Ask HN: Monetizing Mobile Web Games
1 comments
Your situation sounds very similar to my own (including the "old and crusty web developer" and "I made a word puzzle game").
And I have been facing the same difficulties, not just legal red tape but also the seemingly endless steps to making sure that everything's working for all scenarios, then finally having it ready to launch, only to find out that some new rules have just been created which force a restart of that whole QA cycle.
It's not about the programming. It's never been about the programming. It's about the surrounding "slog of obtuse processes" that suck the life out of what should have been a joyful project.
Like you I am searching for an alternative. I'll be watching this post for ideas and discussion, but also feel free to contact via email (see profile) if you want to brainstorm.
In case you didn't see it, this may be of interest:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37302315
And I have been facing the same difficulties, not just legal red tape but also the seemingly endless steps to making sure that everything's working for all scenarios, then finally having it ready to launch, only to find out that some new rules have just been created which force a restart of that whole QA cycle.
It's not about the programming. It's never been about the programming. It's about the surrounding "slog of obtuse processes" that suck the life out of what should have been a joyful project.
Like you I am searching for an alternative. I'll be watching this post for ideas and discussion, but also feel free to contact via email (see profile) if you want to brainstorm.
In case you didn't see it, this may be of interest:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37302315
As an old and crusty web developer, I've always been keen on the low friction taking a concept to fruition - beside the dev work, of course.
So I made a word puzzle game that runs in a web browser (Vue3-based). It runs well both on desktop and mobile browsers. I want to monetize it using the typical 'freemium' model - play a limited version for free, make a one-time payment for the full game. Bam.
Figured I'd publish it to app stores since they have a lot of monetized apps. Packaged the game up with Capacitor, built it as an app. Technically all good - game runs exactly the same on Android / iOS as it does in mobile browser. Sweet.
But actually dealing with the app store red tape has been huge PITA. Google somewhat less so. Apple - omg. Everything from the Xcode side to the App Store Connect side has been a slog of obtuse processes.
All of this friction to jump into the walled garden. Just so I can try and get a few bucks from people who want to play my game - which works exactly the same in a browser. I'd prefer not to use app stores at all!
Is there any viable way to implement the freemium model in a web-based "app"? This is not a SaaS - I'm not integrating Stripe, creating user accounts, etc - just a drive-by "hey I'll pay $5 for this" type of purchase.