Andrew Garrison

I submitted an update this weekend for a new level for SimplePhysics, named Bomb Shack. In this level, you must build a small shelter to protect a crash test dummy from an indirect explosion. If the dummy gets blasted, or if he is struck by a falling support, then you fail. The level simulates realistic explosions, so you will have more success trying to create a slim, angled shelter to deflect the explosion, rather than a beefy shelter that absorbs it.

This update comes with more goodies though. Since I was creating explosions, I thought “wouldn’t it be cool if I could blow up all the old levels too?” So, I made it so. The finger test is now enhanced to let you create explosions on every level. Some are more fun than others, personally my favorite is the staircase level.

I also thought: “It would be awesome if the dummy supported ragdoll physics.” Be sure to play with him, he is a lot of fun. Throw him around, blow him up, he is quite entertaining.

After I implemented those features, I thought to myself: “Man, it would be extremely cool if I could slow the simulation down so I could watch the explosions in slow motion.” So, say hello to the slow motion feature. Watching explosions in slow motion is more fun than I anticipated, especially when it involves the new ragdoll physics.

This update has been so much fun to make and I think it opens up a whole new world to explore, so I am going to start working on a spin-off of SimplePhysics, tentatively titled SimplePhysics Bombs. Don’t worry, it will be free, and will have 5 to 10 levels, all similar in nature to this Bomb Shack level.

I hope you enjoy the update!

I submitted an update for SimplePhysics last night that includes a new level, River Dam. In this level, you must create a dam that can withstand rushing water that slams into the dam, and some random debris that the water has picked up along the way. I hope you enjoy!

I submitted an update to Apple last night that includes universal support for the iPad. I must say the game looks quite nice on the larger iPad screen, and I think you will agree when you see it!

I want to mention that I could have released a separate app, solely for the iPad (i.e. – SimplePhysics HD) and jacked the price up, but I believe that my users deserve better than that. I have received so many great ideas that I felt compelled to give you all something extra at no cost. In fact, I feel more and more like SimplePhysics is becoming a community effort. Please, if you have any ideas for the game, visit my uservoice page. Let’s build a game together 😉
http://simplephysics.uservoice.com

I just submitted an update to Apple last night with two new levels:

Two Story Tree House
So you can build a tree house, but can you build one with two floors?

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Staircase
In itself not so exciting, until you throw in advanced robotics to smash your design to pieces! Also, I think you will rather enjoy the surprise I threw into the finger test for this level.

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I wanted to share my experiences over the past week, as a beacon of hope to my fellow indie game devs, as I sit here watching an app that I created sitting comfortably in the App Store’s Top 25 Overall.

The name of the app is SimplePhysics, and it became available in the app store Thursday (3/24/2011). I have been preparing for this moment for a few months now, starting back in December of 2010. I implemented a dialog popup in my other games that asked the user if they’d like me to e-mail them when I released a new game. Since that time, amazingly, I have been able to collect over 35,000 e-mails. This is largely due to a promotion I did with FreeAppADay.com, who I highly recommend if you want to boost your fan base.

I created an e-mail campaign at Campaign Monitor, and loaded in my list. I created an extremely basic e-mail, and got everything ready to pull the trigger.
Here’s the e-mail:

Hello!

This is Andrew Garrison, the creator of BridgeBasher.
I am excited to let you know that BridgeBasher’s sequel,
SimplePhysics, is now available in the App Store! If
you like BridgeBasher, then you will love SimplePhysics.
You can find out more about it here:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/simplephysics/id408233979?mt=8

Thanks, and I hope you enjoy it!
-Andrew

ps – If you do not wish to receive e-mails about my game
releases in the future, you can unsubscribe here.

At the same time, as I was setting up this e-mail campaign, I tweaked my other app, and I removed the e-mail signup dialog and replaced it with a dialog that linked directly to my new app. I submitted the update to Apple, and set it to “Hold for Developer Release.” Now I had all of my ducks in a row. When I release these updates, and my existing user base loads up the new version, they will immediately be hit with a dialog telling them about my new game, along with a link directly to the iTunes page where they can buy it.

SimplePhysics went live Thursday, March 24th, and I sat on it for a few days to make sure it propagated to all app stores worldwide. Last Wednesday, I pulled the trigger. I sent the e-mail and I logged into iTunesConnect and released all of my app updates. After less than 12 hours, SimplePhysics rose to #12 overall in the iTunes App Store. I had complete refresh-syndrome….constantly holding my iPhone, checking the charts every other minute. I watched in complete amazement as SimplePhysics rose to #1 in Games->Simulation, ousting NBA Elite, a game made by friggin Electrnoic Arts. It is almost euphoric to see a game that I made sitting on top of a game made by EA.

For those of you who are interested, these are the numbers for the e-mail:

35,704 e-mails sent
13,558 opens
1,574 bounces
20,572 not opened (misleading statistic, since some email clients block the tracking image)
334 people unsubscribed
45 people marked it as spam
6,182 clicks through to the iTunes purchase page from the e-mail

I do realize that this rise on the charts is fleeting. I realize that once all of my e-mails are opened, and once all of my users have updated, that the game will start quickly falling from the charts. Nonetheless, it is still extremely exciting, and I hope it will encourage my fellow indie game devs. The app store is such a great opportunity for indie game development. It is the only place that I know of where a little guy like me can outsell a major game company.

If you want to see the app, here’s the product page for it:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/simplephysics/id408233979?mt=8

Last night I submitted an update to the App Store for SimplePhysics. The update includes one new level, titled Truck Crane, where (you guessed it!) you design a crane. The level is fairly difficult, I’d say its slightly more difficult than the roof, but not quite as difficult as the ferris wheel. I hope you guys enjoy it!

SimplePhysics now has a Facebook fan page. If you want to chat about the game and share pictures of your designs, that is the place to do it.

Today has been a crazy day. SimplePhysics was released and it has already climbed to #20 in the US App Store. I have also made BridgeBasher and Skyword free for a short while to help with the promotion, so if you haven’t already tried those, make sure you grab them in the next few days. This is essentially three apps for the price of one:

I have already gotten a ton of great ideas from the beta testers. If you have an idea, please submit it at my uservoice page, and vote on the ideas that you like. I have already implemented some of the top voted ideas off of that page.
http://simplephysics.uservoice.com