How to get featured on Apple's AppStore

Three simple rules seem to be the foundation of being featured,we're going to take this snippet of information from Inkle’s Jon Ingold regarding the delayed 80 Days Interactive Fiction game:. “We’ve been asked by Apple to move the release day back to next Thursday, the 31st,” he said. “So we are of course doing that."

Now it seems that 80 Days has the requested delay because Apple wishes to feature it in a prminent position in the AppStore. Inkle knows how much great marketing this will bring and how it will far offset the lost revenue from a week's publishing delay. 

So let's look at the three rules that this game can teach us about being featured:

1. Reputation. Inkle is as solid as they come with excellent game book adaptations like Sorcery! Still riding high in the charts. They're a hirs you can back and are certainly not going to turn out mediocrity.

2. Uniqueness. 80 Days is something new. An adaptative work of fiction based on Jules Verne's historical IP before the phrase intellectual property even existed. The playability is going to turn the idea of game books on its head, and the story is artfully stitched together to blend the original and some fascinating neo science pseudo steam punk ideas.

3. Hype. Excellent prior efforts have given Inkle a dedicated following. They're known for taking fan boy mythos from D and D style Choose Your Own Adventure Lore and brilliantly appifying it. The following is already there and mere nostalgia alone will set the forums,Twitter and suchlike ablaze with comments,longing,critiquing and speculation. These efforts get people who already are sold on the content many decades ago talking,and Inkle follows steps one and two above to deliver class.

Simplistic rules to follow,but with masses of effort needed to bring something like this to fruition. That's why Inkle enjoys the backing of the Appstore,what can you do with your budgets then?