I released Glitchy Checkers 2.0 two weeks ago. I have mixed feelings. The good thing about shipping is that now I don’t think about this project. It was a recurring obsession and it made me unhappy. I feel like it was ages ago.
19 people bought the new version. It costs 0.99 EUR as a first time purchase and it’s a free update if you bought the iPad version earlier.
It was nice to receive congratulations from friends and colleagues after the release. I think they’re the ones that bought the game. And the ones reading this. Cześć! :) (I feel like Deadpool now.)
I promoted Checkers on various “social” sites, with limited success. I also emailed close to two dozens of app sites about three weeks before the release. The whole process was disheartening as I was mostly ignored. I got responses from two people and a few “buy ads” auto-replies. It sucks because without feedback I don’t know what to improve, either about the communication or about the game. As far as I know, no one published anything about Glitchy Checkers 2.0. I’m surprised because 1.0 was covered by a couple of blogs and it was iPad-only, had no single player mode, no press kit, worse touch handling, etc. Maybe updates are less interesting than launches.
I didn’t have high hopes but I’m slightly disappointed. I guess I feel this way because I thought I was making something between a hobby game and an “indie” game. In hindsight it’s clear I was far on the left side of this spectrum.
I enjoy not thinking about Checkers, so I’ll leave it to collect dust in some data center on a tropical planet. I won’t do more marketing or any other activities that feel like work. Regarding future endeavours, I plan to not confuse things one does for pleasure with things one does for money.