1. Tips for Success as an Indie iPhone Developer Keith Shepherd Natalia Luckyanova Founders Imangi Studios www.imangi.com

2. Overview About us Tips for making games Tips for marketing and selling games

3. Husband and Wife Team Based in Washington, DC Founded June 2008 No game industry background Focused on Low Cost High Quality Casual Games Five Apps in the Store

4. The Idea Notebook of Ideas Games WE Enjoy Playing Concepts with a Wide Appeal Intuitive Mechanic Pickup and Play Make use of unique iPhone features

5. Prototyping Focus on FUN! Focus on the Mechanic Quick and Dirty Get Feedback!

6. Polish Choosing an Art Direction / Theme Have a theme and style in mind before you start working with an artist Don’t be afraid to iterate!

7. Polish Menus, Level Design, Fine Tuning, Music, and Sound

8. Icon Design

9. App Store Mockups Does it stand out in the Top 25? Does it stand out on the device? Does it stand out next to similar apps?

10. Beta Testing Start small Feature-complete First impressions Iterate rapidly Diverse group (hard-core gamers, your mom) Watch them play – What’s intuitive? – What’s frustrating? Respond to ALL feedback and ideas!

11. Development Summary Quick release cycle Rapid prototype that focuses on fun Polish!

12. Marketing

13. Average Sales Curve

14. Release Goals Buzz Listed in New Releases Top 100 Placement Positive Reviews Get Featured

15. Buzz - Pre-release Marketing Engage the community Engage the press Cross-promotion

16. Engaging the Community Know your audience Pictures > Words Respond to feedback Be part of the community Be nice Promo Codes

17. Engaging the press Influence Timing – Pre-release – Launch Day – Updates Press Release tips – Think like a reviewer

18. New Releases

19. Release Date Trick Submitted Sept 1 App Approved on Sept 15 Release Date == Sept 1 WTF!?

20. Top 100 Hopefully the buzz will get you there Biggest exposure Best chance to make a profit Stickiness – long tail US #100 App - >1,000 copies / day US #1 App – 10,000-30,000 copies / day

21. Top 100 – Price

22. Getting Featured

24. Long Tail – Keeping Sales Up Keep up the buzz Sales Localization Lite version Price Updates

25. Short Tail  -Might still get lucky -Play with price -Move on

26. Be Realistic Be realistic about the market. No more: – Match 3 (>1000 search results) – Slide puzzles (>1000) – Fart apps (489) – Sudoku (364) If a project is not working, let it go Building a reputation is tough Keep on keepin’ on!

27. Be Creative/Adaptive Experiment with new game play mechanics Try to stand out from the pack Learn - how are other achieving success? Use your unique indie assets – We can experiment – We’re agile and in control – We can interact with the players

28. Thank you! Keith Shepherd kshep@imangistudios.com Twitter: @kshepherd Natalia Luckyanova natalia@imangistudios.com Twitter: @nattylux