alt Hacker NewsIt was pretty jarring when the game stopped 3 levels in to ask me for money. I guess it technically says "3 free levels" on the splash screen. Perhaps OP could use the word "demo" somewhere in this post.
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Thanks for the feedback, I will update the landing page with make it clearer the full game is paid. I also added this paragraph to my post which hopefully makes it clearer:
> For the web based version I am trying a new payment model. The original Asterogue was like most other games in that you simply buy it in the app store or on Itch and download the game. This time around I am trying a new experiment with this and instead of buying a downloadable binary, you can play the first few levels free in your browser and then you pay one-time to unlock the full game online if you want to continue. I think this strikes a nice balance for players as you get to try it out and only continue if you're actually into the game once you have picked up the vibe. I haven't really seen this done before with web based games so it's all a bit of an experiment.
Thanks for checking it out!
Wonder if OP has given any thought to an ad supported version for the cheapskates among us :-)
I think something about the timing of it feels off to me as well. I'm no stranger to payment screens; I grew up playing shareware floppies. I think the difference is that, let's take a game like Monster Bash for example: you can play up until you beat the first boss, and it feels pretty epic, and then there is a splash screen after the epic boss fight which is essentially a "You think that was awesome? Want more? Mail us at XYZ for Episodes 2, 3 and 4 to discover the rest of the journey."
I totally mailed them and had to have more of that.
For this I'm not sure because I don't suggest changing the game drastically, however it feels like there should be some epic fun thingfirst, usually after an hour or so, and then right after that is when you ask the player if they want more. In order for them to pay they would probably need to feel like they already got a very good amount for free and that they now feel generous. This is a cute game but I'm not getting that feeling so I struggle with this.
For the creator: please don't take this as anything negative about the game! It's fun and I like it. But monetization is hard and I'm just offering my previous experiences where I've personally seen it work successfully.