Business and Beta Testing 2

I've just posted run two for the beta test, and as I continue to work zealously on bugs I also keep an eye to business concerns.

Finishing this Game

At this point the game is at beta which means it should be pretty much done. There's still bugs which I'm working out, and tuning and tweaking which certainly help make the game more fun, but I've struggled with the question,

"Do we spend a bit more time to make it more fun, or do we get things completed sooner than later?"

This is a REALLY hard question with no good answer. On one hand the games you see rated 3/5 stars and the ones rated 4/5 stars are worlds apart in terms of number of people playing. Which translates to a heck of a lot more profit. In other words, small surprise, you build a better game you get more people playing it. Exponentially more.

However especially when starting out, you don't have unlimited funds. And you have a lot of learning to do. I find learning is conducted best on ever completed game cycle. In other words when you are starting, to both make ends meet and to learn what you have to, you do really need to make small crappy little games. There's no rule for either. And there's no good answer.

The Business Side

I'm trying to get to a game/release a month. This can mean the same game updated and on a different platform, or a completely new game. For now I'll try the same game different platform. I'm going to have to pick up some help soon too.

I have to pay some serious heed to how cash works out. Ignoring this is like venturing into the desert without thinking of water. You'll die.

Because of this I'm planning a short release at the end of this week, and more proper release a week after that. We'll see how it works out.

I've tried looking up numbers for how much you can make at various flash sites, android, iPhone etc etc. It is a crazy mess of numbers and hard to locate sources. Also advertising is very important. There's a story of a poor developer who sank 30k into making his bejeweled type of game for the android. (And it was a great game too) only to receive a paycheck for $500 dollars.

Check out the story here:
EDIT: I can't find the link right, I'll post it when I find it.

Thats exactly what I mean about paying attention to the business side of things carefully. If you don't, you'll get financially murdered.