CAG app published and what next?

The Cheap Ass Gamer app has been published to the Windows Phone 7 marketplace and you can get it HERE!

The app still doesn’t appear in the search results despite it being published for three days now, something Microsoft should look into for Windows 8/WP8. The app is now in the search results :)

It’s been great fun writing it and I’ve learnt so much about coding in Silverlight for Windows Phone. I have a better understanding of XML files and how to save and load them thanks to my friend Danny. I’ve also learned how to code in XAML, the UI Silverlight counterpart. I think Silverlight is a bit easier than XNA games as there is less happening at once; the user decides when code is executed, essentially. However I’ve found debugging easier in XNA as its more obvious in games where there is a bug as it’s all visualised. Silverlight on the phone makes use of threading and asynchronous execution which can mean perfectly valid code won’t work properly as the timing goes wrong and code can conflict with each other.

Now I must ask, what do I do next? I have completed 2/4 apps for the Windows Phone Rewards Programme. It finishes on the 12th August and I’d really like to get the full number of points available. I’ve thought of a few different ideas like:

• A Sweepy Cleaner expansion/sequel or a new game. Games take a long time to develop as there is much content that needs to be created and game systems that need to be created. I don’t think I’d have enough time to write a game unless it was a simple one.
• A notes app as the one I use now has lots of nice graphics but it’s not very quick or Metro-y. There are lots of note apps already on the store but I would like to give it a go myself.
• I also thought of reviving the Grandad Invasion game from Three Thing game as it had potential but fell short from lack of time and energy. I’m not sure what my other team mates would think of doing this though.
• Talking about reviving, maybe I could port the text-based adventure game I started months ago and never got very far with to WP7. I’m still not very good at coming up with a story but maybe I could turn it into something else.

If you have any suggestions I would be interested to hear them and I will continue to ponder the subject.