Game Design Secrets

Closing Thoughts and Advice for Starting Out

To close this chapter, the next sections contain a smorgasbord of miscellaneous final advice for iOS developers starting out.

Consider Developing Games Smaller Than 50MB for Impulse Downloads

At the moment, Apple and its carrier partners prohibit app downloads via the 3G/4G network that are more than 50MB. This, as Phill Ryu points out, limits the potential market for impulse downloads that don’t require an iOS owner to be connected to a wireless network (see Figure 12-7).

Figure 12-7: A 25-minute wait for the bus. No wireless connection. A perfect impulse download customer!

Typically, a phone owner with a sudden craving to play a game is, say, at a train stop or a doctor’s waiting room and nowhere near an open wireless connection. So if your game client is just above 50MB, it’s very much worth trimming it down to size.

Be Careful Who You Reveal Your iOS Game’s Special Features to Before Launch!

The App Store is notorious for carrying knockoff titles that are more or less cloned from existing hit games. It’s not uncommon for a knockoff to show up in the store just days after a new title starts to show traction on the charts. For that reason, while you’re developing your game, it’s a good idea to be cautious about revealing what makes your game unique.

Or to put Ryu’s advice another way: Think WWJD—What Would Jobs Do?

“If you’ve ...