When I first set out on this project (#OpReskin), my intention was to have a completed app in the iOS app store within 7 days. Alas, that is not to be so, but the project still lives and I am inching ever so slightly toward the finish line! The app code for my “whack-a-mole” style game has already been purchased, so now its time to brainstorm some ideas for a theme.
I chose the whack-a-mole concept because its a simple game that most people are familiar with. I also want to use this as a way to experiment with app store optimization (ASO). So I went digging (pun intended) for some data over on Sensor Tower that may help me determine the direction of the app theme. BTW, if you haven’t heard of Sensor Tower yet, it’s a sweet suite of ASO tools that let’s you see a whole bunch of useful data on keywords and app competition.
Before I set out to do my keyword research, I had to brainstorm a set of workable ideas. I didn’t exactly use the scientific method on this. I basically just spouted off a list of random concepts and topics, and drilled it down from there. Although, when listing these ideas I did try to use themes that were either timely or viral in some way.
This is the list I initially came up with:
- Mule (Whack A MULE! A truly brilliant play on words! OK, maybe not…)
- Miley Cyrus OR Random Twerkers (This Miley character is all the rage these days, why not?)
- Turkeys (Just in time for Thanksgiving!)
- Santa OR Elves (Can we capitalize off the holiday season?)
- Llamas (Who doesn’t like llamas? Como se llama?)
- Grumpy Cat (hmmmph)
With 6 to choose from, it was time to whittle down the list of contenders. I whacked the mule concept immediately for being such a ‘meh’ idea, and began doing some keyword research with the remaining 5.
As suspected, there were a handful of apps jumping on the twerk-powered Miley-train. That being said, there was still space to compete. Although I did find a whack-a-mole type game where you spanked twerking miscreants. I didn’t feel like I wanted to get into this muddy territory, so I scratched it off my list.
On to the next…
Unfortunately, there were already a few whack-a-turkey games. Drat. Well, I probably wouldn’t have made the Thanksgiving deadline anyway.
App research showed that trying to compete with Santa or Elf themed holiday apps was kind of like Santa trying to fit his rotund shape down a small chimney. Naughty or nice, it was off my list.
So this is what it has come to? Ill-tempered felines and llamas!? I love both of these creatures, so its a tough call. Grumpy Cat is certainly a popular search in the app store, even if it has tailed off in recent months. But alas, I found a whack-a-grumpy cat type game. I figured that if I must be so wholly unoriginal as to reskin/clone a whack-a-mole game, I might as well stray away from themes that already exist for that genre…
LLAMAS WIN!
I must confess, I prefer alpacas to their cousins the llamas, but there just wasn’t as much search activity around alpalcas. Llamas certainly have some popularity to them. That being said, I presume that some of the popularity of the keyword “llama” has to do with with Spanish texting apps.
So a Llama Theme it is. Upon doing some more research on SensorTower, I noticed a few popular apps dubbed “llama or duck”. I am not sure how this game caught fire, but they appear to be rather popular. So in an effort to llama-back on their popularity, I have settled on the following app theme and name:
“Wham a Lllama, Whack a Duck”
Whatd’ya say!?
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