Pop Squishy: A bouncy platformer with a small pink squid, grumpy Walrus, spiky bugs & a hungry Narwhal ( 10 x promo codes )

General (non-technical) New Apps / Works in Progress
#1

Hey guys, 

Here’s a game I’ve been working on. It’s currently up in the App Store:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pop-squishy/id668853619?ls=1&mt=8

It’s a bouncy, platformer game. You play as a small, squishy pink squid who squashes bugs and collects golden jellies. If you cheer up the grumpy walrus ( by getting rid of all the bugs on them ) they’ll give you bubbles which you can use to float… and that’ll also save you from spikes etc. If you collect enough golden jellies to feed the Narwhal, he’ll take you to the next stage. 

The controls are a bit different in that I decided to use no on screen buttons. I feel fairly confident about the controls and the instructional stages ( I’ve tried to get a lot of user feedback from friends + family ) but any advice or feedback would be really great. I haven’t started promoting it on social media yet.

Here’s some promo codes. If you grab one could you respond with the number…

  1. T6K3L76EYAEX

  2. N4P6KYJWTMWR

  3. 7WYHJRPWRFAL

  4. XPRPE46W96T4

  5. T94FN6WJKMKR

  6. AW9KENRATJFL

  7. KXWNHEKP6R66

  8. N9EEAXMN4KJW

  9. JJTL9E6RP4RK

  10. MJL6KRHT76JA

Thanks

Jared

#2

Reedemed this code: 

  1. AW9KENRATJFL

Thanks and I’ll give it a play and review today.

#3

Redeemed code 10. Looks nice, will have a play.

One thing springs to mind - you are asking $0.99 for this, not a lot, but it is money, and it’s not clear from the picture/writing exactly what the game involves.

#4

Thanks roaminggamer!

@paulscottrobson
Ok cheers, I’ll give the copy another pass. Not sure what I can do about the screenshots, altho an animated preview will probably help.

#5

I think the presentation is excellent, it has a very Mario feel about it with the background music and the end animations and so on. The idea is good in that it is basically something a bit different, and from the three levels I’ve played different mechanics come into play as the game progresses.

The control doesn’t seem to quite be intuitive enough, though I’m ancient and that may come with time anyway.One of the problems with writing and testing your own games is you know how to play them and often forget that someone else just picking it up might find it much harder.

One possible bug/issue occurred with the walrus at the start of level 3. If you grab the air bubbles by pushing down but don’t quite get the expand and jump thing right, and land down on the Walrus again, then it doesn’t seem possible to get any more bubbles by pushing down and you are stuck (obviously you can quit the level) - I’m not sure if it was designed this way :slight_smile:

On that, I’d be half inclined to borrow from Miyamoto again - when you get a new mechanic, like the inflation and flying thing (don’t know how many others there are ?) Mario games sometimes to have an area where you can just play with that mechanic with no ‘threat’, this helps a player get a feel of it.

One way round the ‘is it worth the money ?’ thing - maybe you could provide a limited version with only 3 or 4 different levels at various stages in the game - something like that ? I remember that working spectacularly with Lemmings 30 years ago :slight_smile: Or a few levels for free with IAP ? Maybe see how well it sells ?

If I was considering buying it, I’d wonder if the game was basically the same throughout or it had more difficult/challenging levels with extra ideas - powerups, challenges and so on as it got further on. The three pictures suggest to me that you are varying the graphics in the game, not actually changing the game. I think a video would be a great idea, showing the game at various levels - rather than just simply videoing the game you might even consider videoing playing the game, partly, to show how it actually plays.

But I think it’s well worth $0.99 and if the game does change and expand as you go on it could well be underpriced. If it has the same mechanics but more difficult challenges (e.g. harder jumps and so on) then it’s probably about right.

Good luck anyway :) 

#6

Great, thanks for taking the time to play & review paulscottrobson! I really appreciate the detailed response, there’s a lot to think about. 

1.CONTROLS: I’ve explored a few different options, flick vs swipe vs tap controls, tho I feel the current controls work the best for the concept ( for me anyway ) … however the overall concept may be flawed.

One other way that worked was swipe to drag screen, 1 tap to land, 1 tap to jump, 2 taps to float ( replacing the up / down swipes with simple taps ). I tried to keep the levels simple enough at the beginning so the user would have enough practise time before more difficult stages.

  1. AIR BUBBLES: Currently I’ve limited the amount of bubbles you can get from each walrus. Mainly so it forces the player to ration their use… otherwise you could just float over all enemies, spikes etc all the way to the end. 

For the level 3 problem, I could place a platform below so that you can bounce safely across. I assumed the player would just restart if they fell into the water, but didnt account for if they landed back on the walrus. I could solve this but adding a second walrus… so that if you wasted the first bubbles you had the opportunity to gain more. 

  1. WORTH THE MONEY: The game uses the same mechanics throughout. The levels get progressively harder. Some platforms can only be bounced on once, some regenerate, some crumble away, some cause spikes to shoot out, some float upwards, some will lower as a second one raises up. Also the Walrus get progressively angry as levels progress… ie: will growl and try to bite you if you hang around them too long. I have though about setting up IAP. This would hopefully lead to more downloads and potentially a percentage of that leading to sales. The other option was to keep it at $0.99 but perhaps raise it later as more levels are added. The IAP makes more sense tho. 

Thanks again for taking the time. I’m going to think over your points and see if I can / should make some adjustments. :slight_smile:

#7

I think - basically - it’s a good game and well worth the $0.99 - some screenshots maybe of later levels showing different features, videos of gameplay and so on. It feels professional and well thought out rather than something hacked together.

I wouldn’t worry too much about the mechanics ; it’s probably me. See if you can get friends/family to have a go, cold, and see how they think about it ?

#8

Cool, thanks. Yeah the mechanics are odd at first, but make sense for the game as you progress. It becomes a game of always anticipating your next move. I’ve found a way to amend the instructions for the 3rd level so that it’s clearer. I hadn’t thought about a user not dragging the screen before jumping ( resulting in just floating straight down ).
I’m going to create a trailer + app preview as soon as I get a chance.
Cheers.

#9

Still most of the promo codes there if anyone wants them. No need to review.

#10

I plan on trying and reviewing it today when my iPhone 4s comes :slight_smile:

Edit: i took KXWNHEKP6R66. Will try it out tomorrow and let you know what I think!

#11

@euphoriacorona Cheers! :slight_smile:

#12

Just redeemed code 3: 7WYHJRPWRFAL.

​Will post back with my views once I’ve had a chance to play it for a bit.

Many thanks for the code :slight_smile:

#13

@appletreeman Cool, thanks!

#14

Nice game. Still getting used to the controls! Only managed to fit in a quick game last night before bed though.

Keep up the nice work :slight_smile:

#15

Reedemed this code: 

  1. AW9KENRATJFL

Thanks and I’ll give it a play and review today.

#16

Redeemed code 10. Looks nice, will have a play.

One thing springs to mind - you are asking $0.99 for this, not a lot, but it is money, and it’s not clear from the picture/writing exactly what the game involves.

#17

Thanks roaminggamer!

@paulscottrobson
Ok cheers, I’ll give the copy another pass. Not sure what I can do about the screenshots, altho an animated preview will probably help.

#18

I think the presentation is excellent, it has a very Mario feel about it with the background music and the end animations and so on. The idea is good in that it is basically something a bit different, and from the three levels I’ve played different mechanics come into play as the game progresses.

The control doesn’t seem to quite be intuitive enough, though I’m ancient and that may come with time anyway.One of the problems with writing and testing your own games is you know how to play them and often forget that someone else just picking it up might find it much harder.

One possible bug/issue occurred with the walrus at the start of level 3. If you grab the air bubbles by pushing down but don’t quite get the expand and jump thing right, and land down on the Walrus again, then it doesn’t seem possible to get any more bubbles by pushing down and you are stuck (obviously you can quit the level) - I’m not sure if it was designed this way :slight_smile:

On that, I’d be half inclined to borrow from Miyamoto again - when you get a new mechanic, like the inflation and flying thing (don’t know how many others there are ?) Mario games sometimes to have an area where you can just play with that mechanic with no ‘threat’, this helps a player get a feel of it.

One way round the ‘is it worth the money ?’ thing - maybe you could provide a limited version with only 3 or 4 different levels at various stages in the game - something like that ? I remember that working spectacularly with Lemmings 30 years ago :slight_smile: Or a few levels for free with IAP ? Maybe see how well it sells ?

If I was considering buying it, I’d wonder if the game was basically the same throughout or it had more difficult/challenging levels with extra ideas - powerups, challenges and so on as it got further on. The three pictures suggest to me that you are varying the graphics in the game, not actually changing the game. I think a video would be a great idea, showing the game at various levels - rather than just simply videoing the game you might even consider videoing playing the game, partly, to show how it actually plays.

But I think it’s well worth $0.99 and if the game does change and expand as you go on it could well be underpriced. If it has the same mechanics but more difficult challenges (e.g. harder jumps and so on) then it’s probably about right.

Good luck anyway :) 

#19

Great, thanks for taking the time to play & review paulscottrobson! I really appreciate the detailed response, there’s a lot to think about. 

1.CONTROLS: I’ve explored a few different options, flick vs swipe vs tap controls, tho I feel the current controls work the best for the concept ( for me anyway ) … however the overall concept may be flawed.

One other way that worked was swipe to drag screen, 1 tap to land, 1 tap to jump, 2 taps to float ( replacing the up / down swipes with simple taps ). I tried to keep the levels simple enough at the beginning so the user would have enough practise time before more difficult stages.

  1. AIR BUBBLES: Currently I’ve limited the amount of bubbles you can get from each walrus. Mainly so it forces the player to ration their use… otherwise you could just float over all enemies, spikes etc all the way to the end. 

For the level 3 problem, I could place a platform below so that you can bounce safely across. I assumed the player would just restart if they fell into the water, but didnt account for if they landed back on the walrus. I could solve this but adding a second walrus… so that if you wasted the first bubbles you had the opportunity to gain more. 

  1. WORTH THE MONEY: The game uses the same mechanics throughout. The levels get progressively harder. Some platforms can only be bounced on once, some regenerate, some crumble away, some cause spikes to shoot out, some float upwards, some will lower as a second one raises up. Also the Walrus get progressively angry as levels progress… ie: will growl and try to bite you if you hang around them too long. I have though about setting up IAP. This would hopefully lead to more downloads and potentially a percentage of that leading to sales. The other option was to keep it at $0.99 but perhaps raise it later as more levels are added. The IAP makes more sense tho. 

Thanks again for taking the time. I’m going to think over your points and see if I can / should make some adjustments. :slight_smile:

#20

I think - basically - it’s a good game and well worth the $0.99 - some screenshots maybe of later levels showing different features, videos of gameplay and so on. It feels professional and well thought out rather than something hacked together.

I wouldn’t worry too much about the mechanics ; it’s probably me. See if you can get friends/family to have a go, cold, and see how they think about it ?