In good company

I found a list of quite some illustrious names. My game is mentioned along some real powerhouses like Angry Birds HD free in this list of iPad releases on the website of the independent. An honour bestowed on me because of the little crane that could's ranking as the number 1 free iPad app in the United Kingdom. After many tries, it looks like I finally managed to score a hit on the app store.

The feedback from it is quite overwhelming. A lot of rave reviews, but also a lot of useful criticisms. I will be using the feedback to improve the game for a new release. The runaway success took me by surprise. I had already accepted the fact that I made the crane game to suite my own gaming taste, and that it would probably do poorly on the app store, as it would not appeal to gamers in general. Well, luckily I was wrong.

It also taught me a valuable lesson of demand-pull versus technology-push. Before making 'the little crane that could', I decided to develop for the taste of the market. The game 'jump daisy, jump' was the result. It was the game I thought the market wanted: simple gameplay, bold colourful graphics, easy challenges. The little crane was the other end of the spectrum: a very complex game with a lot of controls. A game I personally liked playing, but which I deemed to complex for joe average. So when in doubt: go with your own passions, not on what you think people will like.

The little crane that could is a free game, so why not give it a try? Get your copy at iTunes.

What I thought the market wants versus what the market wants.