Geometry Dash game success in history

Their quirky, rhythm-based running game, a $1. 99 treasure called geometry dash, went on to own the App Store, crawling in less than a year from total obscurity to the top of the paid iPhone charts. “Word of mouth, ” says Topala, explaining his game’s breathtaking success. “It’s as simple and frightening as that. ”

As it happens, “word of mouth” may be an understatement. Typically the super-addictive Geometry Dash is now an iOS superstar and it is now spreading to other platforms like Android and Windows Phone. All told, Topala claims the game has been downloaded more than 20 million times, across both paid and non-paid versions.

So what’s his secret?

First of all, we’re in the midst of a golden age for impartial game developers in the iOS App Store. One of the big features of the platform is the level of interaction it allows between the programmers who make games and the people who play them. For example, most indie devs are more than happy to strike up in-depth conversations with players — something almost unusual in the world of AAA games, the classification given to those headings with the highest development budgets and levels of promotion (think Grand Robbery Auto V or Size Effect).

Topala wisely got things to the next level. Although most indie developers go no further than soliciting feedback about features that gamers would like to see in future versions, with geometry dash Topala fully embraced the idea of letting his game be driven by their players. He created a level editor mode that lets users create and share their own amount hit game. More than 500, 000 such custom stages exist now.

“The amount of user-generated content is insane, and the quality of many levels is truly amazing, ” he admits that.

If there’s a reason the community aspect of gaming is so important to Topala it is because this is one way he got his start. Developing his first Expensive games as a leisure activity while studying to become a civil engineer, this individual didn’t dream of proceeding pro.

When he started out out, he had only basic programming knowledge and didn’t even own a Mac (today he really does his coding on the Macbook-pro pictured above). Positive feedback about his games in Web forums motivated him to keep proceeding.

“Very entertaining, ” read one early appraisal of his first game, Jump Ball Thingy, back in 2010. “You say youre a noob, but you’re a noob with preference. ”

Brandishing his “noob with taste” badge with pride, Topala made the plunge into iOS establishing. “Creating a game from scratch turned out to be something We really enjoyed, so the next step was to get started on building for mobile, ” he admits that. “After that I was hooked. ”

With Angles Dash, the broad idea was going to create a homage to the sort of Super Mario Bros. -style platformers he had played maturing. He or she was also inspired by more-recent iOS titles, including the Impossible Game, BIT. TRIP RUN! and Super Various meats Boy.

“There really was no detailed plan” for Geometry Dash, Topala states. “It simply started as a template with a cube that could accident and jump. Through different iterations I then kept adding more and more features and content until the game felt right. ”

The sport took about four months of part-time work before it was ready for the App Retail store. And since its 2013 release, Topala has worked almost constantly to keep it up-to-date — consistently adding content and screening new ideas. “The game started with seven levels and is now up to 15, with each new level adding new gameplay elements and aesthetic details, ” he claims.

As noted, Topala’s not the only one who have worked to keep the game feeling fresh. The particular level editor and posting features created an employed community focused on the game, far beyond the sort of thing found on most pick-up-and-play iOS titles.

“One thing I like about the art style in Angles Dash is that you can incorporate objects to create a certain look, ” he says. “Players use this when making levels and I often see things I didn’t even think was possible to do in the editor. ” Play happy wheels, geometry dash right now!