Even for big name releases, selling in the App Store is no guarantee. There are so many releases each day that even making the top 100 (whether in the Paid or Free section) can be like an app’s 15 minutes of fame -- one moment they’re there, the next, they're lost in the ether. But sometimes an app can hold its spot for a ridiculously long time. Sometimes they’re apps that you’ve never downloaded, none of your friends have downloaded, nobody you know has ever even played it. Like Zombieville USA-an App Store veteran. So we decided to put a few "classics" through the ringer and take a look at why they've been an App Store top seller for so long.
The platform: iPhone, iPod Touch
Price: Free
What it is: Fragger is probably best described as a launching game. Like the piles of archery games in the App Store, you set a trajectory -- in this case for a grenade throw -- and then launch. Fragger is part puzzler, part dumb luck (and constant repetition).
Many levels have secret solution. See that hole over there? Toss a grenade in and it’ll collapse the entire bridge for a perfect level ranking.
Its cartoony style masks the dark truth of what the game’s actually about, which appears to be killing terrorists. Despite the fact that terrorists are constantly blown up into little pixelated blobs, the game’s not exactly violent. Regardless, the three star rankings and snappy control scheme's what’ll have you coming back.
That’s a good goal.
Reason it’s stayed on top: As a well-polished and addictive paid game, it shot right to the top of the charts when it was first released. Cleverly timed price drops are what have kept it there.
The platform: iPhone, iPod Touch
Price: $.99
What it is: Half side-scroller, half tower-defense, the objective is to advance on the enemy’s base while defending your own. If you reach their base, you win. But it's not so simple. You’ll need to balance unit types and offense versus defense in order to survive the constant waves of warfare.
The good news is the game starts you off slowly, getting acquainted to each unit type before you can fight using them all.
Why it’s stayed on top: Constant updates. Sometimes a game just has to muscle its way to the top, and through great updates that have introduced features ranging from voice chat, to Game Center support, to dozens of glitch fixes, developer Thunder Game Works has done everything in its power to keep Trenches in the public eye. In fact, Trenches has been out since Christmas day 2009, and since that time has seen the top 25 list well over 6 times. It just goes to show, unlike console games that often lose sales if they announce plans to implement something after a game’s release (Console gamers decry the product as "unfinished"), those updates make a real difference in an app’s sales.
The platform: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
Price: $.99, 1.99
What it is: A sidescrollin', zombie huntin’ good time. Unlike most sidescrollers, Zombieville allows you to choose from a variety of characters (there’s a clown, a doctor, a ninja, etc) all with different talents and shortcomings. Other than that, the games what you’d expect -- you run from one side of the map to the other, shooting zombies with weapons of ever-increasing strength. You can loot houses for extra cash, lives, or money (and spend that money on new guns). It’s a simple formula, but every once in a while something will appear and keep the gameplay just fresh enough to not bore everyone.
Like this car, which plows through every zombie until the end of the level.
Why it’s stayed on top: This one’s really beyond us. Zombieville’s last update was May 13, 2010 but even now the sidescrolling shooter sits at #80, boasting a higher-than-most $1.99 purchase price. If we had to speculate, we might guess that Zombieville USA made iTunes top 10 at just the right time (before an influx of new iPod Touch and iPhone adopters) and has been riding that wave ever since. Of course, that’s just reckless speculation. We do have another theory…
Besides ironic violence and weapons, what do these three games have in common?
Look at these icons. Look at them. What do you see? Yellow and orange backgrounds? Check. Cartoony visages featured prominently? Check. Coincidence?
Maybe check.
That’s it for this week’s Game Time. So long, and thanks for all the fish.
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