Show HN: Learned Objective C as a high schooler and made this iPhone game (opens in new tab)

As someone who learned iOS development by myself in high school, I wish I had something like makegameswithus to help me along the way. There were plenty of resources available to learn Objective-C, but I found that one of the major pain-points was getting through the stuff that's not related to code (managing certificates, publishing, managing artwork/copy). Those are still valuable skills to have, but something mgwu seems like it would help a lot for someone who is starting out. Games are a powerful tool to inspire students to create something really cool. Good job!

Thanks! The app store really is an awesome marketplace for creations that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Indeed the art looks solid enough that it makes me want to try it.

Possible design improvements (all can be seen in the last screenshot):

* the color of the text in the top left corner is uncanny, doesn't blend with the rest of the screen, and doesn't provide good readability.

* huge areas like the right side look too patterny. Using something like procedural generation would make it feel much better (see e.g Tiny Wings)

You're claiming to be an "old guy here" and making video games in high-school?

wtf. that's not old. wait till you're in your 50s or 60s to call yourself old.

Both the founders are alumni from my high school, so that's the connection that started us working together. I was one of their alpha testers, so I got 100%. Even so, I would say that 30% is more than reasonable considering that they provide the art and promotion. It would be easy to get lost in the sea of apps already out there, and their promotion really helped my game get noticed.

MGWU co-founder here, to clarify we take 20c of 99c (30% of the 70c post Apple) so the developer keeps majority :). The localization on iTunes showed up by accident due to the Appirater library (https://github.com/arashpayan/appirater) being localized, will be fixed in an update

I got help with the art and with learning Objective C from makegameswith.us They were awesome in making the whole thing possible.

Hey, we'll make art for your games too! Drop me a line at jeremy@makegameswith.us if you're interested.

A friend of mine, who happens to be a psychological researcher, wanted me to make an app for her team that would allow them to get real-time survey results. Her manager refused to talk to me directly and insisted my friend act as a surrogate, so I called it off.

At least one research group saw a need for this sort of product, and it would be stupid easy to make. Have at it!

The App has been out for a couple of days. Apple's sales reports are delayed for yesterday so we're not sure how much Chris has made yet. While it was free it made top 25 puzzle and arcade games in 3 stores and top 100 puzzle and arcade in a couple more including the US!

It has actually only been out for a few days. It was free for the first couple, and the app made it into the top 50 puzzle games in the US and onto charts in some other countries. Following that, I decided to make it paid. The numbers for paid downloads are still rolling in, but it looks promising.

Roughly 3-4 months. I was taking classes at the same time, so I worked about an hour a day.

I connected with makegameswith.us through high school. I first learned to program in a class freshman year.

Thanks Matt! I'd like to think that I'm putting what they taught me to good use.

Try going to makegameswith.us! That's where I learned.

With regards to this project, I'm considering making a sequel and an iPad version. Otherwise, I'm pretty busy at the moment, but I have an idea for a bigger mobile project that I'm not ready to unveil just yet...

MGWU art/marketing dude here...Thanks for asking. Gameplay videos will most certainly be part of our promotions package in the very near future (read: probably a YouTube channel). In the meantime, I can assure you that this game is legit and future updates will make it well worth your investment.