10Up - Could This Be The Next Big Puzzle App?

With the rise and fall of apps, both big and small everyone starts to wonder what is the next big app? This year alone in 2014 we have had the likes of Flappy Birds and 2048 among all the big corporations but these cases are the ones that make many think about this next big app. Although there are many great apps being published daily, which of these will captivate the app user world?

Well, the wait may be over. There is a new app on the block.

It's available on Android - and it's FREE.
The game is called 10Up. It's a number puzzle game that was conceived from a popular game played on Sydney's Cityrail trains where you join 4 numbers (which is the ID of the train carriage/car) to make 10. Sounds simple enough? Well this is only one key factor in all good games and it doesn't end there.

Another key factor is to make it simple to play, but at the same time challenging enough to keep someone engaged and hopefully playing again. There is a points system to this game, where the closer to 10 you get, the more points you get. When you do get a 10, you get a 10Up. This gives you point boosts based on your streak. You must get as many 10Ups as possible before time runs out!

The app looks beautiful with a very simple UI with animations. The game is very addictive and there is an easy mode available to help you learn the game. It is designed to be suitable for children and can be used as an educational app. You can beat your score and share your results too. The developer is also updating the app constantly and quick to respond to user feedback.

With all these factors, it's no wonder that 10Up could be your next app and that of many others and it's free! So why wait any longer? Download 10Up right now - I'll provide you the link:
10Up Number Puzzle Game

And then post your high score! Mine is 620 points. Can you beat it?

Third Time's a charm!

After cleaning up some minor issues and also adding in a feature my app is going in for certification for the third time. Version 1.0.3 of 10-Up will hopefully be the first release and I'm looking forward to any more feedback from the Microsoft Team in the Content Compliance.

If you're like me, the certification and marketing take almost as long as the development, spending extra time on graphic design for your promotional images as well as putting in time to consider your market and price point. Further to this, there are a bunch of privacy statements to consider and other certificates as well.

All in all, I've learned that when developing something like a game or app, you must consider the market side of things as well.

I'll post once I get the app certified. In the meantime here is one of the promotional images used!

Sprites

For the design of this game it was decided to create characters to represent numbers to give the game some life. All arithmetic buttons have a bubble like feel to give the game more of a flow to it. It is important that the game be identifiable to the audience when they see the game and to differentiate it from a standard number type game. A single puzzle in itself may or may not be difficult depending on what numbers are generated - it's random, but collectively the challenge is to beat the puzzle as many times as possible within the amount of time given.

All design has been created with vector based graphics, giving me the ability to adjust the image files for the game with ease.

Here is a look at the sprites for addition and multiplication:

 Characters

In the previous post I revealed the Logo Character designed for the game and this time, we will reveal other characters designed for particular numbers. 

Numbers between 0-9 have had characters created with different colors and different facial expressions to make them unique. The idea behind this is to also give a visual aid to the user as they play the game. Color matching can be quicker than reading the actual numbers. For example, combining two characters of the same color with a division will generally result in a 1 - or in the case of this game, an orange character.

By introducing these characters we add some personality to the game.

Now without further ado, here's a sample of some of the characters from 10-Up !

To see more of the characters, they will be made available on the games Facebook page - Remember to 'Like' the page to support the development of this game !

In the next post , look forward to some of the sound effects and music compositions made for the game.