Inside Mobile Apps · Tracking the Convergence of Social Platforms, Virtual Goods, and Mobile Apps

Blow Up

| $0.99 | Camel Games

Inside Mobile Apps · Emerging Android Apps: Christmas, Air Penguin and Pano - Inside Mobile Apps · Tracking the Convergence of Social Platforms, Virtual Goods, and Mobile Apps

Christmas themes began to sneak their way into the Android charts this week, with apps from DualBoot Games and Dancing Squirrel capitalizing on the season and climbing the charts. Russian developer Game Insight also got into the spirit of things with a seasonal update to My Country that added special quests and items for Christmas and New Years. While games were the genre to beat, utilities and other apps also represented, showing up on every chart this week. World of Goo – Independent developer 2D Boy’s innovative puzzle game continues to perform well on Android, moving from the paid app charts to the #6 position on the top grossing charts. Originally released on PC, World of Goo went on to win multiple awards for its innovative gameplay and technical excellence and was eventually ported to the Nintendo Wii. World of Goo costs $4.99 and has now seen almost 100,000 downloads according to its Android marketplace listing. My Country – Game Insight’s perennial hit My Country continues its dominance of the Android charts, but has dropped in recent weeks and is now down to the #17 spot.  The game was updated on December 8th to add holiday themed content. Players can now have a Christmas tree in their city and collect unique holiday decorations and quests. Minecraft – Pocket Edition -  A recent spike in interest has put Mojang’s Minecraft – Pocket Edition back on the top grossing charts in the #19 position. Briefly discounted to $0.10 as part of a marketplace promotion, the game saw sales spike towards 500,000 downloads, but that number has dropped off just as sharply now that the price has returned to $6.99. The app was updated on December 3rd with new features and bug fixes. Christmas HD – Independent developer DualBoot Games cashes in on the Read More

Air Penguin

| FREE | GAMEVIL Inc.

Inside Mobile Apps · Emerging Android Apps: Christmas, Air Penguin and Pano - Inside Mobile Apps · Tracking the Convergence of Social Platforms, Virtual Goods, and Mobile Apps

Christmas themes began to sneak their way into the Android charts this week, with apps from DualBoot Games and Dancing Squirrel capitalizing on the season and climbing the charts. Russian developer Game Insight also got into the spirit of things with a seasonal update to My Country that added special quests and items for Christmas and New Years. While games were the genre to beat, utilities and other apps also represented, showing up on every chart this week. World of Goo – Independent developer 2D Boy’s innovative puzzle game continues to perform well on Android, moving from the paid app charts to the #6 position on the top grossing charts. Originally released on PC, World of Goo went on to win multiple awards for its innovative gameplay and technical excellence and was eventually ported to the Nintendo Wii. World of Goo costs $4.99 and has now seen almost 100,000 downloads according to its Android marketplace listing. My Country – Game Insight’s perennial hit My Country continues its dominance of the Android charts, but has dropped in recent weeks and is now down to the #17 spot.  The game was updated on December 8th to add holiday themed content. Players can now have a Christmas tree in their city and collect unique holiday decorations and quests. Minecraft – Pocket Edition -  A recent spike in interest has put Mojang’s Minecraft – Pocket Edition back on the top grossing charts in the #19 position. Briefly discounted to $0.10 as part of a marketplace promotion, the game saw sales spike towards 500,000 downloads, but that number has dropped off just as sharply now that the price has returned to $6.99. The app was updated on December 3rd with new features and bug fixes. Christmas HD – Independent developer DualBoot Games cashes in on the Read More

Zynga Poker

| FREE | Zynga

Inside Mobile Apps · Emerging Top Android Apps: Great Little War Game, Skitch and NFL Live Wallpapers - Inside Mobile Apps · Tracking the Convergence of Social Platforms, Virtual Goods, and Mobile Apps

This week’s Android charts showed a lot more variety than they had in past weeks, with Droidhen’s fast rising game Defender shooting up the top grossing charts to the #2 spot,  and newer titles from YoYo Games, Ace Viral and Rubicon Development all doing well on the paid charts. (Update) Defender – This week the Android top grossing charts see the fast-rising game Defender capture the #2 spot. Droidhen’s tower defense game has proven to be immensely popular since its release less than a month ago and according to its Android App store listing it has notched up almost 5,000,000 installs in that time. The game was last updated on November 17th with minor bug fixes. Defender is free and monetizes through in-app purchases. (Update) Zynga Poker - One of the three poker apps that seem to be locked in a constant battle for dominance of the Android top grossing charts, Zynga’s entry, Zynga Poker lands in the middle this week, claiming the #5 spot. A November 11th update added Hold’em tables to the app, increased the chip stack limit and placed chips on sale for a limited time. (Update) Nightclub Story – Sitting in the #36 spot, Nightclub Story is actually Team Lava’s least popular Story game currently on the Android top grossing chart, lagging behind #8 ranked Fashion Story, #10-ranked Bakery Story, #15-ranked Restaurant Story and #31-ranked Farm Story. Like all of the other games in the Story series, the game challenges players to manage their own business, but this time the goal is to create the best nightclub around. The app was last updated on September 14th. NFL 3D Live Wallpaper -  Airborne Studios/Cellfish Media’s officially licensed live wallpaper app NFL 3D Live Wallpaper occupies the #40 spot after gaining plenty of downloads and traction as the football season Read More

Wind-up Knight

| FREE | Robot Invader

Inside Mobile Apps · Top Emerging Android Apps: Defender, Wind-Up Knight and Cut the Rope - Inside Mobile Apps · Tracking the Convergence of Social Platforms, Virtual Goods, and Mobile Apps

This week’s Android listings showed far more diversity and change than they had in previous weeks, but the top reaches of the charts were still dominated by the same names and developers. That said, independent developers like Robot Invader, Droidhen and Galapagos managed to crack the lower reaches of the charts, and utilities made a much stronger showing than they did last week. As usual, the most popular apps in every chart were games. (Update) Smurfs’ Village – There was not much changeover in very top of the Android listings this week, but Beeline Interactive’s Smurfs’ Village continues its steady rise up the Android top grossing charts, landing the #5 spot this week. Readers may remember that since its September debut, Smurfs’ Village has moved up from the #35 spot on the top grossing charts, a significant jump that has put the game ahead of many long time Android top grossers in earnings. Smurfs’ Village was updated on November 4th to add notifications for tasks that longer than five minutes to complete. Defender – Tower defense game Defender is a welcome dose of new blood on the top grossing Android charts, making its debut in the #21 spot. In the game players must defend their castle from invading monsters by using a wall-mounted crossbow that they aim by touching invading forces, as well as unleashing magic spells for area-of-effect attacks. Defender is credited to Droidhen, who last updated the game on November 9th with additional skill levels and sound fixes for specific Android devices. The game is free-to-play and monetizes through in-app purchases. (Update) Zombie Farm - The Playforge’s established hit Zombie Farm is holding steady in the #23 spot again on the top grossing charts this week. According to the game’s Android marketplace listing, installs are beginning to taper off, Read More

iMobsters™

| FREE | Storm8 Games

Inside Mobile Apps · Top Emerging Android Apps: Life is Crime, Clouds & Sheep and Suddenly Popular Zombies - Inside Mobile Apps · Tracking the Convergence of Social Platforms, Virtual Goods, and Mobile Apps

This week’s Android listings were again dominated by games. The most interesting thing to note is the position of Zombie Farm. Last week the Mobage frontrunner had only just managed to crack the top 50 of the free app charts, and this week it is firmly in the middle of the top grossing charts, picking up hundreds of thousands of installs in the process. (Update) Life is Crime – When we last checked in with Red Robot Labs’ location based social game, it was the number #18 top grossing app. Three weeks later, Life is Crime is now in the #6 position.  While Booyah and CrowdMob were first to tackle the location-based RPG genre, Red Robot Labs looks like it may be able to hold onto its early success, overcoming the difficulty of creating a new social gaming ecosystem from the ground up with a pool of players artificially limited by their location. Life is Crime is free-to-play and monetizes through via in-app purchases. iMobsters - The #17 top grossing app this week is Storm8’s iMobsters, a mobile MMO and the the next closest competitor to the quickly rising Life is Crime. Boasting 1.6 million players, iMobsters challenges players to start their own gangs and recruit other players into their ranks as they try to become the undisputed Mafia Don of a virtual city. Installs of iMobsters have been steadily rising for the past 30 days, and as with Life is Crime, the game is free-to-play and monetizes through in-app purchases. (Update) Zombie Farm – What a difference a week makes. The day after Ngmoco went on the defensive about the Android version of Mobage, the proof seems to be in the pudding. Zombie Farm, one of the first titles on the new network has shot up to the #23 spot Read More