6000+ Downloads on BlackBerry World

Thanks to everyone for downloading! Admittedly it is down to a trickle-- about 5 downloads a day max these days. If you'd like to see more Thumb Swyper please let us know -- the best way is probably in the comments, Twitter (@PercuniaGames), or email "percunia" using, um, gee...  mail (get it, human?)

Keep on Swyping!

ThumbSwyper Free Update 1.3.3 March 31st

ThumbSwyper Fireball Level
First Released  ~ Thursday February 28th
**Update: Now Available on Free Version March 31st! **

Full Version Submitted: New Thumb Swyper Fireball Level, and Surprise Ending!

Blackberry has the full version now, and hopefully will be approved soon! Within a week or so, look for "Thumb Swyper" in addition to "Thumb Swyper Free". Will likely update the Free version in the future and make the update available via in-app purchase, but for now there's two apps in there.

What the full version adds:

-  New fireball level
-  Surprise ending-- don't miss it! Had lots of fun with this.
-  Rewrite of existing content, faster pace, more snappy.
-  High Scores

This version is also compiled for Apple's App Store, and will be appearing there within a few weeks. Google Play too! All thanks to the cross-platform Marmalade Quick tools.

'Thumb Swyper Free' for BlackBerry Has 2nd Weekend in a Row with 1000+ Downloads

This "week" idea has a strong effect on us humans the world over. In the middle of it downloads slowed to a trickle. Thinking once they go down they never come back, we resigned ourselves to the reality of app making in the 2010's. But then-- kapow!-- another big weekend. Not quite the same as the first but still over 1000 of our 3500 or so to date.

And check out the international reach of RIM, something that has been very clear during all this:

The US accounts for less than 10% of downloads, only marginally more than the United Arab Emirates!

Besides RIM's reach part of this is intentional. We did not include lengthy instructions or a title screen or option screen, every thing is iconic and touchable and on a single screen. This means no language in the entire game except for the word "wave" at the bottom tracking the current wave of star attacks, but that is obvious from its context.

This weekend much workage on what will be a full version. First was shoring up the niggling things related to layout and pacing. For instance the slow tally of trees left standing in the early waves. Boring changes to talk about, but it adds up to a tighter experience.

But new content is being worked on-- hear the saws in the background? It is harder than we thought to follow up this simple game, everything we do seems like it make it more complicated. Since we'd like to get it out near the BlackBerry 10 launch we likely will ship the tightened up version with a few modest additions as the first paid version. Please let us know what you'd like to see in the comments, or via Twitter at @PercuniaGames, Facebook  and Google Plus

Updates to Thumb Swyper

Now that the flurry of activity around the release of Thumb Swyper Free has died down, there's a few things:

1. The 1.0.7 Update: The first update fixed some bugs and improved gameplay. Gameplay-wise, the game more gradually increases difficulty and in more varied ways.
2. The Update Process: Unfortunately in order to update the first time, required deleting the app first! The reason is not completely clear, but probably the naming scheme of the file bundles is to blame. We know it is asking lots of users to go through two update steps instead of one, and it is not clear what the two steps are ahead of time. Future updates should be normal.
3. Full version: While we should get this out while the free version is still fresh in people's minds, our goal is for the full version to both challenge and delight our users much more than the free version does (or doesn't.)

There's some crazy ideas going around about dancing trees :  ).  More on that later!

Thumb Swyper Free passes 2000 Download Mark

"Build it and they will come" is not supposed to work anymore. But it did for Thumb Swyper, the little BlackBerry app that could, which debuted with zero lead-up and zero fanfare.

A little over 2000 downloads these first 4 days. From 38 countries! Gotta make one of those keynote-worthy pie charts.

It won't last forever but these first few days have been exciting.

Given that the app has reviewed well, the pressure is on to finish the paid version before BlackBerry 10 launches at the end of the month. Back to work!

Thanks folks.

Thumb Swyper Free Unites Thumbs Around the World

Things are looking up for RIM, I say. Why? An unknown developer, Percunia Games, new to the BlackBerry developer program (as of October 8, 2012 to be exact), with no marketing whatsoever [1], has uploaded a modest game to App World, and downloads have likely passed the 1,000 mark as of this evening! Nearly got there yesterday. Looked like a download every minute or so last I checked.

It is going out on a limb to say it, and is hugely biased due to the small sample size, but there is lots of activity around BlackBerry right now. What BlackBerry has that many other platforms do not is global reach. Looking at the countries that downloaded, there are more than a handful of Saudi Arabian, Moroccan, Vietnamese, Azerbaijan Thumb Swypers. This is Apple App store territory. We are new to this and it is a free app after all, but this looks to be very encouraging for the platform.

The big reveal, BlackBerry 10 devices, will debut at the end of the month. Nearly all downloads were for the PlayBook version. A BlackBerry 10 version of Thumb Swyper Free was released simultaneously with the PlayBook version, since it was a checkbox and the Marmalade simulator reflects reality rather well. Saw that two or so BB10 devices downloaded Thumb Swyper Free in the logs! I would love to ask them how it went. Am a little nervous, not having a Dev Alpha device but am checking into that.

Four out of Five (4/5) stars so far, good download activity, with more on the horizon. Percunia was founded as an Apple Developer in 2008, but could RIM in 2013 be the second chance we are waiting for? Let's hope so!

We'll calm down soon, the inevitable drop-off is coming. Our goal is to release the full paid version asap, while the iron is still hot.

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[1] There is this blog of course, and a hastily put together Twitter account and Facebook Page