Why nobody downloads my games?

I know that I need to advertise and promote my games in order to get some downloads but I don't have a budget. So, is there any other way to increase the downloads? I've published 3 new games this week and even the sum of the downloads are below 50.

Game 1: Dream Jump
Download Count: 26
Google Play Store Link: CLICK
Image:https://i.hizliresim.com/EDdAlq.png

Game 2:
Download Count: 5
Google Play Store Link: CLICK
Image:https://i.hizliresim.com/2a3o7N.png

Game 3:
Download Count: 2
Google Play Store Link:CLICK
Image:https://i.hizliresim.com/moyNlP.png

 

Take a look at the Works In Progress and Showcase forums here on this website. As you said you alone just published 3 new games this week. Now imagine if there were hundreds of thousands of other people perhaps even a million or more people all doing the same thing because most of them won't even be on these forums. Now stop imagining and realize that is exactly what is happening.

Basically nobody could possibly play all of these games being released even if they wanted to and because there are so many being released you need to give them a reason to want to play your game. And you need them to know your game even exists.

Basically lots of people are too busy making and publishing their own games to play your games. Lots of other people are too busy playing one or more of the hundreds of thousands of other games out there. Lots of other people don't even know your game exists. Some people may have seen your game and meant to check it out later when they had more time but unfortunately by the point they had more time they had already seen dozens of other games and completely forgot about your game and the others they saw earlier.

 

You need to understand yourself and the market better. What do you have to offer? Why are you special? What makes you stand out from the crowd? There are MANY games to choose from and you must offer something unique and attractive to bring in more people.

 

Try to give 3 key reasons why people will play your games.
If you never think of it before, you better think now.

 

Because they have no idea what they are about and neither the images nor the titles help. Make it obvious. What is a color lane? I have no clue.

 

I usually decide to download after 3 step
1. Icon, if the icon caught my eye, I will proceed to step 2, else, to the next game...
2. Screen shots, if the screen shots caught my attention, I will proceed to step 3, else, I'll just push back button...
3. Gameplay video, I usually check the gameplay video to see if the gameplay is interesting or not, also when the screenshots are too good to be true on mobile device(yeah, lots of game on playstore do this 'not-from-game HD console quality graphics" that really different from the game), if the screenshot are too good but no gameplay video, I'll pass...

As for your game, I think most of them except the color lane pass step 1, but unfortunately, from the screenshots, I can tell that the game mechanics have been done to death (endless jumper and flappy bird)... The firefly's adventure graphics are quite good actually, it's just that the gameplay is not interesting anymore...

 

I've also released a game a week ago. I still have no more than 7 downloads after alot of advertising in communities and forums. I know my game is not the best but I can't even get 100 downloads. I'm wondering if it's even possible to launch a game without money for ad compaign.

 

merhaba dostum türksün sanırım sormak istediğim bir kaç soru var
Bu işten ne kadar kazandın şimdiye kadar?
Ben de mobil oyun geliştiriyorum.
denemek istersen linki de bırakayım şuraya : https://goo.gl/8czaA4
Ve ayrıyeten ne zamandır uğraşıyorsun

 

I appreciate what you have done is polished, smart, interesting.

But it's not new. In fact it's super common and people have no reason to get more of the same.

 

If you are doing to do more of the same, not new stuff you need to make it better.. if that is what you are going to do.. But as others have said, you need... to stand out...I see this with larger games everyone copies each other...Horrible idea.. So stand out from the rest... and market.. many ways to do this for free or very little money. good luck.

 

Upload it on itch.io, newgrounds and gamejolt!

 

Before reading on, please understand I'm not trying to be negative here, so I'll start by saying you should always remember that to actually design, develop, and publish a game is in itself an achievement to be proud of, but .... Digital marketplaces are quite possibly the most difficult places ever conceived of to get noticed in (I'm talking about the likes of Google Play here, can't comment on Steam or suchlike). The basic problem stems from the fact that you are going straight onto a global platform, whichever one(s) you choose, and there are very few stepping stones along the way. Even if you assume that your platforms of choice offer a level playing field, the bar you must get over to get noticed is immensely high. Remember you are competing with some of the biggest development studios in the world, who are able to spend eye-watering amounts of money to ensure they remain at the top of the recommended lists, and very few users venture beyond these lists (think in terms of exponential drop off rates). If you want to work in the games industry then keep writing, keep publishing, always strive to improve, and use your work as a portfolio to prove your abilities. If your work is good enough it will give you an opportunity to get noticed and you might get your dream career (by the way, I've long since lost the drive and determination to do this, and just write games from time to time because I enjoy programming). It's also worth thinking about a peculiar aspect of the business model behind the app stores - millions of underperforming 'free' apps all running ads but never quite reaching the payout threshold of the advertising platform, meaning a whole load of absolutely free advertising space for said advertising platform, which often just happens to be the same company as the app store itself. Hmmm?

 

I'm going to be harsh but welcome to the real world! In this world, nobody cares about you and your work. I know this is painful but this is where we all stand. It takes a lot of work to get people to notice you, and even more work to make them appreciate your work. Please don't give up! Just keep at it! Like everyone else here, I don't want to be negative, but I want you to be realistic. Just do it for what you believe in, not for what you want others to believe in. If you do, you will eventually stand out and maybe, one day, it will pay off. Good luck!

 

with those games as reference, you'd probably could get a job in gamedev easily..
and then use that money to fund future games and promoting them..

or publish in asset store as game template..
or just keep making more, and try to catch up with pro's, your games kind of remind these http://www.ketchappstudio.com/

 

I neglected to mention you did seem to do some very solid work. It's just that having a solid game with very nice visuals just isn't enough to stand out. Basically what I was trying to detail out in my original reply.... these days there are so many games that are solid and have very nice visuals. If you look in the WIP and Showcase sections on this site you will see there are not only a lot of games but also a lot of very nice looking games visually speaking.

I didn't mean to be overly negative but re-reading my reply now it kind of reads that way maybe. So to be more positive and constructive... just try to think of one or two things you can do to make the game different from the majority of games you have played that are like your games. Gameplay wise I mean.

For your flappy bird style game maybe you could make it so the "bird" is controlled by AI flying along occasionally moving up & down and you actually control the "pipes" moving them up and down as needed so the "bird" can move through the opening. OR have many "birds" flying across the screen AI controlled and your goal is to move the "pipes" to block them prevent them from making it through the level. Same basic concept and origin of the game but both of these are completely different in playstyle. Will people like the twists? No idea you need to test. Other approaches how could you make this game very funny? How could you make it play like a strategy game?

This is the kind of thing I'd suggest to focus on. Ideas are ultimately the most important thing. Ideas... well that's how you innovate. Ideas are what separates your game from 10,000 others. From what I see you have done great work and just need to innovate a little. But I still think you can use those same base ideas and then innovate from there. Have fun with it. Maybe go a little crazy with it. Crazy is a great place for innovation.

 

Downloads = conversionRate * numberOfPeopleWhoSeeYourGame

The game itself (quality and appeal and so forth) will determine the conversionRate.

numberOfPeopleWhoSeeYourGame is determined by how much visibility the store gets you plus whatever you get through your marketing efforts.

It's all about eyeballs. The most awesome game possible could only have a conversionRate of 1, no greater, so there quickly comes a point where making the game better has little to no effect. If only 5 people see it you'll get 5 downloads. FlappyBird was a S*** game, but it got zillions of downloads because PewDiePie did a video and millions of people saw it.

It's mostly marketing, unfortunately, not so much how awesome the game is, which is why the big AAA games everyone knows about have advertising budgets in the millions (sometimes tens of millions) of dollars. In my experience on Steam, numberOfPeopleWhoSeeYourGame tends to get less as more games are added. Sadly, when I put in the effort I get more sales through my off-Steam marketing than I can through Steam itself pretty easily.

Good luck. I put an app on the appstore and dropped the whole mobile thing immediately upon seeing the results.

 

Why everybody its putting boring and slow music to their games?
the music from game 1 is really boring... try to make it more fun, its a game... not a reason to sleep
the musics from game 2 -.- its very hard to stay awake even watching the gameplay...
Its A GAME, not a sleeping app... Im just being honest and direct

 

Well said. I just wanted to mention from what I have read marketing budgets for AAA games (and we're obviously talking about well established companies widely known brands) are at least 50% the amount of the development cost for the game and can go as high as 3 TIMES the development cost of the game which can be hundreds of millions of dollars on marketing alone in some cases.

And this right here should be the biggest clue for people as to how important marketing is. I mean on the one hand you have a person "nobody" has heard of making a game that "nobody" has heard of... so they make the game release the game post in a forum maybe post a few times on Twitter then wonder why downloads or sales are so low (and this is not directed at the OP just any person making games... any one of us) and on the other hand you have a company making the next sequel in a line of games the majority of people have heard of even if they are not gamers by this point there is a good chance they have heard of the previous games... and yet these companies will spend tens of millions even hundreds of millions on marketing alone for that new sequel.

 

Ask yourself how often you download that type of game. Most of advertisement comes from word of mouth. If 50 people played your game and they recommend it to others, eventually you will have many people playing it. What makes you download a game you see on the internet? I basically have two types. One is a puzzle type game that is different every time like Free Cell. The other is a game that looks like it will have exploration and interesting looking characters. That's me personally, but how else can I develop a game that others will play? Your cover art needs to lure them into downloading it and your game play has to keep them playing and recommend it to others. It's hit and miss for me but the second type, the game that has interesting looking characters and exploration does the best. The puzzle type might be a slightly harder sell, but if it's different every time you play and it loads a new level every time you play, it will probably attract people. You can probably name the ones that do that. It also has to look unique, not like a copy of another game. Your little blurb about it has to give a short synopsis that will lure them in also. It can't be too lengthy. They won't read much more than a paragraph. Try to find forums where people play games and be a member there that people know and like. Don't just be a salesman. Be a game player yourself and talk about good games with others. Get a facebook page and try to put up interesting things and get as many friends as possible. That's one I'm terrible at. Show interest in others and they will show interest in you. Always link your game with a graphic and a blurb. You didn't even do that on this thread. Just a small picture and a short blurb that people will be willing to read.