developers of
Forever Lost an app for iOS and Android that has been gaining
popularity
Tell us about
Glitch Games
Glitch
Games consists of one artist, Simon, and one
coder, Graham (shown above),
and we have been developing
together as a company since

January 2012. We currently have
eight released apps but have
countless prototypes in various
stages of development. We both
work full-time at Glitch, however
mostly this turns into much longer
than full-time with regular 14 plus

hour days in 7 day weeks. We are
both in our mid-twenties.
What apps have you published
and what is the most popular?
At present we have eight pub-
lished apps, each very different

from the last ranging from an
interactive book for kids to an
old-school pointnclick adventure
game. Our two most popular
apps are Blox, a fast paced multitouch arcade game, that was at
one point receiving over 100,000
free downloads a week and our
most recent game, Forever Lost,
an episodic adventure game that
has received our highest volume
of paid downloads to date.
Lets talk revenue, Which
market is most profitable
for you?
Our most popular paid app is
not yet available on android
devices so iOS has been far more
profitable for obvious reasons.
We have released some of our
apps on both stores, but we have
not had much success with
Android to date.
What is your most successful

way of earning revenue with
your apps (in-app, free/paid,
etc)?
We have experimented with
in-app, free and paid releases
over the last year and a set price
suits us best. The set price allows
us to do sales whenever we wish
and generally helps decrease any
of the complications associated
Tired of being packed

in the app store with
everyone else?
DISCOVER SECRETS TO BEING NOTICED WITH TIPS
FROM APP DEVELOPER MAGAZINE.

DEV | INTERVIEW
with the in-app structure.
From our experience, if a
customer expects to receive
an app for free and then is
required to pay for content
from within the app, then
many feel like they have been
conned.
We used the in-app function for our first few apps so
that the customer could get
a feel for the game before
they had to fork out any
money. We thought this
would be a bonus for our
customers, but in the end it
was more hassle than its
worth. Our two most recent
paid apps were released for a
set price and these have
brought in around 90% of
our total revenue for the year
alone.
Which mobile ad networks
do you prefer?
We havent had much
success with monetizing
from adverts however that
may be less to do with the
networks themselves and
more to do with our apps. So
far we have tried both
Inneractive and InMobi and
although were not really the
right people to talk about
which one is better in
regards to monetization we
can say that they both have
great customer support from
our experience with the few
times we needed any help. If
we try adverts again we are
going to test RevMob.
Share some general
revenue numbers on a
monthly or yearly basis.
Our revenue for the first
eight months made us question whether we would ever be

able to make a living in app
development. Although our
first six apps taking an average
of one week development
time; we had hoped for far
more income than we had
actually received.
Despite the popularity of
Blox, it only seemed to do well
during the temporary free sale
periods so we were unsure
whether the big adventure
game ( Forever Lost ) which
we had been working on for
six months would fall to the
same fate. To our fortune,
Forever Lost was an instant
hit, with five star reviews pouring in from every country giving us a promising opening
week. We hit just under the
$5000 mark in the first week
of sales and despite dropping
slightly, it has been pretty constant since.
What is your development
process (from idea to
release)?
We have a simple system
implemented. We work on one
large app, which at the
moment is the episodic adventure game Forever Lost, and
during this process we take
temporary breaks to work on
smaller projects which take
around one week to create.
Ideas come to you at the
strangest of times and it is
important, especially with the
increasing number of apps
available now, to be as innovative and creative as possible. It
is not simply a case of sitting
down and thinking of an app
idea. During the development
C om i ng S o o n !
G e t S ch o o le d!
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DEV | INTERVIEW
process of the larger game our
minds are constantly flowing and
creating new ideas for apps. As
soon as we think of an idea, no
matter how basic, we write it
down and when we feel like a
break we put together prototypes
of the ideas we like the most.
Which development platform
do you use most, any favorites?
We have been using the
Corona SDK since the early days
of its life and even though it has
its issues and limitations, just like
any other framework, we have
stuck with it because it allows us
to build prototypes very quickly
which, more times than not, we
can then use the same code to
actually create the non-prototype
builds.
Corona also makes cross platform development across iOS and
Android very easy, even though
Android hasnt really made us any
money yet were hoping that the
Android version of Forever Lost
will do better.
Biggest challenges in mobile
development for you?
For us the biggest challenge
has been in marketing, before
starting out we had no experience
with this side of things and essentially we were naive. We simply
assumed that if we make something good then people will buy it,
which to the most part is actually
true, but the phrase should really
be that if you make something
good, and people know about it,
they will buy it.
We have been getting better
at marketing with each successive
app and one of the things we
have learned the hard way is that
marketing starts from day one.
The minute you have something

interesting to show people make
sure you do. Chances are it will go
unnoticed but just keep showing
people stuff and eventually people
will see it which makes it much
easier for them to find your product once its finally released as
they will already know about it.
How do you market your apps
(youtube, cross-promotion, etc)
We use all the usual methods
that we can afford, i.e. are free,
such as our Facebook and Twitter
pages as well as YouTube and the
traditional guilting of our friends
and families. We also have a
newsletter and a blog but not
many followers of each yet. We
have found that so far the best
method, for us at least, has been
word of mouth between friends
and on the TouchArcade forums.
We could do more, which may
explain why our apps havent sold
as well as we hoped they would.
As mentioned, for us marketing is
by far the hardest part of this
business and up until starting this
adventure we had zero experience
with it so were completely lost.
best programmer in the world, but

the key is that we have both. So
many programmers/artists try to
make apps alone, but it takes a
collaboration of both to make a
good app and make sure you play
to your strengths.
If youd like to talk to Simon or
Graham you can contact them at
hey@glitchgames.co.uk.
Apps From Glitch Games
The single most important factor in app development?

Passion. If you dont love what
youre doing and what youre
making than youll make a substandard product and if youre not
having fun when youre making it
then whats the point?
Do you have any great developer tips from things you've
learned in regards to any of the
above?
If you are going to make apps
then make sure you do it well. We
may not have the best artist or the
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Elements
DEV | ADVICE
To A Successful Game
One of the
most exciting
parts of being
at Ansca, is
that I get to
see a lot of
your great
games all the
way from
inception to
being released
on the App
Store and/or
Android
Market.
By Carlos Icaza
A lot of you
send me your
games to figure out a problem here and
there, or ask
me questions
about how to
do XYZ or thisand-that. Some
of you send me assets without
blinking; other of you are reluctant to send me your assets
because your game is the next
Angry Birds and you dont want
anyone to see your creation.
Some of you are reluctant to
send me the code because the
code is not pretty. Trust me,
Ive heard and seen just about

every type of game, code design,
and killer app Ive been working knee-deep in the mobile
space since 2004, when it was
pre-historic. Ive seen the
whole gamut!
So, I see a lot of games and
apps. Of course, I see a lot of
Corona-made apps, but I also get
to see a lot of non-Corona apps
and I get the same question
asked over and over again.
What makes a game successful? And with apologies to
Cookie Monster, here we go
While there is no magic elixir
as to what makes a game a success. I have seen a series of ele-
ments that most successful

games have and in Cookie
Monster lingo, here is the Letter
What makes a
game successful?
And with apologies
to Cookie Monster,
here we go
Tired of climbing the

mountain of apps
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DEV | ADVICE
E for the key elements to a successful game
1. The game must be
engaging.
2. The game must be
entertaining.
3. The game must be
enjoyable.
4. The game must be elastic.
5. The game must be
expandable.
6. You must game must
expose the user to other
players.
7. A game starts in an
endemic area.
8. A game, once it reaches
mass appeal, it becomes
an epidemic. It is viral and
at this point unstoppable.
While it is difficult to articulate
everything in detail, I will do my
best to see if I can make sense for
each of the elements I mentioned
for a successful game.
A game must be engaging!
Think of having an engaging conversation the conversation can
be enjoyable or entertaining. Not
all conversations are enjoyable, nor
all conversations are entertaining.
But if it has one or the other, you
at least have three items from the
list: engaging, entertaining, and
enjoyable.
Now, think of a movie that is
entertaining not all the movies
that you consider to be entertainment may be enjoyable, but they
could be engaging. The movie can
have a plausible story that makes it
entertaining, but may not be
engaging. But certainly a movie
that is enjoyable can be quite
entertaining and engaging at the
same time. Think of it this way:
Entertaining = mass appeal.
Simple.!
Now onto the rest! A game
must also be expandable, some-
thing that you can keep growing.

In the case of the Angry Birds franchise, there is Angry Birds
Seasons, Angry Birds St. Patricks,
Angry Birds Valentines Day
Again, using a movie metaphor,
think of a movie sequel. Although
not always as good as the original,
you can still continue the franchise.
Lastly, the game must be elastic. You have to take the gameplay
to the breaking point. For me, this
is the one of the top elements here
(the key ingredient!). One has to
pick up a game and be able to
grasp it in matter of seconds. You
must fool the player into thinking
that it is easy, and have them go to
the next level, continuing as the
game gets progressively harder.
Thats the elasticity of a game:
stretch it is as far as you can while
letting the player think that its still
as easy as the first level.
If the game is elastic, it is also
entertaining, enjoyable, and/or
engaging. At this point, the player
will want to share the game with
other game players then, you
have successfully created an
endemic game and the goal is to
make it an epidemic!
And how do you expose your
game to the masses? Create a
Facebook Fan Page and a Twitter
account for your company or
game. Create a video demo of your
game. If you can afford it, try to
get someone to write a press
release for you and get the word
out. Partner with a company that
can get you the exposure.
And remember: all apps and
games no matter how
successful are ephemeral.

Dont fall into the mental trap that
your game will be on top of the
charts for months on end, or a year
or two. Today, we live in an ADD
world and todays headline is
tomorrows old news. Your job is
to always keep your game fresh,
introduce new levels, build trust
with your players, award them with
coupon codes, etc. Making a game
is not just about making pretty pixels move around the screen, it is a
business. And part of that business
is also the ability to market (evangelize!) your game.
A little disclaimer: the stock
inclusion of all the elements I men-
And remember:
all apps and games
no matter how
successful are
ephemeral.
tion is no elixir. It doesnt guarantee your game to become a 40 million download juggernaut.
Nevertheless, having some of
these key elements in your game
will make your game that much
more enjoyable, entertaining,
and/or engaging to play and if
you get to that, you will automatically get more exposure.
After that, you could become
endemic, and turn out to be the
next big gaming epidemic!
Carlos Izaca has been shipping industry standard software since 1991 shipped software titles
such as Adobe Illustrator, Flash Authoring, Mobile Flash-Lite, Deneba Canvas and a others. He
started a mobile framework company in 2007 called Ansca, Inc. and games/apps created with
the Corona SDK have been played by over 55 million users. Currently he is a technical advisor to
several startups.
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DEV | ADVICE
Easier to Do:
Find Bigfoot
or Develop
the Next
Million
Dollar App?
By Richard Harris
I was talking with our Publisher

about a developer he knows that is a
genuine, dyed in the wool Bigfoot
hunter. If there is a sighting within
500 miles, hes off to check it out.
Of course hes never seen Bigfoot,
but hes been close (he thinks) plenty of times!
It's exciting as a developer to
think of the prospect of making a
piece of software that can be distributed over millions of devices and
turn you into a millionaire. But for
every successful app that has generated a million dollars, there are at
least thousands underneath it that
have never gotten close (still better
odds than finding Bigfoot though).
Let me prefix this by saying I've
never created a million dollar app
though I have had some very successful apps. But in the 200 published apps my company has developed, no single app has ever generated me a million dollars.
But like Thomas Edison once
said, If I find 10,000 ways something won't work, I haven't failed. I
am not discouraged, because every
wrong attempt discarded is another

step forward.
So based on my varying levels of
success and contacts in the industry
that have successfully created million dollar apps, let me highlight for
you a few points that I believe those
apps have in common, ordered by
priority.
It's an App People are
Curious About
Most popular apps seem to be
driven by a couple of factors. One is
that the app itself makes people
curious. Curiosity gets people think-
ing, after all isn't that why we write

our app descriptions?
Another factor is that some
apps are popular just because
they're being driven by expensive
marketing tactics. That doesn't
mean they are necessarily good
apps, it just means there's a lot of
money behind them that is driving
these apps into the market.
The point I'd like to make is that
an app needs to be interesting and
make the user curious. If it's a
game, people want to know how
many levels are in it, how many different types of characters are in it, is
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DEV | ADVICE
it hard to play, is it easy to
play, etc. If it's a utility app, does it
do something that I will use every
day or is it a real niche type of
app that I'll only use once in a while
and thus probably wouldn't be
curious to know if it worked in the
first place.
version where it's a free app with-in

app purchases to upgrade or add
additional features inside the app
itself. That doesn't say that a free
app running banner or interstitial
advertisements can't generate $1
million, but it's going to be a harder
road than the others.
tion to think that a $1 million app

has to be something that has a lot of
marketing and big money behind it.
On the contrary, there are many
apps that were created either in
someones home office or basement
and have become successful by
accident.
It's a Buzz
This one is obvious. Does everyone have this app? Is every
one talking about this app? If you
can get a social buzz working about
an app, your chances have more
than tripled to be successful in the
market.
The App Uses the Devices

Functionally to It's Max
Most successful apps engage
the user in a way that makes the
app fundamentally different than
apps that are not successful.
Leveraging on device capabilities
such as multi-touch screens,
accelerometer movements, HD
graphics, and other
types of functionality are what sets
successful apps
apart from their
competitors.
Know Your Audience

Knowing who your app is targeted to is half the battle because million dollar app developers know who
they are trying to reach and they do
it well through marketing, rankings,
and social media.
Looks Are Everything

As developers I think the general
consensus is that it's easier to program the app itself and then to try to
make it look good. Be careful here
because while programming has to
take a front seat, a close second is
making the app look outstanding, I
mean really good. Apps that are popular are that way because they look
amazing, are easy on the eyes, and
have interesting things inside them
that keep people curious. You should
be spending as much time developing the look and feel of your app as
you are programming it.
The Free/ Paid/ Freemium Conundrum
I won't get into the specifics of
each one of these marketing tactics
because I think it's pretty common
knowledge. You either give your app
away for free, you charge people for
your app, or you have a free version
with paid features inside of it. It's a
fairly mixed bag of success when
using these three types of marketing.
But of the three types, I think
the apps that are million-dollar sellers are the ones using the free version pushing the paid version or a
Developed for Multiple Devices

and Platforms
Million dollar apps are everywhere. They are on the iOS platform, the Android platform, they are
available through Amazon, they are
on small screens, large screens,
medium screens! I think you get the
point that it's important to make
your app cross platform and available on most if not
all screen sizes.
You Don't Have to Be a Big Company
I think it's a bit of a misconcep-
Named Well
Million dollar apps also have
catchy names. When you think
of a successful app such as
Angry Birds you immediately
know what the app is, what
the app does, and what it
looks like.
Just
imagine if Angry Birds had been

named something like Throw The
Bird!
Of course there are many other
elements to consider. Check out the
article 8 Elements for a Successful
Game in this issue by Carlos Icaza.
And while youre coding in the
warm environs of your office, living
room, or wherever, consider that it
could be worse. You could be standing in the middle of the woods in
the freezing rain, looking for the
washed out trail of the elusive
Bigfoot.
Richard Harris has worked in mobile development since 2003, and has been in IT administration for 15 years. He is the CEO of Moonbeam Development with over 200 apps published in
the market. He is also the founder of LunarAds mobile cross promotion and mediation platform.

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