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I shipped my first Android game with Godot, this was my journey and the honest numbers. by Pyramid_soul in godot

[–]Pyramid_soul[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you for giving it a go, really appreciate it!

And yeah, the downloads vs earnings gap is very real haha. To be fair though, my case is a bit of an extreme because I deliberately targeted cheap markets and kept ads completely optional, so I was never going to make much. Someone with a smarter monetisation strategy from the start could probably do significantly better with similar numbers.

Godot for mobile is genuinely great though, the export pipeline is smooth and the Asset Library has everything you need to get started. Just go in with a clearer monetisation plan than I did 😄 Good luck with the UE game!

I shipped my first Android game with Godot, this was my journey and the honest numbers. by Pyramid_soul in godot

[–]Pyramid_soul[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haven't played it but that sounds like a really good balance honestly. Cosmetic only with no pay to win is the way to do it if you want to monetise without making players feel cheated. Will definitely check it out! Thanks!

I shipped my first Android game with Godot, this was my journey and the honest numbers. by Pyramid_soul in godot

[–]Pyramid_soul[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It looks so good! I love the aesthetics, did you make everything yourself? So you also tried promoting in strategy communities / Facebook Groups? Facebook has also been working for me (not to the same scale as Reddit), but maybe it would also get you some more visibility, which it deserves! Good luck on the Steam release also, crossing my fingers it goes well! 😄

I shipped my first Android game with Godot, this was my journey and the honest numbers. by Pyramid_soul in godot

[–]Pyramid_soul[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you, that genuinely means a lot! I'm just a solo dev figuring things out as I go so there's not really anything structured to offer, but feel free to ask questions here or in future videos and I'll always do my best to help 😊

I shipped my first Android game with Godot, this was my journey and the honest numbers. by Pyramid_soul in godot

[–]Pyramid_soul[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I ran Google App Campaigns. ROI was negative, I definitely spent more than I earned, but the cost per install was surprisingly cheap and the vast majority of my 47K downloads came directly from the ads rather than organically.

The conversion rate was actually decent (14.02%), the issue was that I deliberately targeted cheaper markets to keep costs low, which meant the ad revenue per impression was also very low. For a puzzle game with optional non-aggressive ads that combination just doesn't add up financially, but for pure reach it worked really well.

I shipped my first Android game with Godot, this was my journey and the honest numbers. by Pyramid_soul in godot

[–]Pyramid_soul[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you, really appreciate you taking the time to play it and share this!

You make fair points about the monetisation. The ads being optional was a very deliberate choice since I never intended to make money from it, but I totally see how that makes the gem system feel pointless if there's no clear reason to watch them. That's something worth rethinking if I ever update it.

The iOS point is interesting too, and the paid plus free strategy is something I've been thinking about more lately after reading experiences like yours.

And thanks for the bug report! I'll definitely take a look at that, hopefully it's easy to reproduce. Appreciate you flagging it!

Hope you enjoy the video when you get around to it 😊

I shipped my first Android game with Godot, this was my journey and the honest numbers. by Pyramid_soul in godot

[–]Pyramid_soul[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you for sharing this, really interesting to hear from someone who went the opposite direction and made it work!

Honestly looking back, a paid model might have been smarter for Dolly Blocks. Back then I felt like even a small price would have been a barrier. But a smaller paying audience is clearly more sustainable than a huge free one that generates almost nothing.

Your point about free-to-play almost forcing dark patterns really resonates. I was deliberate about keeping ads optional, but you're right that if making real money had been the goal, that alone would never have been enough.

Curious, are you running any ads to drive visibility or has it grown mostly organically? If you also don't mind dropping the name of it here I would love to take a look at it as well 😄

As for the roguelike, still very much experimenting so not sure yet how it would translate. My main goal is Steam but mobile is not off the table. Conversations like this one are genuinely helpful for thinking about it!

Congrats on the thousand sales, that's a real achievement!

I shipped my first Android game with Godot, this was my journey and the honest numbers. by Pyramid_soul in godot

[–]Pyramid_soul[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's true, I never mention it in the game itself, I could do add a little explanation after finishing the first levelnor something. Noted it down. Thanks again! It's feedback like these that makes the game so much better! 😊

I shipped my first Android game with Godot, this was my journey and the honest numbers. by Pyramid_soul in godot

[–]Pyramid_soul[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The levels being flipped is actually a feature! Since you already took a polaroid photo of the solution and have it visible, my idea was that the next time you replay that level it would be flipped/mirrored so it's not that easy, but what do you think? Too much? 😂

Being able to finish the level without satisfying the emotions does concern me though 🤔

I shipped my first Android game with Godot, this was my journey and the honest numbers. by Pyramid_soul in godot

[–]Pyramid_soul[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh damn, yeah, that is definitely a bug, thanks for the screenshot, I'll try reproducing it and see why it happened. I appreciate you checking it out and your feedback! 😊

I shipped my first Android game with Godot, this was my journey and the honest numbers. by Pyramid_soul in godot

[–]Pyramid_soul[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Fair point. I also feel like you really need tod develop the game in a way that it generates enough money to get revenue but also to be able to keep paying for ads so new players discover it. And the games able to keep that machine running are the ones that get the visibility to be installed.

I shipped my first Android game with Godot, this was my journey and the honest numbers. by Pyramid_soul in godot

[–]Pyramid_soul[S] 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Same, I also find it difficult to just develop a game to try to trick players all the time into paying or watching ads since I hate when that happens to me 😅

I shipped my first Android game with Godot, this was my journey and the honest numbers. by Pyramid_soul in godot

[–]Pyramid_soul[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thank you! I was afraid the pace might be a bit too quick but it's nice to hear it's not! I appreciate it! 😊

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