When you are angry do you feel the need to hit and smash everything that is in your way? Yes, this is a real problem and you have to solve it. If only it were that easy… But, wait! A game can be the solution for this situation. It is called Smash Hit and allows you to break all the glasses that appear in front of you. Sounds great? Let’s talk about it. And because this is not a blog for stress management (although finding the best techniques for marketing your app is a really good stress reliever) we will go over the marketing aspects of this smash hit game.
Brilliant Idea
Smash Hit was launched in 2014 by Mediocre. Henrik Johansson and Dennis Gustafsson founded the Swedish indie game studio in 2010. Without any scandals and plots (as in many other cases), the owners continued to work together and in 2015, a new member joined the team, Emil Bengtsson. Their goal was to create an app that provides an interesting experience for everybody from non – gamers to professionals. The main idea is simple. You need to use the balls received for hitting the objects which rise in your way, but you have to be clever because there are some challenges for reaching your purpose. The game was a success from the start and this fact determined Apple experts to include it in the App Store Best of 2014.
How Smash Hit Did It
We will present you some smart strategies applied by the team behind Smash Hit for creating an enjoyable game.
Image Source: http://www.mediocre.se/
One Time In – App Purchase
In many cases free – to – play apps allow users to download the game and to try the very basic features for free, while most of the items that increase their performances come with a price. So, customers need to pay various times for continuing their adventure. For Smash Hit the freemium business model chosen gives the audience the chance to play the game for free and if they want the premium version there is only a one – time fee of $1.99. This comes with access to more game modes, detailed statistics, the possibility to use iCloud synchronization across multiple devices, and the option to go on with the game from checkpoints. If you think about it, it could be the perfect solution for both developers who want to monetize their work and also for users who won’t break the family budget because of the addiction caused by Smash Hit. This is a snippet from the app description but make sure that you download the original game, not a shameless copy.
Image Source: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mediocre.smashhit
Audio Effects
Some of the most attractive elements in Smash Hit are the sound effects and the way music synchronizes with the gameplay. Douglas Holmquist created the tracks that impressed millions of users. As Douglas recalls, the entire work for this game was very challenging but the results improve the experience provided by the game. If you are interested in how audio and video merge for offering a real feeling that you are part of the adventure then you should read the story posted by Douglas on his website, Bandcamp. Meanwhile, he and Henrik created an interesting double LP Vinyl with the soundtracks from Smash Hit and PinOut, another successful game.
Image Source: http://www.mediocre.se/
VR Gear
If the therapy recommended at the beginning of this article doesn’t offer you the wanted results for mobile devices maybe you want to try the version of the game created for VR gadgets. If you have Samsung Gear VR here is what you have to do. Go to Oculus store and search for Smash Hit VR. Download it and start smashing everything you encounter. You will see that you will feel better in no time, no matter what annoyed you in the first place. Now, joke aside you all know how VR and AR are spreading their power for providing a more realistic action. We already announced you at the beginning of this year about the UX trends that will dominate in 2017. Even though Smash Hit VR was launched in 2015 still represents a great opportunity to test your skills in an environment similar to real world.
Image Source: https://www.androidcentral.com/5-games-try-samsung-gear-vr#slide4
This ambient physics – based game is amazing but many people, especially the ones from mobile games industry were curios how the team managed to create those great effects. The best part is that on the official blog and also on Mediocre game technology, the website of one of its creators, Dennis Gustavsson you will find very specific details explaining the process of designing this type of game. Revealing the technology behind the game is a special case of content marketing. This way you can be sure that all groups implied win something. Customers have a better understand of how their favorite game was built and owners gain their users’ trust and the appreciation for their hard work.
Image Source: http://tuxedolabs.blogspot.ro/
Bonus Tip: Trust The Team
Now that you know all the insights of this action game focused on destruction you probably have a different perspective over the creation process and especially for the work invested by a team of two or three experts. The result is without doubts a worthy competitor of big companies specialized in designing games. We wrote before about the challenges of being an indie developer and Mediocre is the proof that you can succeed even if you don’t have tens or thousands of employees. It is definitely much harder but if you focus on the right path you have big chances to reach your destination.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Hopefully, our advice given at the beginning of this article helped and you will put all your anger in building strategies on conquering all 50 rooms and to manage all 11 different graphic styles instead of breaking real things around you. Now, going back to our story, it is really impressive the work invested in Smash Hit and the attention to details makes the difference between a mediocre game and a game created by Mediocre studio.