The App Store remains a bone of contention for many developers, but IUGO knew its A.D.D. game would throw multiple spanners in the works. That said, it wasn’t expecting its minigame collection with a decidedly risque bent would languish in the approvals process for months. At the end of November, it finally emerged, having been stripped of many games, but still boasting 70 quickfire challenges for iPhone gamers.
I spoke to IUGO Director of Business Development Sarah Thomson to find out about how A.D.D. came to be, and about IUGO’s struggles to get the game approved for the App Store.
Cult of Mac: How did you come up with the idea for A.D.D.?
Sarah Thomson: Last Spring, we were looking at gaming genres that hadn’t really been done on the iPhone. Our CEO suggested something along the lines of WarioWare. Of course, we wanted to put our own unique twist on it and so we started getting excited about doing something a little more edgy and sassy.
Why did you decide on making something more risque than a typical microgame collection?
Because the iPhone’s demographic is skewed a little older, we thought this content would be highly appealing to most users. There is so much room to do really cool, different content on the iPhone because of its capabilities combined with the target market.
Which do you think are the best microgames, and why?
That’s like asking which kid is your favorite. I think they’re all really fun and silly and not to be taken seriously at all! If you’re looking for a serious game, this game is not for you. There are a few that really made me laugh when I first played them.
What problems did you have getting the game approved?
We knew we were taking a risk with a game like A.D.D. We anticipated some back and forth with Apple and we made it clear from the beginning that we were willing to work with them to get the content to a place they were comfortable with. We certainly did not anticipate that wait would last almost six months. It was a string of content change requests from Apple combined with very little communication on their end along with ridiculous response lengths that kept A.D.D. in App Store purgatory for so long.
What should Apple do to make the App Store review process better for developers?
We need better communication and transparency from Apple along with clear content guidelines. The guidelines are vague at best and seem to change and contradict themselves all the time. There were games in the now-pulled (by IUGO) A.D.D. Lite that got through that were asked to be taken out in the full version. This makes for a very frustrating experience. It’s quite disheartening and doesn’t inspire you to continue working on the platform.
What updates will people see for A.D.D. over the coming months?
We plan to go back and rework most of the mini games that got pulled by Apple and resubmit so that we can bring the mini games count back up to at least 100.
A.D.D. is available on the App Store (iTunes link) for $2.99. For more on the game, visit the IUGO website.
