App Masters · Feb 13Games with Entrepreneurs #1 - David Reichelt, Creator of Color Switch
His 41st game, made after about 40 failed ones in 6 months, and it reached nearly a quarter billion downloads. It combined the color-switch power-up from Pac-Man and Uno into the main mechanic. After the publisher pulled it, his relaunch climbed the charts with no marketing.
Tips
- Ship many small games fast instead of polishing one for years▶ 8:40Color Switch was his 41st game, and he made about 40 games in 6 months before it hit.
- Break proven hits down to their core mechanic, then amplify it▶ 48:19He tore apart Pac-Man and Uno, two multi-billion dollar products, and turned their small color-switch power-up into the central mechanic of Color Switch.
- Relaunch a beloved app after removal and expect fans to return▶ 40:32The relaunch went straight up the charts without any marketing, and the game kept doing decently well on organic demand alone.
- Own your app account instead of leaving a game on a publisher's account▶ 39:42A game with about a quarter billion downloads was removed and he had to rebuild from scratch.
- Work out why a success happened so you can repeat it▶ 16:15He plans for the Color Switch sequel to outperform the original because he knows how the first result was reached.
