> Spooky Playtime was amazing collaborative effort. It showed us what we can do if we really put our mind to it. So now you know the story of Spooky Playtime. So what does it take to write a kick-butt iOS game in a month (and not have your wife and kids walk you on you)?
>
> It takes a lot but here are some of the major factors:
>
> 1. **Family first** – yes we were under a tight deadline but we still had those family obligations. Putting your family first will keep the family happy and understanding when you have go into hiding to get the game complete. I think also getting the whole family involved made everyone feel a part of it.
> 2. **Understanding significant others** – This game would not have gotten done if our wives hadn’t of let us get away for a few days. This is priceless and extremely important.
> 3. **Varying but overlapping skill sets** – The 3 of us all excel in different areas and all of our skills overlap. So if someone is tied up with something then the other can fill in and move things along. Very important when on a tight deadline.
> 4. **Ability to function with little sleep** – There were a lot of nights where we would only get 3 – 4 hours sleep a night. This can’t go on for too many days in a row but this is vital when trying to write an app in a month.
> 5. **Passion, Heart and Fun** – If you don’t have these 3 factors you’ll never get an app complete. Contrary to what you may hear in media writing an iOS app is not something you can do overnight. It’s not as simple as building a web page. It takes concentrated effort that takes a lot time. Without passion you’ll drop the app the for something else. Without heart it won’t have that special charm that makes it stand out from the thousands of other apps. Without fun it’s just not worth doing.
via [bombingbrain.com](http://www.bombingbrain.com/blog/?p=88)
My friend and collaborator at [Bombing Brain](http://www.bombingbrain.com "Bombing Brain") Tim Cochrane wrote up a nice two-part article on the making of Spooky Playtime. The summary I quoted above sums it up nicely.
But if you’re at all interested in seeing what it takes to put together a decent iPhone/iPad app, I encourage you to read the entire piece, as well as my follow up on some of the graphics, which I should be posting in the next day or two. Maybe if more people realized how much sweat went into these things, they’d hesitate before calling 99-cent apps “worthless.”
You can start at part one here.
