作者：Christopher Haag

《仓鼠大逃亡》是关于有趣的家庭故事，快乐的小仓鼠在回家路上需要躲避恶猫“Sour Puss”。而玩家可以通过倾斜手机而引导它们绕过种种障碍并最终到达家里。这就像是《重力球迷宫》与益智游戏的结合。

Hamster Chase(from indiedb)

2012年我利用了休闲时间面向iOS和Android开发了《仓鼠大逃亡》。这款游戏的图像是由Meta3D工作室所创造，音乐和音效是从AudioJungle手中所购得，并且Novy PR还帮助我们制作了新闻稿，并在开发过程中提供了许多有帮助的建议，而iBetaTest帮我们落实游戏测试。我自己则使用了Unity引擎完成了剩下的工作。

这款游戏最终于1月15日发行，并分别作为Android上的免费应用，iOS上的免费应用以及包含所有特殊功能（并且不包含任何广告）的0.99美元应用。而玩家对游戏的反响也超过了我们的预期；这款游戏分别在Google Play和App Store上获得4.64颗星与4.5颗星的评级。同时还有一些来自玩家与专业评论者的积极评价。iOS和Android的免费平台也都遵循着这一趋势：前两天每天都能获得800以上的下载量，并且后来每天也能获得200至700次下载量。我将这一好成绩归功于新闻与评论的作用。而售价0.99美元的iOS版本前两天共获得48次下载量，而现在每天大约只有2至4人下载游戏。

我们成功的原因：

我明确了之前游戏的弱势；主要是图像和市场营销方面，多加留意这些内容，并拜托有经验的专业人士在这些领域上提供重要的帮助。

不要急于发行。从技术上来讲我能在12月份完成手上的工作，但是这时候发行还太悬。而1月份便是个最合适的，能够留给我额外的测试时间。

我使用了强大的游戏引擎，并对游戏进行了测试。在过去一周时间里，超过4100名Android玩家中只有3人表示遇到游戏崩溃的情况。关于漏洞的报告也很少出现，并且没有一个漏洞足以摧毁这款游戏。我们很庆幸无需在发行后多花时间去修改某些内容。

这是我的第一款带有卡通外观和感觉的游戏。它同样也添加了沉浸感和乐趣元素！游戏中所设置的“ 仓鼠笼”虽然没有实际作用，但却能够逗乐玩家。

简单的控制，教程以及富有挑战性的关卡。

为未来更新计划一个主要功能（游戏邦注：已经开始制造了）。发行一款游戏，并且获得广泛的关注，但却意识到没有更新的必要是一件非常可耻的事。玩家迟早会停止游戏中的挑战，所以你需要让他们有理由继续玩下去。

让专业人士负责新闻稿的创作。来自Novy PR的Luis Levy不仅能够帮助我们散发消息，同时还能帮助我在开发过程中做出重要决策。就像游戏中的恶猫“Sour Puss”便是他想出来的。

游戏内部设有社交网站签到功能。我不知道如何估量它们的影响，但不可否认，每个Tweet和Facebook签到都对游戏的发展带来了帮助。

一些需要改进的内容：

我在偶然间发行了只带一张截图的iOS免费版本。因为我想着“在修复最后几个漏洞后再贴出截图。”所以我也只能在下次更新时才弥补这次的疏忽了。

虽然图像已经很棒了，但是有些玩家认为可以做得更好。我最近注意到我们游戏截图旁边的另外一款游戏，尽管它也是基于自上而下视角，但是它的截图却更加详细，轻松与时尚。这是我的错，因为我未投入更多时间去从其它优秀游戏的图像上吸取灵感。

盈利。几乎没有多少人购买0.99美元的版本，广告点击也未带来多少收益。虽然我并不是为了赚取利益而创造游戏，但似乎达到收支平衡仍需要花很长时间，除非能够做出一定的改变。也许我们可以在游戏中出售仓鼠帽子（配饰），从而赚取我们之前创造游戏所投入的成本。像最近的应用内部购买便是一个不错的方法。

发行前的市场营销。我并不善于写博客和tweet。我更愿意花时间在编写程序。如果我能够不断散发出有关游戏的新闻，也许我们便能够吸引一定等待着下载游戏的用户。

我喜欢独自开发游戏，但是我也知道如果我能够与一个小团队共同致力于游戏开发，我们一定能够创造出更棒的作品。独自一人创造一款益智游戏是件非常困难的事，因为这时候难度曲线是基于你本身所拥有的技能。也许别人能够发现更棒的概念艺术，更棒的障碍理念，并且能够帮助你分担一定的工作负担。

因为游戏刚发行不久，所以我还需要继续关注着来自用户和评论者的漏洞反馈，努力完成秘密功能的制作，并始终专注于游戏与开发社区。

（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Hamster Chase Released: How I got ten thousand downloads in eight days

by Christopher Haag

I’ve written blogs about what I did wrong with my previous games before releasing them, and why they consequently didn’t become very popular or acclaimed. The tables have finally turned, and now I can write about what I did to help achieve a successful product launch!

Hamster Chase is the story of a family of happy hamsters trying to make their way home while on the run from evil Sour Puss. You help them get there by guiding them around obstacles by tilting your phone — think of it like multiball Labyrinth meets puzzle game.

I developed Hamster Chase for iOS and Android in my spare time throughout most of 2012. The artwork was created by Meta3D studios, the music and sound effects were purchased from AudioJungle, and Novy PR did the press release and provided helpful advice during development. Testing was done through iBetaTest. I did the rest of the work using the Unity engine.

The game was released on January 15th as a free Android app, free iOS app and 99 cent iOS app without ads and all special features unlocked. The reception was better than expected; the game received 4.64 stars on Google Play and 4.5 on the App Store! There were also a number of positive reviews from players and professional reviewers alike! Both the iOS free and Android free platforms followed identical trends: 800+ downloads per day for two days, and then 200-700 each subsequent day. I attribute this to the way news and reviews trickle out slowly over days. The 99 cent iOS full version got 48 purchases in the first two days, and now averages 2-4 per day.

What I think went right

I identified the weaknesses from my previous games; mainly art and marketing, and made it a point to commission seasoned professionals to help me in those areas.

The release wasn’t rushed. Technically I could have delivered in December, but it would have been in a sea of other releases. January is a relatively quiet month, and waiting gave me extra testing time too.

I used a robust game engine, and had the game well tested. Of the over 4100 Android players, only 3 crashes were reported to my Google Play portal in the past week. I’ve also had less than a handful of bug reports; none of them worthy enough to crash-and-burn the game for everyone. It was pleasant to not have to spend release week fixing things and scrambling to get updates out.

This is my first game with a cartoony look and feel. It really adds to the immersion and fun factor! The game even has a Hamster Cage with playful hamsters which serves no purpose but to make people laugh and go “daaaaaw!”

Simple controls, simple tutorials…but challenging levels.

At least one major feature planned in a future update; already half-finished. It would be a shame to release a game, find it to be popular, and then realize you have no reason to make an update! Sooner or later people are going to stop playing the campaign; give them reasons to keep coming back!

A professionally managed press release. Luis Levy from Novy PR was instrumental in not only helping to get word out, but for helping me make decisions during the game’s development cycle which made the game much better (and his job easier). You can credit him with suggesting the cat “Sour Puss.”

Social networking check-ins from within the game. I don’t have a way to measure their impact, but every Tweet and Facebook check-in helps!

What could have gone better

I accidentally released the iOS free version with just one screenshot. That’s what I get for thinking “I’ll put the screenshots in after I wrap up my last few bug fixes.” I can’t fix it until the next update is out.

The art is great, but some players thought it could be better. I recently saw my screenshot next to that of another game on the same webpage…it was the same top-down-like perspective, but theirs was much more detailed, happier and stylish. It’s my fault for not taking more time to review other games for artistic inspiration and ideas.

Monetization. Hardly anyone bought the 99 cent version, and ad clicks don’t bring in much. I really didn’t build the game around earning a profit, and it looks like it will take quite a long time to break even unless something changes. Maybe if I sold hamster hat accessories, I could have earned all the investment back by now. In-app purchases seem to be the way to go these days

More pre-release marketing. I’m terrible at blogging and tweeting; I’d rather use the time to program. If I had kept a steady stream of news going, maybe I would have had an audience of people waiting to download it.

I like to quietly develop on my own, but I think the game could have been better if I worked on it in a small dedicated team. It’s tough to write a puzzle game alone because the difficulty curve is based on your and -only- your skills. Someone else may have found better concept art, better obstacle ideas, and shared some of the workload.

The release is still new; so I need to keep a continuing eye out for bug reports from users and reviewers, finish my secret upcoming feature, and be more engaged in both the gaming and development communities. Feedback is always welcome!(source：gamasutra）