Ryan McLeod
Designer and developer of Blackbox, Apple Design Award winner (indie), interviewed by Steve P. Young of App Masters
Where to hear and read about Ryan McLeod1 episode or test
Ryan McLeod is the indie designer and developer of Blackbox, a paid puzzle game that won an Apple Design Award and reached 7 million downloads without paid marketing. The most useful lesson is to ask for the purchase early, state the offer plainly, and put a real person's voice and name behind the app.
I think it's really easy to get mad at the company. Not mad at a person.
Meet the Indie Developer with 7M Downloads & Apple Design Award
Ryan McLeod: the story and the lessons
1How Ryan McLeod launched Blackbox with modest hopes
McLeod launched Blackbox expecting a small indie result with a fallback plan. He aimed to make it work as an indie, and if it failed he could move to the Bay Area and find a job. He told friends 10,000 players would be great and privately hoped for 100,000.
The game reached 7 million downloads. He had built in-app purchases from the start because it was never a free app.
He expected a launch gold rush, then a steep drop. He pictured a spike in the downloads graph followed by a sharp fall. He also did not realize how constant the work of being an indie developer would be.
He says: "I didn't realize how much constant work. Being an indie developer was". An Apple feature at the time drove far more traffic than one would today.
McLeod reads reviews, fan emails and fan art to keep numbers human. As downloads grew, the figures became abstract. Reading messages from players reminds him each number is an individual person.
He says it keeps the work rewarding and grounded.
2What McLeod changed about selling Blackbox after launch
McLeod found most purchases happen in the first few days. He had set about 80% of the content free so diehard players would buy near the end. That did not happen: purchases clustered in the first day or two or three.
Friends far into the grid had not bought, saying they had not reached the end yet and did not deserve to pay. Moving the purchase earlier helped revenue a lot.
He locked more puzzles so players could see the value. Reviews said four or five dollars was not worth it for a dozen or so puzzles, even though the full game had about 80 and players had already used many free ones.
Conversion never goes much past 5%, so locking means many people never play. He accepts that, though it "kind of breaks my heart."
He stopped making free and paid packs look identical. Players assumed the paid pack would unlock once they finished the free puzzles. They tried to complete the free game first, hit a hard game, got frustrated and quit without paying.
The fix was making it obvious which content is paid.
He now states plainly what the purchase includes. The prompt lists roughly 30 or 40 puzzles, some bonus content, and support for the developer. It can be dismissed, and about half the game stays free.
He describes the goal as "just making it like really damn clear." It is not an instant paywall.
McLeod found asking earlier only helps up to a sweet spot. Moving the ask earlier helped at first, but pushing it earlier and earlier stopped improving results. He avoids asking at app launch.
The ask appears after an early puzzle, once the tutorial is done, after players have felt some value. He set it by feel, not by A/B test, saying he is not a data scientist.
3Why the buying window is short
Players quit before reaching a late paid section. Puzzles can be solved in any order, so there is no natural end point. The game is hard, so many get frustrated and stop even after getting a lot of value.
He thinks these lessons may not be obvious to people starting out.
Ask while excitement is high, within about a week. Steve Young argues buying intent lasts about seven days, and McLeod's purchase data matches it. After that window a sale gets much harder.
Happy, excited players are the ones to ask.
4How McLeod put a person behind Blackbox
McLeod made his name prominent and answers support himself. Support email goes to "Ryan at Growpixel", and his name appears throughout the app. He saw no need for a fake royal we or a company front.
He hoped for sympathy when things go wrong, and less anger in emails and reviews: people get mad at a company more easily than at a person.
He asks for support personally, and honestly. The purchase prompt frames buying as supporting the developer, with a personal line that he thinks it is worth $5, with his emoji asking.
It works "as long as you're not being super scuzzy and lying about it." He has not A/B tested it against plain free packs, but players have asked to donate a burrito or a coffee. Other indies do the same, such as a world clock app with a photo of the dev and his wife.
He let his own dark, sarcastic voice become the app's voice. Early copy felt inauthentic and overly happy, so he wrote in his own voice. The result shows who makes the game and builds a micro celebrity bond with players.
He is now softening the tone to be more encouraging for a mainstream audience. Young notes indies have moved from a stiff "we" to writing emails the way they talk.
Meet the Indie Developer with 7M Downloads & Apple Design Award
An indie developer explains what he changed after launch to grow a paid puzzle game to 7 million downloads without paid marketing: locking more content earlier, making the purchase clear, and putting his own voice and name on the app. The key result is that moving the purchase prompt earlier lifted revenue, and the game went far past his own hopes of 10,000 to 100,000 players.
McLeod launched Blackbox expecting a small indie result with a fallback plan. He aimed to make it work as an indie, and if it failed he could move to the Bay Area and find a job. He told friends 10,000 players would be great and privately hoped for 100,000.
The game reached 7 million downloads. He had built in-app purchases from the start because it was never a free app.
He expected a launch gold rush, then a steep drop. He pictured a spike in the downloads graph followed by a sharp fall. He also did not realize how constant the work of being an indie developer would be.
He says: "I didn't realize how much constant work. Being an indie developer was". An Apple feature at the time drove far more traffic than one would today.
McLeod reads reviews, fan emails and fan art to keep numbers human. As downloads grew, the figures became abstract. Reading messages from players reminds him each number is an individual person.
He says it keeps the work rewarding and grounded.
McLeod found most purchases happen in the first few days. He had set about 80% of the content free so diehard players would buy near the end. That did not happen: purchases clustered in the first day or two or three.
Friends far into the grid had not bought, saying they had not reached the end yet and did not deserve to pay. Moving the purchase earlier helped revenue a lot.
He locked more puzzles so players could see the value. Reviews said four or five dollars was not worth it for a dozen or so puzzles, even though the full game had about 80 and players had already used many free ones.
Conversion never goes much past 5%, so locking means many people never play. He accepts that, though it "kind of breaks my heart."
He stopped making free and paid packs look identical. Players assumed the paid pack would unlock once they finished the free puzzles. They tried to complete the free game first, hit a hard game, got frustrated and quit without paying.
The fix was making it obvious which content is paid.
He now states plainly what the purchase includes. The prompt lists roughly 30 or 40 puzzles, some bonus content, and support for the developer. It can be dismissed, and about half the game stays free.
He describes the goal as "just making it like really damn clear." It is not an instant paywall.
McLeod found asking earlier only helps up to a sweet spot. Moving the ask earlier helped at first, but pushing it earlier and earlier stopped improving results. He avoids asking at app launch.
The ask appears after an early puzzle, once the tutorial is done, after players have felt some value. He set it by feel, not by A/B test, saying he is not a data scientist.
Players quit before reaching a late paid section. Puzzles can be solved in any order, so there is no natural end point. The game is hard, so many get frustrated and stop even after getting a lot of value.
He thinks these lessons may not be obvious to people starting out.
Ask while excitement is high, within about a week. Steve Young argues buying intent lasts about seven days, and McLeod's purchase data matches it. After that window a sale gets much harder.
Happy, excited players are the ones to ask.
McLeod made his name prominent and answers support himself. Support email goes to "Ryan at Growpixel", and his name appears throughout the app. He saw no need for a fake royal we or a company front.
He hoped for sympathy when things go wrong, and less anger in emails and reviews: people get mad at a company more easily than at a person.
He asks for support personally, and honestly. The purchase prompt frames buying as supporting the developer, with a personal line that he thinks it is worth $5, with his emoji asking.
It works "as long as you're not being super scuzzy and lying about it." He has not A/B tested it against plain free packs, but players have asked to donate a burrito or a coffee. Other indies do the same, such as a world clock app with a photo of the dev and his wife.
He let his own dark, sarcastic voice become the app's voice. Early copy felt inauthentic and overly happy, so he wrote in his own voice. The result shows who makes the game and builds a micro celebrity bond with players.
He is now softening the tone to be more encouraging for a mainstream audience. Young notes indies have moved from a stiff "we" to writing emails the way they talk.