Welcome to The Last Warlock discussion group

I saw the update in the game about the bug fixes and new levels, this is great because it sucks when an exciting game goes out of sync. Are there really new levels in the works? This is one of my favorite online games despite the sync bug.

BRILLIANT!

I'd love it if we could just keep going, building bigger and better warlocks! Premium DLC for more levels / spells / summons would be a fantastic thing.

The new maps will be free. For now there are only 2 new single player and 2 new multiplayer maps. The problem is that they take quite a while to design and populate and given that the game does not bring in much money, I'm taking time away from other projects to do it.
I am considering creating and releasing proper editing tools to allow the community to create maps, new creatures and items and share them on the internet. The best ones could be integrated in with the official quest list. Again, this is a lot of work for me so I'm hesitant to commit, but there is always the chance it will help the game sell more and make it worthwhile!

A game about a Turtle escaping from prison. (you did ask)

Thanks It's nice to here such glowing comments about the game!
My aim was to make it very accessible on a phone, whilst also making sure it's not a shallow experience, so I'm glad you think it succeeds on that front. For me, too many mobile games are either very basic experiences designed to appeal to the mass market, or free-to-play games that are designed around timers and other mechanics that just limit the gameplay. I didn't want to make games like this, but sadly those are the kind of games that make money.

And you're right that the market is over-saturated. I get a lot of comments that people enjoy the game but came across it purely by accident. If you go to Google Play and search the App Store for 'The Last Warlock', you get 9 games listed before mine, none of which have 'Last' or 'Warlock' in their title and most of which have a lower rating than Warlock, but they are all free-to-play and have vastly more downloads than Warlock, and some of them have big marketing budgets, so they get listed at the top of the store.

I wouldn't put it quite like that. It is something I occasionally consider, but I did try it already and it did not go well.
The first release of Warlock was 'free to try'. You could play the tutorial to get a feel for how the game plays (and check it's ok on your device) and then there was one payment to unlock the full game. I had it up on the store like this for about 5 days.

Here were the reviews I got:




It got two 3 star reviews and two 1 star reviews. All in all, over those 5 days, it only got 37 downloads, and no-one paid for the game.
Contrast to the paid version, which has 164 reviews and a 4.6 rating (admittedly over a much greater timespan).

If I'd stuck with the free version, it would have just accumulated bad reviews and put people off even trying the game.
I couldn't make the game truly free-to-play. That requires a complete redesign to integrate consumables and have timers and other things that don't really suit this kind of game. Also I hate those kind of games, so I just didn't want to make that. Free to try at least gives people who are sceptical the chance to see that the game is actually quite good.

What I feel I learned is:
1. Even free games don't get visibility on the App Stores. There are too many games, and the big game devs pump in too much advertising money. Small games don't get a look in unless they get extremely lucky and are sufficiently 'mass-market' (meaning simple).
2. If a game is free, the user has no investment in the game. They won't really give it a go and are prone to giving it a poor review for the sake of it.
3. People that look for free games expect the entire game to be free. It's well known that free-to-play games only make money off of 1% of their regular users. To make money, you need a game experience that plays indefinitely. It does not work with a traditional game that has an end to it.

So, that's how I ended up where it is now.
As for my next game, well I have two possible games on the go. One is PC only, but the other is actually a free mobile game, that will likely be Ad supported. Even so, I'm still nervous that I won't be able to get the App Store visibility to make it worthwhile.

I'll try anything that you make! I don't have Warlock on Steam yet as I don't get to my PC much, but I'll definitely pick it up if you do end up releasing a level editor