Comments on Venan Entertainment: Three Months on the App Store

good points Felix Krull! This is THE best iphone ...

2010-09-21T13:01:36.435-04:00

good points Felix Krull!

This is THE best iphone game I played.
Please make more games Venan.

I'm keeping it short so you don't waste time reading this message instead of working at the next best thing.
Now get back to work! :)))

This is - by far - the best game in the app store....

2010-05-13T18:41:29.410-04:00

This is - by far - the best game in the app store.
I can just not understand why it is not #1 in the charts.
I played it through about 5 or 6 times now, and still absolutely love it. And it is worth more money than you ask for.

Just my 2 cents:

- the game "cover" picture looks crappy, and nearly prevented me from buying it.

- the title "space miner" sounds boring, and should be replaced. So if you should be developing something like "space miner 2" please rename it into something cool.

- perhaps reduce the percentage of cartoon-like content, and add some more "spacelike", "technoid" feel into the game. (there are so many crappy cartoon - games on the app store. At the very first moment, i made the mistake of thinking your game is just one of those). More science fiction, slightly less simpsons please.

- just like doodle jump, hold back some content first, and bring a new Hull/ alien tech / weapon / zone every week.

- the first level of the game looks and feels little bit boring, compared to what is coming up later in the game. There is little danger, that some people stop playing after the first two minutes, thinking this is just another bad asteroids clone. Add something shiny to the very start. People should get the point very quickly, that this game is all about developping your ship, not about shooting asteroids (only).

- if possible add some explosions etc... which appear from the very start, making people think: "wow".

In conclusion, i would say, that this game has more potential, than anything else i have seen so far in the app store. Plays and feels like diablo2 in a space ship :)

Make sure you have a Lite version out first for yo...

2010-05-04T16:05:59.577-04:00

Make sure you have a Lite version out first for your next game. I read in a developer forum that the Alpine Crawler developers had great success by first having a Lite version in the App Store for customers to try. With Space Miner, I wasn't sold until I played the Lite version. The graphics are fantastic and can only be experienced through a Lite version. All the positive reviews in the App Store helped as well, but only enough so that I would try the Lite version. The Lite version sold me 100% and I bought the full version, which I love.

I agree with Mostly Torn, it is hard to sell the concept of the game. And I'm not sure about the title, Space Miner, which doesn't really sound that fun. The game is WAY funner than the title would make you believe. I like the title of your next game a lot better.

I love the game and had to find out who made it, and that is how I found this blog.

Thank you for sharing your experiences with developing games for the App Store, it is very interesting to read.

This game deserves to make a lot of money. I think that if you leave it out there, people will eventually find it, probably through word of mouth from other players.

This is, by far, one of my favorite games on my iP...

2010-04-30T16:25:05.051-04:00

This is, by far, one of my favorite games on my iPhone! I literally cannot put it down.

We're still evaluating the iPad platform for a...

2010-04-27T09:06:29.770-04:00

We're still evaluating the iPad platform for a Space Miner port. If we do, it won't be soon.

Are you coming out with an iPad version?

2010-04-26T16:58:23.363-04:00

Are you coming out with an iPad version?

These comments are a pleasant surprise, mostly sin...

2010-04-25T22:35:52.842-04:00

These comments are a pleasant surprise, mostly since when I wrote this I didn't think anyone would read it. Glad to see you all enjoyed the game :)

@Mostly Torn - I agree. Not sure if you caught the earlier article on how Space Miner came to be, but it was very much an accident. The concept is hard to get across. I am planning to do some revision to our App Store copy, and perhaps getting that description of asteroids meets RPG may be in order.

@Mark Johnson - Will do, and thanks for the article!

Let me know how the A/B testing works out. Mark (a...

2010-04-25T11:22:34.356-04:00

Let me know how the A/B testing works out. Mark (author of the name & icon testing article).

Here's my 2 cents. I loved your game, but I ...

2010-04-24T12:24:27.266-04:00

Here's my 2 cents. I loved your game, but I only convinced myself to buy it after reading lots of positive comments from people I trust. I think the theme is a hard sell. Space mining? Sounds boring.

It reminds me of the same problem I had with the TV show Firefly. I put off watching it for a very long time. Friends told me it was great, but described it as "a western, in space" which while accurate, just didn't get me excited to watch it. But, when I finally did watch it, I was thinking "why did I wait so long to watch this great show?"

Which is how I felt about Space Miner. It's a great game - one of the best I've played on the iPhone - yet the theme seems to be a hard sell. One of the descriptions that did finally pique my interest enough to buy the game was when someone mentioned it was like an asteroids RPG. Now that's a game style you don't hear very often and seemed like it might be interesting. I don't think that's really an accurate description, since the only RPG element is the building up of your ship, but, it's probably the closest two word description which captures the feel of your game best.

Anyhow, I guess words are cheap, since my 2 cents went on for a long time. My point is, great game but tough theme to sell.

Best wishes for your future success. I'll be sure to look out for future games you make.

You made a teriffic game. I'm on my second pla...

2010-04-24T01:25:55.943-04:00

You made a teriffic game. I'm on my second playthrough, and I will be playing it a third time too. And maybe a fourth if I don't have all awards by then.
This is the most fun game I've played on my iPhone since I have an iPhone so keep up the good work!
I'll be looking forward to your next game.
Greetz from the Netherlands, Thomas

Just so you know, that was by far the best game I&...

2010-04-23T13:22:51.079-04:00

Just so you know, that was by far the best game I've ever played on the iPhone. I've payed 2x start to finish and wish their was more / longer.

Anything you guys develop from here on out (unless its totally out of my interests), I'll buy based on Space Minor.