1. Secret pet project reveal

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    Here’s the pet project I’ve been alluding to on Twitter for the last couple of weeks. WordCrasher Blitz - the ultimate version of WordCrasher, with the magical, mystical price of FREE, already submitted to the App Store and arriving in the next few days.

    I knew in the back of my mind that by writing that I’ve finished working on WordCrasher back in October, I’d inevitably have to eat my own words. But there were some very compelling reasons to take a couple of weeks out of the Food Run schedule and work on this new version.

    1. First Pixels on Toast product with ads. WordCrasher Blitz has banner ads, something I have no experience with. By using an existing project, I found I could quickly create a test bed to learn from. And at the same time, the advert management code went into my shared code repository for future projects.
    2. First Pixels on Toast product with in-app purchases. At launch, there will only be one in-app purchase available - the ability to remove ads. Again, WordCrasher Blitz will be an important test bed for learnings about IAPs, which will benefit future products. And again, the IAP management code has been written in such a way that in can be re-used.
    3. Bringing WordCrasher up to date. WordCrasher was originally launched in January 2010, and is showing its age a little. With iPad support, new graphics, new menus and features, WordCrasher Blitz now feels like a 2012 App Store game.

    So really, it’s all about learning. I’m not expecting WordCrasher Blitz to be a huge earner, for the reasons I already went into in that October article, but it will help me to earn in the future by allowing me to dip my toe into the banner ad and in-app purchase pools. Which is just as important.

    New features

    Here are the features added to WordCrasher Blitz

    • Full universal app - iPad, Retina, all the good stuff.
    • Letter multipliers - x2, x3 and x4 markers on some letters.
    • Every game you play contributes to your WordMaster level. I’m not sure anyone will ever manage to max out at 50. We’ll see!
    • New “Quick Game” mode - 5 words, minimal time pressure. Great for the bus stop.
    • All new graphics
    • Twitter support under iOS 5
    • The magical price of FREE. This will be the first free-to-play Pixels on Toast game.
    • Re-balanced letter scores. The spread was probably too low in WordCrasher, so I’ve added more significance to rare letters over longer words. This ends up being a lot more satisfying.

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    The most important feature is probably the new “Quick Game” mode. Since there are ads at the top of the screen, it made sense to create a mode where there is very little time pressure on the player, to give them the chance to read and click on ads. Otherwise the ad monetisation would fall apart before it had started. The second, less cynical reason for the new mode is that I had always wanted to create a game mode in WordCrasher which would last a short amount of time, ideal for a minute of play at the bus stop, for example. The lack of time pressure also means you can comfortably play it whilst multitasking - e.g. whilst watching TV in the front room - something lacking in the previous version of WordCrasher.

    The second feature which alludes to the banner ads is the WordMaster levelling up system. Along with the existing vocabulary tracking, this really has the potential to add to the stickiness of the title, important if you’re serving up banner ads.

    I’m also excited by the letter multipliers. They really do change the game quite significantly. Lower scoring words can now be beefed up quite a lot with judicious use of multipliers. In Marathon and Flood Panic, you could adopt the risky strategy of keeping as many multiplied letters on screen at once to splurge into one über word, with the risk being that you’d be running with a board near to the brim. This feature adds a much needed new layer of strategy, as well as just the right sprinkling of lucky dip.

    Classic features

    For those unfamiliar with WordCrasher, here’s the base of existing features I’ve been able to build upon.

    • Realistic tactile physics. Letters bounce, stack, roll and respond to tilt
    • Game Center and OpenFeint
    • Over 190,000 words recognized in US, UK and International English
    • Every *unique* word you enter is tracked, and the game tracks your vocabulary. And yes there is a leader board for that - the current WordCrasher champ has entered over 20,000 unique words!
    • Marathon and Flood Panic games modes (in addition to the new Quick Game mode)
    • Freeze time and Bomb powerups

Notes

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