Oh yep I know 
It just seems as if the people Iāve asked with games on both platforms are saying that there are more sales from google even when everything else is equal. So it might be the difference in your purchase type, or it might just be because google often sells more choice games anyway.
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Iām definitely going to put up a demo and see what you all think and feel about it.
The way Iāve structured it is, if you lose a life, you get kicked right back to the choice that just caused it.
No need to regress the player any further back than that - otherwise, itās confusing to figure out where youāre picking it back up.
Losing a life has to have some gravity to be compelling as a story device. And earning a life when youāre running low can also be compelling.
It just seems to be a core necessity in a survival based game.
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Yes. A one time payment, in lieu of making that same payment at a fixed cutoff point.
Would you still feel the same way if we are talking about a survival/horror game?
Besides having to start all over again, or pay for the convenience of more lives, are there any other methods to give the survival premise the necessary gravity for a compelling game?
Iām struggling with finding a compelling alternative.
These are definitely difficult things to make work, between the fixed and known points of limitation and potential.
While thereās no graceful balance, Iām finding myself having to think as a marketer as much as a writer.
Just coming up with an effective title is often a brain twister.
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On android it is but in apple its a one off payment for the whole game.
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Thatās very interesting!
So your experience is that the Android/GooglePlay sales out perform the AppStore sales?
Do you think thatās because an up front payment system turns off too many people?
Thatās the impression I got from looking over download numbers on different titles.
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We can do any of those with any game, we just donāt normally do IAP as a standard. But, because ZEX was IAP, and @JimD asked, we said sure. Itās been a while since weāve done it, and previously looking at a comparison of sequels as a new game or IAP has been mostly inconclusive, and itās been a while. Hopefully Iāll set aside some time to gather some kinda of information from this in a week or two and maybe have a stronger opinion on it.
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Itās slightly functionally different. We tend to discuss it as it comes up. Functionally the question is whether you write your sequel as an extension (monetized as IAP), or as another game (monetized as aā¦nother game). But yea, we handle a lot of the final code for handling, so weāll end up talking at that point if itās necessary.
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Actually the HG submission page has a little bit of thought on free-to-win monetization, but functionally I have to see what you mean in action before I know for certain. I donāt think Iād be adverse to that kind of design, but whether or not Iād say it should be wrapped in with the ad turn off on free-to-win, or whether it should/can be a separate purchase, Iād have to actually see it in actual practice.
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Download numbers change significantly between free-to-win, and free-to-try/pay-to-play games. The short story is thereās probably too many factors for me to even really determine all of them, so I can only really make educated guesses (I mean, I canāt A/B test a whole monetization structure). That said, one of the most prominent, easy to understand elements is mass appeal. A game that has good mass appeal, particularly to younger audiences and audiences that are less likely to pay for games, the more likely a game will do well as free-to-win (ala Dragon and Great Tournament 1).
All that said, functionally I have to see it before I can say anything definitely.
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Iām sorry. But are you constructing the game with the intent that the player must pay to finish it? Because that seems like you are 
Iāve got to say that I agree with @Frogs and @resuri08. Iām not fond of those types of games (obvious money grabs in my eyes).
But honestly, wouldnāt the player just reset the game instead of paying you more money to finish the game? Maybe just charge for the game instead of it being free; thereās your one-time fee that wouldnāt feel like you were trying to put your hand in my wallet. 
Then you can make an achievement for those who can complete the game within the 9 lives framework. Maybe make a different one for those who exceed 9?
I donāt know. but from your premise, it just gives me EA vibes, and I donāt like that one bit.
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Yes, my concept is to go for a free download and play with the possibility of playing all the way through with a little luck and skill, or until the player runs out of lives so the cutoff point is up to the player, rather than a fixed cutoff point to buy the whole thing.
My [very subjective] view of that is the choice comes after becoming vested in the outcome of the game before having to make that buy decision, rather than cutting off the game at a fixed point for payment to continue playing/reading.
Playing until you die off (never in the same place twice) as the ātry for freeā mode originally seemed like less of an ultimatum sale - but from the very thoughtful feedback, it seems like that may be perceived as a more coercive method that Iād like to avoid. IF is a fun medium and it has to always have that going for it.
The genre of my project is survival/horror so I need a method of monitization that encourages sales. Also, a level of jeopardy has to be maintained that I think unlimited lives would undermine.
What do you think is the right way to handle those two important aspects?
How are survival/horror games typically monitized? And how do they typically make the jeopardy to the player more real than just setting them back to a prior point of a scene without consequence, other than killing off hard earned scores and achievements?
As I get to the end of my first draft, these are things that I need to find the right solutions to make it a fun ride for everyone, even if they donāt have the money to get past chapter three because one day, they may come back and make the buy if they really did enjoy it until it was their specific time to die off, anywhere in the game/story.
Perhaps ads, and paying for advertisement removal, is the best way to monitize? What are your thoughts on that method?
BTW, the people is this forum are very impressive in their expertise and Iām thankful for all of the thoughtful advice as well as all the prior posts I read through that answered all of the nuts and bolts questions to actually finish a fairly complex first time project thatās about a 75K word count in six weeks, using most of the functions available.
Your posts are GOLD to noobs like me, struggling through the first time.
Why not offer players a choice at the beginning of difficulty levels. Offering a story mode (unlimited lives) and a survival mode where you only have a set number of lives.
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Your one-time fee concept is something I thought about a lot too but that has the bottleneck effect on download numbers because theyāre paying it all up front.
Hybrid ideas may be an answer but so far, Iāve got nothing but the buying more lives thing as a tangible answer today.
What a thoughtful topic, here.
Iāve several monetization plan in mind, but after reading the whole topic, I think Iām leaning more towards this case:
Pay for mid-playhrough.
I planned my game to have a quite list of achievements. These achievements are mostly intended for āIām going to 100% thisā kind of players, but I think casual readers might find it interesting too.
One of the example is to play as a normal person, build your character into a vampire, and end the story as that vampire build. This way, you can get exclusive vampire-build scenes along the story and get an achievement for it.
Now, thereāre also another smaller but fun achievements that related to discovering secrets, but they might be hard to find. You might miss them even after several playthroughs.
What I have in mind is having a āplay this chapterā system that can be unlocked by both finishing the game at least once (showing its availability) and buying it (unlocking it). Kinda like New Game +, to an extent.
However, this system itself is not mandatory to 100% the game. Itās just helping you in the effort of 100%-ing the game by giving you the chance to explore a single-whole of the chapter to unlock its secret tidbits.
In fact, you might find it more fun by playing the whole game all over again and unlock the acievements instead. Besides, how can you know which chapter that contains that particular hidden achievement, hmm?
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Itās the million dollar question. Iām going to try a version of the lives concept so you all can play it and see how it feels.
With āachievementsā adding an extra life here and there along the way, it might work for players - or it could crash and burn miserably.
I think it may be worth testing it here to gauge the hands-on reaction.
Thatās a very clever method!
The concept of full play-through with the option of buying more advanced aspects seems like it would make the true fan sale.
Success of the monetization would then depend on transforming the reader/player into a true fan of the game.
Somehow the story has to really bite them in the neck and cause that transformation to happen - so it really fits the genre!
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Iāve finally got it done - WHEW! Thank you to everyone who responded! My wife said that I have finally found my people here because I enjoy talking to you all so much.
It was a huge job but I have to say, it was a lot of fun to write!
If youād like to see how it came out and would like to give me your opinions, check for my Beta Tester request post.
Again, thank you for your very well articulated and reasoned advice!
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