Long trial periods don't work. Lot's of potential customers will whip through a few plays of many types of games in a couple hours and "return" the game. Even strategy games with 30 turns per game can be played multiple times on different maps in 2 hours. What to do? Make better videos? If you have a good answer I'm sure Apple and Google want to know.
I recently mentioned the Doom model[1] of offering a few levels for free and the rest are paid. A few people said they had tried that and people really hated it.
I've been playing Scurvy Scallywags recently. I really like it. They deserve more money than the small amount I paid for the game. There is a tiny IAP, which I've bought, but I wish there was a way to give them more money.
It doesn't have to give me any advantage in the game either.
Maybe provide a free download and allow users to play through tutorials or the first 2 levels then opt for a single in-app purchase to unlock the full game. One single in-app purchase that would have been the cost of the game anyway. No different than all those free demos we got to play on PC.
That usually irks me. The free bundle should have enough to get me hooked. Few (possibly) really good games only gave me the most basic of levels for free without any of the complexity the rest of the game had. So obviously, it wasn't enough to get me to buy the rest.
Dont get me wrong, i LOVE this model. Give me free levels, make me love it. Promise me far cooler stuff awaits me beyond the pay wall (offer a video trailer) and i'd love to pay for the rest.
One great example i ran into (and yes i am probably mentioning this like the third time here) is BADLAND. I am honestly not a dev of it :P but am in love with their model!
I would gladly spend $5.00 on a mobile game if I really like it.
But, too many times I have spent money on a game and then not really liked it.
The reason in-app or in-game purchases work is because you don't mind spending money on something you really like.
If Apple or Google Play allowed for a testing period of a few hours, then this might solve the problem.
If I have a money back time limit of say 2 hours, then I can get my money back anytime before I spend a total of 2 hours playing the game.
This would allow me to only spend money on games I really like without the fear of spending money on games I don't like.