So we set out on a mission: Trying to identify all things we could change to increase sales and then do it. (and I'm only talking about the game production part here, not the marketing)

The question you'd have to ask first of all, is it worth the trouble? Is the game good enough? 

Of course, we think so. We made a game that we wanted to play, and we did indeed put a lot of work into it. We got a lot of positive feedback on review sites, forums, by email and user reviews. So hopefully, the answer is yes, the game is good enough.

So we set about finding factors that stopped people from buying our game. This is what we came up with so far:

First, we got some recurring comments on Eveningstar

- Some people thought the game was too short. 

- People wanted support for OpenFeint.

- Some people complained about the steering (and some people loved it...)

These things don't really count as "stopping people from buying it" but need to be addressed some way or another.

Second, we figured that more or less everything in the App Store is about impulse buying. Most people probably don't bother reading reviews and checking facts. Buying a $50 game for Playstation 3 is very different from buying a game that costs $1.99. You see something you think you like and you try it. If you didn't, it's no big deal.

So, we want to change what meets the visitor in the App Store

- We want a new icon that stands out more.

- Due to several strange problems, our company was listed as "Nils Odgard15678676" (go figure) instead of "Divine Robot" which looks amateurish and buggy.

- We will check the texts and screen captures to see if anything else can be improved.

Third, we have a serious limitation on impulse buys; the game is around 60 MB. This means that people who find our game when on a cell connection cannot download it. They have to wait until they are connected to a Wifi network - and by then they may have forgotten. The limit for 3G download was recently raised to 20 MB. We want to make an attempt to bring down 60 MB to 20 MB without reducing content. (Good luck with that...)

So, in the upcoming entries we will detail what we are doing to improve Eveningstar from a game design view. Technical, graphical and thoughts about the process of being a small game developer. Comments and tips are of course very welcome, send a mail or use the forums!