Should I Go Shareware?

[bridgeyman]

Hey,
Right now I have a game that I developed called Lumen. You can download and try it here: www.fieryferret.com/lumen/lumen.html. I was thinking of adding more features (different board sizes), and a lot more polish then publishing it as a shareware. What do you guys think? It is a fairly simple game, is it enough to go shareware? If I did go shareware, how would I decide how much to charge for it, and how much of a response could I expect? Thanks for your help.

Bridger Maxwell
Fiery Ferret

[imikedaman]

What do you guys think? It is a fairly simple game, is it enough to go shareware?
That's never stopped people in the past. I know some developers that release one-trick pony apps for $40+ and they still get brisk sales. I'm so freaking jealous of those guys.

Anyway, you could easily sell a game at an introductory price of $5 and expect decent sales since most people have no problem risking a relatively small amount of cash on a game they haven't fully tried. You know your app best though, so it's ultimately your decision.

EDIT: Actually, the whole "custom puzzle" thing is pretty neat. Make sure you market the idea of easily sharing the custom puzzles through your online database system!

[Bjoernke]

Definitely go Shareware, if the price is right, you'll make bucks, and that is better then not making bucks, right?

Also nice to see another RunRev game developer here, soon we're enough to start the rebellion! :ninja:

[Joseph Duchesne]

I would suggest letting people register for whatever they want. For smaller games like this, most people will pay a few dollars. Lets say you have three people:
One who will pay $4, one who will pay $1, and one who will pay $10
Say you set the price at $5. You might get the $4 guy, you'll get the $10 guy, but you'll only have $10.
Now again what if you set the price at whatever they want to pay?
You get $15.
More money :P
(can anyone back my theory up with hard data? Jake?)

[Fenris]

Personally, I'm a fan of charging a little more than you think is good. High price sends a message that you're serious (to a limit) and that you think the product is worth it. I mean, if the creator doesn't think the game is worth $5, then the player certainly won't.

[Najdorf]

I say 10$ is a right amount for a simple game, 20$ for a good game.

[Leroy]

Definitely charge at least 10 (probably 15). First of all, charging small of amount of money will tend to degrade a persons overall perception of your game. Secondly if someone likes your game enough to buy it, charging 10-20 is nearly indistinguishable for most people. There are not many people out there would want to buy your game are turned away because it's just $5 too much.

[Jake]

If I didn't go shareware than this would never have happened - http://www.idevgames.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12985 . I definitely recommend it, even if you don't make any money its still a good experience.

Definitely, charge a fair price for your game. I started charging how Joseph recommended for Escape, and it went well. Then I upped the price to $7, then $10, now $15. I never had a drop in sales. For GL Golf, you can pay either $15 or $25, and most people opt for the $25 version.

I gotta go grocery shopping now so I didn't have look at your game, but I don't think my advice would change much. I'll check it out later though