Three Weeks After Launching PlayDoz: Creating an App is Just the Beginning; Getting People to Find It is the Real Challenge

Let’s start with an update.

When I wrote the previous post, PlayDoz had just passed the App Store review, and Google Play was still pending. Now both platforms are live. On September 10, when we launched, there were 6 games in the app; as of October 1, with the release of version 1.0.4, that number has more than doubled to 13.

In the first few days, traffic was pitifully low. Now it’s gradually increasing—not much, but the trend is upward. The entire system is starting to show signs of a positive feedback loop.

Over these three weeks, I’ve had a clear realization: creating the app is just the first step of a long journey. What truly takes time is the multitude of tasks I had never encountered before.

The Challenges Have Shifted

In the past, the main challenge in software development was “creating it.” You finish a program, put it in the store, and wait for users to come. Being able to create it was the threshold, and that threshold served as a moat.

That’s no longer the case. With AI, almost anyone can produce an app. I personally add one or two new games to PlayDoz every week—something I wouldn’t have dared to imagine two years ago. But this same logic applies to everyone. The store isn’t lacking in apps; it’s lacking in apps that can be found.

So the challenge has moved to the other end: how to get people to see you, how to get them to click in, and how to get them to stay. Choosing keywords, where to get exposure, how to accumulate positive reviews, and which parts of the app should have hooks—these tasks used to seem like “marketing department work,” but now they are my work.

To be honest, I thought this would be tedious, but I found it quite interesting once I got into it. There are so many strategies, and each one provides feedback. Let’s go through them one by one.

1. Release Weekly Updates to Show the Store You’re Active

This is the most basic strategy. I release a new version every week, each time introducing new games.

For the App Store, updates that include content are considered significant changes and will receive a bit of traffic boost. More importantly, an app that is updated weekly is viewed very differently from one that hasn’t been updated in three months by the algorithms.

In my previous post, I mentioned that “weekly updates are the product itself.” Now there’s an additional layer of meaning: it’s also the cheapest form of promotion.

2. Start with Small Keywords, Then Go Big

ASO, or App Store Optimization, is essentially SEO for app store searches.

I pulled out and analyzed all the keywords related to puzzle games. Each keyword has two dimensions: how much traffic it gets and how competitive it is. A term like “puzzle games” has massive traffic, but the top spots are filled with apps from big companies with millions of downloads, making it nearly impossible for a new app to squeeze in.

So my current strategy is the opposite: focus on low-traffic, low-competition keywords. These keywords aren’t being fought over, allowing a new app to rank higher. Individually, these keywords might not bring in many users, but a dozen of them combined can create a steady flow of traffic.

With traffic comes downloads, and with downloads come reviews, which in turn improve rankings. Once the overall weight of the app increases, I can target larger keywords and aim for rankings in a bigger pool.

This is a snowball effect; it can’t be rushed.

I implemented a sharing feature in the app with two entry points.

Share at the Start. At the beginning of each game, users can share their current game state with others. When the recipient clicks the link, they see exactly what the sender wants them to see and can jump right in to try it out.

Share After Completing a Game. After finishing a game, users can share the entire problem-solving process. The recipient can see how the game was solved step by step and can challenge themselves with the same game.

These links can be shared on Facebook, Twitter, WeChat—anywhere. They are universal links, and when someone clicks on them, the system first checks if PlayDoz is installed on their phone:

If installed: The app opens directly to the shared game.
If not installed: It opens the PlayDoz website, where they can see the shared game state and the solution process, along with download buttons for the App Store and Google Play.

The key is the pathway for those who don’t have the app. Previously, a shared link meant nothing if the recipient didn’t have the app installed. Now, they can view and play without installing, and if they find it enjoyable, they might download it. The web version here serves not just as “another platform,” but as a landing page for every share.

4. Once Traffic Comes, Find Ways to Retain It

Bringing people in is only half the battle. The reality for many games is: download once, play for five minutes, and delete. I need to give them a reason to come back.

Leaderboards and Gift Cards. I created a weekly leaderboard that tracks how many coins each player earns across all games within a week. The top 20 players each week receive gift cards. The amount isn’t large, but it transforms “playing a game” into “where do I rank this week.” Some players will play more games just to maintain their position.

Local Notifications. If a user hasn’t been active for a while, I send a notification. The content isn’t just “come back and play,” but something specific: the weekly competition has started, or a new game has been released. These notifications are local and don’t rely on servers, making them easy to implement.

5. Turn Events into Exposure

With the weekly competitions and gift cards, I gained another resource to leverage: store events.

The App Store has in-app events, and Google Play has a similar mechanism. You can submit ongoing activities in your app, and the store will give them separate visibility in search results and recommendations. A weekly competition means there’s an event to submit every week, providing an additional opportunity for exposure.

The beauty of this is that the leaderboard, originally intended for retention, inadvertently unlocked a new channel for attracting users. One action yields two benefits.

6. Spending on Ads to Teach the Store to Recognize You

Finally, let’s talk about ads. Why would a low-traffic app spend money on advertising?

Because there are some things the store will never learn without spending money.

For example, my brand is called PlayDoz. But if you search for PlayDoz in the App Store right now, you’re likely to find a bunch of other stuff instead of my app. The reason is simple: too few people search for that term, so the system thinks you misspelled it and “corrects” it to something else.

What to do? Advertise. Show Apple that people searching for PlayDoz are genuinely looking for PlayDoz, and they are clicking through. The more clicks, the more the system will associate that term with my app.

I apply the same logic to those low-traffic keywords. I created a Custom Product Page for each keyword, which is a tailored store page with screenshots and copy focused on that keyword. Then I buy ads for that keyword, directing traffic to the corresponding page. This way, the store learns that this app is related to that keyword and that users who click through are satisfied.

I accumulate this one keyword at a time. Here, advertising isn’t about buying users; it’s about buying the store’s recognition of you.

Current Feelings

PlayDoz is now heading in the right direction. It’s not about how much traffic there is, but that every link is connected: new games every week bring updates, updates lead to exposure, exposure leads to downloads, downloads lead to reviews and rankings, rankings retain users, competitions bring event exposure, and share links bring users back.

A month ago, I would have thought these tasks were trivial. Now I realize that this is what product development is all about. Writing code is just one part of it, and in the AI era, it’s becoming the less valuable part.

If you’re also an independent developer launching your first app, my advice is: don’t treat the launch as the finish line. The real work begins on launch day. And those tasks are more interesting than you might think.

You can play PlayDoz on the App Store, Google Play, and playdoz.com. The weekly coin leaderboard is now live, and you’re welcome to compete for a spot in the top 20.