Text based games aiming for $1000/month

CoolAdvisor · May 13, 2013

dnenb said:
Nice idea! I already have a facebook login/register button, so I should be able to figure out their API.

Try their feed feature, works really great

Code:

/me/feed/

You can get their last news feed from their friends (most recent).
So you print their recently active friends and suggest them to invite the friends...

Moosey · May 13, 2013

Cool idea, will be following for more information.

CoolAdvisor · May 13, 2013

About clans and groups.... did you know fb recently added clan support (only for fb built-in games, not standalone)
https://developers.facebook.com/docs/concepts/app-game-groups/

wuquater · May 13, 2013

hi,

first of all let me wish you lots of success with your game endeavor. I was a product manager of a couple of very successfull online f2p titles in europe. Let me give you a couple of ideas how you can generate more players.

Cooperations: First create a persona for your product. A persona is a general definition of a usual player of your game. Then find lots of sites you think your persona may visit. Contact the sites and make an offer to share the generated revenue. You may need to register a company for this since these guys will want to make sure that their leads will get them money back. Make sure you make a serious impression. Calculate your costs and make them a good offer. I would give them something between 50% - 80% share on revenue after taking the costs out.
Auto Social Media Postings: since you are good in php i would suggest you to program lots of milestones in game. The game should post to players timeline after he reached these milestones. Don't forget to add an impressive picture in the post
PR: Read big boys in gaming press. Imitate their news generation ideas. Your game doesn't need to be a big title. Use you creativity and generate great pr news and submit them to press.
Events and Community: Events are the most important part of the game business. You need to make events and you need to make lots of them. Find appropriate compensations for the events. Don't give big stuff always. Also don't undercompensate. This frustrates the users. Be fair and friendly. There will be lots of people who will try to BS you. But in the end if you can create a good relationship with your community, they will generate leads and they will defend you against the negative players.

Hope these can help you a little bit.

CoolAdvisor · May 13, 2013

My version of the code ("/me/home/" actually, not "/me/feed/"):

Code:

$ret_obj = $facebook->api('/me/permissions', 'GET');
//checking app permissions, we need 'read_stream' perms to access the feed
$ret_obj2=$ret_obj['data'];
$ret_obj3=$ret_obj2['0'];
//print_r($ret_obj3);
if (! isset($ret_obj3['read_stream']) || $ret_obj3['read_stream']=='0' ) {
//offer to get perms
$mynum=rand(1000000001,9999999999); //random state for safety
$mystate="slaves".strval($mynum);
$the_query="INSERT INTO states (fbid,code,time) VALUES ('".$user_id."','".$mystate."','".time()."')";
//print $the_query;
mysql_query($the_query) or print(mysql_error());
print("<a target='_top' href='http://www.facebook.com/dialog/oauth/?client_id=".AppInfo::appID()."&redirect_uri=http%3A%2F%2Fapps%2Efacebook%2Ecom%2Fmyapp%2F&state=".$mystate."&scope=read_stream'>Grant permissions</a>");

                                                                             } else {
//we have read_stream perms
$ret_obj = $facebook->api('/me/home', 'GET');
$ret_obj2=$ret_obj['data'];
print("<br />");
$myarr1= array(); //keeping their ids in an array to remove duplicates
foreach ($ret_obj2 as $value) {
$myval = ($value['from']);
if (array_search($myval['id'],$myarr1)===false) { 
$myarr1[]=$myval['id'];
print("<a href='index.php?a=userview&u=".$myval['id']."'><img style='margin:5px;'  src='http://graph.facebook.com/".$myval['id']."/picture'></a>");

                                                                     }
                                            }

                                                                                      }

CoolAdvisor · May 13, 2013

a typical result of the above code

dnenb · May 13, 2013

Nice! I'm definitely looking more into facebook in the future. My focus now however is going to be getting more players advertising with game advertisement networks. If I can get $30 with the few players I have now I think I just have to get the ball rolling to start making regular money.

dnenb · May 20, 2013

Update: Only $5 more since my last update, but that's with a new game I've started! I've started advertising one of the game now (started yesterday), but I'm seeing a $2+ cost per new registered player. I don't think that'll make me any money in the end.

Earned so far: $35

Technosmart · May 22, 2013

kinda reminds me of clash of clans in itunes

https://www.facebook.com/ClashofClans?ref=ts&fref=ts

dnenb · May 22, 2013

Technosmart said:
kinda reminds me of clash of clans in itunes

https://www.facebook.com/ClashofClans?ref=ts&fref=ts

Cool. Haven't seen that before.

Update: I've spent $50 on advertising with a game advertising network and gotten users at an average of $1.88/each new activated player. I'm going to work on my landing page and try another $50.

dnenb · May 22, 2013

dnenb said:
Update: I've spent $50 on advertising with a game advertising network and gotten users at an average of $1.88/each new activated player. I'm going to work on my landing page and try another $50.

Just adding to that: I'm using a game advertising network with regular traffic - not mobile traffic. So that CPA isn't bad, considering it's computer-users coming to a game fit for a mobile screen.

dnenb · May 25, 2013

Update: Virtual currency seems to be a cool thing! I'm almost at a couple of conversions per day now

dnenb · Nov 16, 2013

A little update: I've been active / not so active in periods with my games, but I'm getting ~$100/month with the few players I have. The really difficult part is getting more players.

Schvamp · Nov 16, 2013

dnenb said:
A little update: I've been active / not so active in periods with my games, but I'm getting ~$100/month with the few players I have. The really difficult part is getting more players.

Nice going! Mabye you can let the players refer their friends (facebook), and reward them with in-game goods?

dnenb · Nov 16, 2013

Schvamp said:
Nice going! Mabye you can let the players refer their friends (facebook), and reward them with in-game goods?

Thanks! There's a pretty generous referal bonus in all the games, but it doesn't really get me more players.. :/

FamousWarrior · Dec 26, 2013

I had one of those games on FB about 2 years ago, but the programmer sold me a bad engine and it eventually died. I have 250~ fans and a gaming clan with 2k~ players waiting for me to get my RPG script game again. I also have tons of art and a successful design.

I already have someone to do music, sound and various artists. I need a PHP or RoR coder.

If anyone wants to team up let me know. My assets are just sitting there doing nothing.

mysticparadise · Dec 27, 2013

I have recently thought about a CCG (Card Collection Game). Do you think it could be a good idea as well? With the right approach it can be pretty profitable.

dnenb · Dec 27, 2013

Yeah

Did you buy the one I saw at flippa maybe? The freemium model works great with these types of games. Get players addicted, and offer them extra cool ingame items and such.

Text based games aiming for $1000/month

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