ROUNDTABLES ★ 8 upvotes 2011

Ask HN: Review my side project (free iPhone game - Bullseye Factory)

Shared by @thestoicjester · Web 2.0 Genesis (2007–2013) · 3 community discussions

ORIGINAL RETROSPECTIVE

The Founder's Submission

Direct narrative and submission text authored by @thestoicjester on Hacker News:

Hey everyone.

I've spent the last three months of my free-time working with my sister on an iPhone game called Bullseye Factory. I did all of the programming and game design, my sister did all of the graphics. It uses the gyroscope so it's iPhone4/iPod Touch 4 only. Here's a YouTube video of the gameplay for those of you without a device:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0La1-7MXDk

If you do have an iPhone 4 I'll post promo codes below so you can check it out.

I'd love feedback on the game. Any aspect of it really; from gameplay to graphics to pricing to anything else. I released it a couple of weeks ago and have gotten very few downloads so far. However, I just yesterday released the 'lite' version that has just a handful of levels for free, so we'll see how that drives sales.

promo codes:

3T6FEJAL4FPY 4M6NHT3K7LT4 NR3X7NN6HARF W4MTP9EM7NH4 WM6AAYM974P9 ATJKYNHXYXXR JTFHNR6LK3XA RPJYJ3KH97F7 RYYYK9LLF39M EH4Y63KNN9MT

SYNTHESIS & DOSSIER

Retrospective Overview & Key Insights

Distilled analysis of the business dynamics, operational challenges, and strategic takeaways:

An open Ask HN community consultation from 2011 where @thestoicjester convened hundreds of developers and bootstrappers to share real experiences, hard numbers, and tactics.

Core Principles for Independent Builders:

Participants share raw revenue figures, churn rates, and stack decisions that corporate PR never publishes.

Recurring answers reveal that distribution, not coding skill, is almost universally the rate-limiting step in developer businesses.

Practical recommendations on bookkeeping, payment gateways (Stripe vs Paddle), and freelance-to-product transitions.

Community Debate Themes:

Hundreds of active indie hackers contributed case studies, pricing heuristics, and pitfalls to avoid when moonlighting on side projects.

PEER EVALUATIONS

Community Discussions & Critical Reviews

High-signal perspectives, counter-arguments, and peer founder insights debated on Hacker News (3 total discussions):

EC @ecaron Peer Contributor

2011 Thread ↗

Here are the download links:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bullseye-factory-lite/id413886848?mt=8 (free version)

http://itunes.apple.com/app/bullseye-factory/id408231799?mt=8 (full version)

AL @allenbrunson Peer Contributor

2011 Thread ↗

looks pretty good, man! i took one of your promo codes and gave you a five-star rating.

i think the in-game graphics are great, but your icon for this app and your other ones leave a lot to be desired. they should be more full and colorful.

Read All 3 Hacker News Comments ↗

CATEGORY Ask HN Roundtables →

HISTORICAL ERA Web 2.0 Genesis (2007–2013)

COMMUNITY SCORE ★ 8 points

TOTAL DISCUSSIONS 3 comments

TOPICS & TECH STACK:

#side-project