This app was mentioned in 4 comments, with an average of 2.00 upvotes
> At this point in my Minesweeper career I'm playing for fast times, so if I don't get an open area on my first click, I start a new game.
Heh, I built that into an Android Minesweeper app as default behavior, because I figure a lot of people play that way. I think most people don't realize it's happening, but nonetheless subconsciously appreciate never starting with just a single tile revealed. No one likes starting with just a single tile; it's nearly completely useless. And no one enjoys starting over repeatedly; they just suffer through it because it fits their priorities. I figure, might as well save people some time and let them get on with the real meat of the game.
One of our members (u/nsthsn) created "omg Minesweeper" that plays really nice. One touch clearing and auto-flagging for a quick and fun experience. Highly recommend: google play link
I've just begun this year selling on the Unity Asset Store, code assets specifically, since that's where my primary skill set lies. So far I've just got one asset, but working on it has led to three more assets, two of which will be out very soon. And that first asset was born from working on a full product, and getting requests from people to integrate the functionality of that product into their own games. Plus, making a demo for that asset led to a collaboration with another person which culminated in my first published game. Basically, I've found a lot of synergy between working on products/games and working on assets related to them.
So far I'm still well below where I need to be to keep my savings account happy, but I'm hopeful about this next batch of assets. The first one I already released is very niche and comes at a higher price tier. I don't have to sell as many licences for it to add up, but I have a much smaller audience and I have to work harder to convince them to buy it. (I'm averaging around 2 purchases a month, not so great.) The newer ones will be at cheaper prices and will be relevant to far more people and game types. And I think I'll try to divide up some of the assets into pro/lite versions at different price points, when such a decision makes architectural sense (it didn't for my first asset unfortunately).
I wish I could give you more concrete numbers, but I don't have them yet. What I do know is that I'm a lousy marketer. I prefer to market through example, posting on Twitter and other relevant internet communities about the stuff I'm making with my assets. But I'm too much of a perfectionist and generally feel like my stuff isn't quite good enough to publicize. When I do post, though, it does an effective job at getting attention. It helps that I already have an okay reach with game developers. Trying to promote a game is hard; the audience is too spread out. Trying to promote a game development tool is easier because the target audience tends to be more concentrated.
Omg minesweeper does auto flagging, but not auto chording. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mooncalf.omgMinesweeper