The APPera

**Win Free Scoops Copy, Find Out After the Jump!**

EDIT: Congratulations to the winners by random picker: Bessamy, Danny and James90241!!! Codes have been sent to the email provided.

Since everybody is in inauguration  mood, I figured our little site shoud join the spirit. We present you Part 1 of our inaugural “Developer of the Month” feature!

Ian Marsh, Scoops (& Hanoi: Free; Paid)

Currently, there are only a handful of devs who can deliver hit after hit. Thankfully and rightfully so, Ian Marsh is one of the few.

Scoops Discovery

Ian first caught my eye with his Scoops offering. It’s got a little funky icon (I am a sucker for eye-catching icons) so I told myself, hmmp! for $1.99? I figured it was a steal. The gameplay is very outstanding and simple at the same time You stack ice cream scoops (thus the title, d’oh) on top of each other, avoiding tomatoes and onions, and try to stack them as high as you can. The swooshing sounds and the little dings when you stack similar colored scoops add special flavors to the game.

Continue reading to find out how the game went from idea to execution + find out how to win a FREE Scoops Copy for yourself…

Scoops Background

I was amazed at the cute gameplay and have always meant to ask… why did you decide to make a game based on stacking ice cream scoops? to which Ian replied:

“My wonderful wife insisted that I needed to make a game involving ice cream never failed to remind me when I was brainstorming. So I made Scoops with helpful input from her and other friends.”

He then proceeded developing the game with his wife’s intelligent concept during nights and weekends while having a full time job. Ian, a Computer Science degree holder from UCSD, then decided to “throw off the shackles of corporate employment and strike out on my own”. He focused developing the game… working 4 to 5 hours daily. Fast forward a month and a half of full time developing, Scoops was ready for release!

Success

Scoops went on to rank higest at No. 32 in the AppStore’s Top 100 Paid Apps. After four months of release, “over 50,000 copies have been sold at either $0.99 or $1.99, and approximately 30,000 free copies were downloaded when Scoops was free for 2 days as a promotion.”

Hanoi

Here’s the kicker… Scoops is NOT the only game Ian is currently famous for. His first iPhone game was Hanoi which is free (later the paid, Hanoi Plus version). The game reached No. 1 in Top Free Apps… just another reason why Ian IS getting this recognition.

Upcoming Offerings

Currently, Ian has just released TEXTROPOLIS (To Be Reviewed Soon!), a game with a groovy twist to word making games, which is already shaping up to be a chart topper! Possible upcoming games from Ian:

“I’ve been mulling around the idea of a made to order burger game with some elements of Scoops and some elements of Diner Dash. I also have plenty of potential word games on the back burner.”

…way to go Ian! Even though, these are just premature ideas for now, we at The APPera know and trust these games will be of high caliber as usual!

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FREE Scoops Copy

Please comment away below regarding Ian, his game or even this article. THREE comment authors will be chosen at random. Contest Closes January 22. 12AM.

Related posts:

1. Craig Kemper (January Dev of the Month, Part 2)
2. January - Developer(s) of the Month
3. Happy National ICE CREAM Day Everyone!
4. March Devs of the Month: Dave Castelnuovo & Allan Dye
5. February Dev of the Month: ETHAN NICHOLAS (Part 1)