Smiles developer eyes cross-platform future

The developer of iPhone puzzler Smiles says he plans to take it to other platforms, including PC, Mac, Linux and even consoles.

Mike Kasprzak is the latest independent developer to take to his blog with the lessons he's learned from the first few months of the App Store.

"PC, Mac, and Linux are the immediate future of the Smiles game and brand," he writes. "The goal being to expand the potential market before moving on to the next thing.

"Most the work is done already, it’s just a good couple weeks and some infrastructure away. In addition, I’d like to pursue a console version."

Kasprzak also has interesting stuff to say about Smiles on the iPhone, which has so far existed "entirely outside every top 100 list in the App Store".

That means word-of-mouth has been the only sales driver for the game, as well as posts on news sites. Its nomination for an IGF Mobile award has also helped.

Kasprzak says he's ruled out further updates for the game - "Smiles as a product already contains arguably well over $5 worth of content and extras, and asking for more as an unknown would be murder" - but plans to improve the product's brand and marketing.

"My iTunes/App Store/all of descriptions are extremely vague," he writes. "I approached the game marketing originally by pushing the game as mere cheerful and friendly product. Easy to play, and some actual depth to it. But that’s the same angle every other matching/casual game takes."

Instead, he's going to focus on improving this product information, with the aim of being "clearer what you're getting as a consumer" and giving "a stronger identity for media to grasp on to."

If you're an indie developer, the full post is well worth a read, as are recent posts on the blogs of Veiled Games and Majic Jungle.