Did you make a keyword research and do proper ASO?
No really, and here is why (long story, my short answer is at the end):
My game is ment to be a drinking game. The original graphics (still visible on the website) was about drinking... unfortunately apple changes their "guidelines" and they don't allow drinking games anymore to the appstore. So I had to change the gameplay, the content, the illustrations, the metadata of the app, everything. It took me 2 months (iterating and submitting new version almost every other day) to finally get my game approved, because these assholes did not tell me exactly what is wrong, they just rejected the app and sent a default message, saying: Sorry, but your game is dangerous, causes pysical harm to the users because it's a drinking game, encouraging excess alcohol consumption.
I was arguing with them, thay according to their rules, encouraging alcohol consumption is allowed, but the excess amount is the problematic so I've put a warning screen saying that please drink responsibly, etc. But it was good enough for them. Then I had to remove the words alcohol, drink, etc. Still not good enough... then I changed and removed illustrations... still not good enough. At the end, they rejected my game because in the app's logo a character was holding a red cup. After changing even that, they rejected the game becuase in the search keywords in the appstore metadata Ihad the "drinking game" as keyword. (and this was just a short list of changes... as I said, it took me 2 months submitting new versions every other day, because they never told what was wrong, I just had to guess what is still wrong)
Anyhow, I managed to push the game trough the app review, and now it's in the app store, but the iOS version of the app is missing a lot of content, illustration, even features compard to the "uncensored" Android version, because Google accepts the fact that users (except Apple users) are not that stupid to get alcohol posioning because of an app that say "You've lost, have a drink".
And here comes my answer to you:
Asshole Apple is NOT removing the earlier approved drinking games from the app store, they just don't allow new games there. That means, if you go right now and search for "drinking, drinking game, party game" you will find hundres of apps straight up telling you to drink, with content and illustration that is not allowed anymore. These apps have an unfair advantage, they rank for keywords that I can't even have in my metadata. If I just mention "drinking" or "drinking game" in the app description or keywords, they reject my app from the Appstore.
However...
My plan is not to reply on ASO, but to become a household name, like Tinder. When people search for a dating app, they don't go to the Appstore and search for "app that gets me laid" they know that they should search for "Tinder". That is my goal. I want people to search for my app's name, because it's the best party game ever.
But...
Earlier I was doing SEO so I used my (little bit rusty) skills to to the same with the app. I used the proper keywords everywhere in the metadata, but I am not an ASO expert.
