
Canabalt: iPhone Game - staunch
http://www.canabalt.com/
======
AdamAtomic
hey hackers, matthew pointed me here and I thought I'd share some stats (more
about the Flash version than the iPhone version but yea)

    
    
      Days spent making Canabalt: 5 (long ones)
      Hits on my server: ~2 million
      Hits on other major portals: ~2 million
      Estimated hits on crappy portals: ~4 million+?
      Hits on my server from twitter: 50k+
      Best Referrer: Stumbleupon
      Money from donations: ~$500
      iPhone sales: can't say but good enough!
      Top App Store Ranking: 37
      Bandwidth Bills: $1000+
      Top legit score I've ever seen: ~30km
      My top score: ~8km
      Resolution: 480px x 160px
      Initial Piracy Rate: 12%
      Current Piracy Rate: 25%
    

Inspirations: Half Life 2, District 9, Banlieue 13, Another
World/Flashback/Prince of Persia, War of the Worlds (book, not movie)

Trivia: I never finished drawing the space ship that flies by since it is
barely on-screen for more than a few minutes. Sadly, multiple screenshots have
captured it in all its under-realized sloppiness.

~~~
timdorr
"Best Referrer: Stumbleupon"

What's this based on? I've tried StumbleUpon ads before. The bounce rate is
_insane_. Approx 99.5%. It's basically useless for anything other than real-
world load testing.

BTW, Reddit's new self-serve ad system is awesome. Dirt cheap, quality
traffic, commenting on the ads to talk with your customers directly, and
general Internet Bonus Points™.

~~~
AdamAtomic
we didn't do any ads with anybody

------
wmf
Web version: <http://www.adamatomic.com/canabalt/>

------
BigZaphod
Does anyone have a theory on what makes this game so successful? I went
through a phase where I was addicted to it myself - and yet it's so mind-
numbingly simple!

~~~
matthew-wegner
I've been viewing games through the prism of how many "almosts" they have
lately. Canabalt is fun because you almost fall off dozens of times before you
actually do (and when it happens you usually _almost_ made it). Because you
think your death was avoidable, and only barely occurred, you immediately want
to try again.

Something _almost_ happening is surprisingly compelling. Slot machines are a
very pure implementation of this idea; if they just showed you all three
symbols immediately you would never have that sense of something almost
happening...

~~~
BigZaphod
I find this comment remarkably insightful. It's such a simple concept and yet
that idea never occurred to me - but yet it just _feels_ right! The slot
machine example is dead on. Awesome.

~~~
matthew-wegner
Thanks! It first occurred to me when we were trying to figure out why our most
popular game, Off-Road Velociraptor Safari, _was_ our most popular game. I
realized that it's essentially an "almost" generator; the game is always
teasing you with cool possibilities (you'll jump your vehicle off a cliff and
almost hit a raptor, and then later realize you can actually _do_ this and the
game will reward you for it). "Almost" is a pretty common trait in
fun/addictive designs if you start looking for it...

------
dylanz
Ok, this game is great. It has fitting music, it's instantly addictive, and it
raises your blood pressure.

I would have liked the difficulty level to remain low for a longer period of
time. Also, it would be nice if there were other obstacles. After about 20
seconds of game play, it got pretty damn hard (read fast), and I wasn't able
to memorize landmarks, which is crucial in fast pace, side scrolling,
platformers.

~~~
jazzychad
It slows down if you run into the boxes on the rooftops. Use them to your
advantage.

~~~
klipt
But if you slow down too much, I think it becomes impossible to jump some of
the gaps.

~~~
jazzychad
Not in my experience. Since the maps are generated on-the-fly, I think the
gaps between buildings are dependent upon your current velocity. I am not 100%
sure, though.

------
amichail
My DropZap game has a high rating and great reviews in the US app store but
it's not popular yet:

<http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dropzap/id338490375?mt=8>

How should I market it?

(Demo video: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ub6gCU03iE> )

~~~
matthew-wegner
Canabalt's free Flash version has had several million plays, the majority of
which have been on Adam's own site. The Flash version's success prompted the
iPhone port, and also gave him an existing audience willing to buy the game.

------
yumraj
Does anyone know if this was created using the Flash Pro's iPhone app
generator or is it a native Obj-C app? I'm asking since there seems to be a
Flash version so that would have been the simplest route for this game.

~~~
AdamAtomic
This was a homebrewed port of my flixel framework, from what I've heard from
fellow flash devs the CS5 beta is having trouble getting anything better than
1 or 2 fps. Canabalt runs at 30+ even on the original iPhone :)

------
prbuckley
I have noticed more iphone developers making a flash based version of their
games for web promotion. I think it is a great idea, play before you pay. Does
anyone have stats on how well this works as a promotional technique?

Also here is a link to the game in itunes <http://appsto.re/canabalt>

~~~
tptacek
The Flash version predates the iPhone version.

------
s3graham
This is how we played the Super Mario Brothers Lost Levels in university:
mandatory hold down of Run+Right and only tap jump with varying pressure. You
can finish all the levels like that!

------
begemot
Reminds me a lot of <http://www.kaninkul.com/games/773/copter.html> , both
great games.

------
aaronz3
Also: Try Rope and Fly, I found it to be fairly similar and also quite
addicting.

~~~
bmalicoat
If you like that game try Hook Champ, same mechanic but with powerups,
unlockables, great graphics and a committed developer with a major update
already submitted.

------
tfh
awesome game. If you make an android version, i'll buy it!

