Hey r/SmartWatchGames, I'm the solo dev of WatchBlocks (2D/3D sandbox survival game that runs natively on Apple Watch, also on iPhone/iPad/Mac/Vision Pro).

Wanted to share one of the things I'm working on: real watch-to-watch multiplayer. You'll be able to host a multiplayer world directly from your Apple Watch, and other Apple Watches can join straight from theirs. No iPhone in the loop at all. The backend runs on Cloudflare, so it works anywhere.

I've got a beta live on TestFlight right now: https://testflight.apple.com/join/afYfxawC

I'd love to get some actual watch players in to stress test it. If you've got friends with Apple Watches, grab them and see if you can crash the backend (I mean, wouldn't be great if you did, but this is a stress test after all, I want to see how much we can push it).

Honest question for this sub: what would you actually DO with watch multiplayer? Co-op survival? Just messing around building stuff with friends? Trying to figure out what to prioritize next. One thought I had is possibly making personal servers a thing.

Appreciate any testing or thoughts.

If you've ever had second thoughts, think again. It is possible

We have a new beta for WatchBlocks for Apple Watch. This is gonna be for the Halloween update, go check it out! More and more stuff will be coming.

https://testflight.apple.com/join/jeVme5VX

Hey everyone,

I've always wanted a lightweight, offline sandbox block builder that I could play on my Apple Watch to kill a few minutes, but still sync back to my phone or Mac when I want a bigger screen.

Most watch games feel too small and clunky, so I focused heavily on making the controls feel native to the wrist (navigating and placing blocks smoothly without the screen feeling overcrowded), and the results are surprisingly great!

The Basics:

Core game is free: Full 2D survival/crafting and building on Apple Watch, iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Unified experience: Your worlds carry over across devices seamlessly.

Full Access / 3D Mode ($4.99): There’s an optional 3D first-person mode for when you want an extra dimension. This is only for full access paid users from now until December. Paid users also get creative mode, mod creation tools, and skin customization.

I would love any feedback on how the wrist controls feel or what features/blocks you’d like to see next!

App Store link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/watchblocks-craft-build/id6760209351

Hey everyone!

As some of you might know, I’ve been developing WatchBlocks: a sandbox game designed to run on as many devices as possible. So far, I’ve brought it to iPhone, iPad, Macs, and even Apple Watches.

My next big milestone is bringing the game to Android and Wear OS.

However, launching on the Google Play Store is a bit trickier than the Apple App Store. Google requires a closed testing phase where you must have at least 12 Android users actively testing your app for 2 consecutive weeks before you're allowed to push it to production.

In theory, this sounds easy. In practice, finding testers, collecting emails safely, keeping people engaged, and making sure everyone makes it the full 2 weeks is surprisingly hard.

Want to Help Test?

If you'd like to join the closed beta test for WatchBlocks, I would really appreciate your help!

• What you need to do: Send an email to formidablegamesstudio@gmail.com using the Google account email linked to your Android device.
• Timeline: I'm aiming to launch the beta test within the next week. Once it's live, I’ll shoot you an email with the download link and instructions.

Note: If you know anyone else with an Android device who loves sandbox games and wouldn't mind helping an indie developer clear Google's hurdles, please feel free to share this post or send them my way!

After some refining, I have something for you all to try:

WatchBlocks 3D is now available on TestFlight for Apple Watch Series 4 and later, as well as iPhone, and iPad (Mac TestFlight still has to get approved). It’s also free to try!

This is still an early test build, so expect some issues. Mobs may not render correctly, crashes can happen, and blocks may take up to a few seconds to disappear on lower-end hardware. I plan to fix these before the full release, but the game is now ready for real feedback.

Beyond bug reports, I’d especially like to hear:

• How does movement feel?
• How do building and mining feel?
• How does combat feel?

TestFlight link: https://testflight.apple.com/join/JxFAgSKz

I have to say, making WatchBlocks free has been a success, at least in my opinion.

For context, on Thursday, July 23, I pushed out a huge update that added multiplayer, mods, and more importantly, made the game free to start for people who didn’t want to buy the game outright. This would at least let me see how many people are interested in this game.

Also for context, my previous games (which are free) have gotten at most 50 downloads altogether. To be fair, I didn’t do a ton of marketing, but nonetheless, it was a little disappointing. But there was a theme: they didn’t have anything unique about them

Now, with WatchBlocks, I got around 65 fresh installs on the first day of my new update, which was huge. I didn’t expect this at all. And it kept coming

The next 2 days shared around 60 installs each. Altogether for a 3 day run, it was over 150 installs! At the end of the week (being yesterday) I got 439 installs!

That doesn’t mean purchases though, and I didn’t expect any. I got about 2 in that 3 day period. With my game, I gave a free trial for people who wanted the full experience (game saves, creative mode, mods) so they had 3 days to try. After that, they’d have to pay.

So now, what were the results in terms of in app purchases? That was the disappointing part. Only 5 people bought the full thing. I can’t say I’m shocked, this is around the same number of people who bought it when it wasn’t free to start. I’m glad people can try it for free, but I’m wondering if I need to give more of a reason for someone to pay for the full experience. One thing I’ll be implementing next Thursday will be 3 free world slots for free players, so if you’re a free player, rejoice. I do like seeing people play the game, so people not paying isn’t a lose for me. It’s great seeing people enjoy it, and I’d like to keep that going.

All of this being said, I wanna look into the next steps for WatchBlocks. Where do I go from here? Does it have a future? Well, yeah. But maybe not what you expect.

First of all, I want to go over what I learned from comments. Almost no one asked for new features. Most requests I got was for new platforms. Most famously being Android, Windows, 3DS, and of course, WearOS.

My goal is to make this a full time gig, and not only have people wanted it, but it seems like this could become a reality if I want. My plan will be to start with Android and WearOS, and move to Windows and Linux, and finally to other devices including Apple TV, Meta Quest, Vision Pro (a true port), and yes, even things like 3DS one day (got 1 request for that, I’m sure more people would love that too)

The plan right now is to move past adding new features for right now while I work on a translation layer for an Android version of WatchBlocks. Luckily, Apple released support for Swift on android so it shouldn’t be a complete rewrite, but the UI and such needs to be reimplemented. I’m a decent way through right now, but there’s a ton of refinements I need to do. Expect a beta sometime at the end of August or in September.

I am also going to be looking into a price for all platforms. Currently, WatchBlocks is set at $2.99 USD (depending on your country, it could be a little less, or a little more, though I tried to make it around the same price). I am going to increase the price to $5.99 on August 13. Steam release will be sometime after, likely the same price.

I am not going to add ads. Something I’ve always been against in games is pushing ads on the people playing games. It makes money, but it’s just an annoyance, so I plan on never adding them.

Additonally, there is another announcement. There will be a brand new WatchBlocks game for watchOS, iOS, and macOS. WatchBlocks 3D! Eventually, I’d like to brin this to android as well, but for now, it will be Apple exclusive, just like 2D was. I will also rename WatchBlocks to WatchBlocks 2D to avoid confusion. The app icons will show which one is 2D and which is 3D as well. I’ve done a ton of testing and it works surprisingly well. I will be releasing a testflight around or before August 6, so stay tuned for that. I am still debating a price for 3D. I am also still debating if it should become a seperate app or not.

One more smaller announcement, I got a new game that will be on preorder soon. It’s called WatchPals, and it will be free. You can preorder now, and it will install on your watch when it releases.

Anyways, that’s my ted talk. Thanks for reading!

¡Hola a todos! Como desarrollador independiente, quería ver hasta dónde podía llevar el ecosistema de Apple. Recientemente lancé un juego sandbox 2D gratuito y nativo llamado WatchBlocks, y sí, funciona como un juego completo directamente en tu muñeca a través de watchOS, además de iOS y macOS.

Diseñar un juego de construcción para una pantalla tan pequeña de reloj, con limitaciones de recursos y batería, fue todo un reto técnico. Incluye colocación de bloques, construcción libre y un diseño minimalista.

(Nota: Principalmente hablo inglés, ¡pero quiero expandir el juego a nivel global! Díganme en los comentarios si les gustaría que añada soporte para español u otros idiomas en una próxima actualización).

Si quieren probarlo y ver cómo se siente jugar un sandbox en el Apple Watch, es totalmente gratis en la App Store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/watchblocks-craft-build/id6760209351.

¡Me encantaría saber qué opinan o responder cualquier duda sobre el desarrollo!

Today I’m excited to share something I’ve been working on for a long time: WatchBlocks v1.5 is officially here.

What started as an idea to bring a real sandbox game to Apple Watch has grown into a cross-platform game available on Apple Watch, iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Building this has taught me so much about Swift, game development, networking, performance optimization, and designing for devices with unique hardware constraints.

With the v1.5 update, WatchBlocks is now free to download, making it easier for anyone to give it a try. The update also introduces multiplayer, mod creation tools, a skin editor, new gameplay features, and much more.

I’m incredibly proud of how far this project has come, and I’m excited to keep improving it based on community feedback.

Download WatchBlocks here: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/watchblocks-craft-build/id6760209351

Hey everyone,

I’m currently making sure my multiplayer from watch to iPhone is working correctly. If any of you can test it, that would be great! To do it, here’s what you have to do:

1. Start a world on your iPhone
2. Pause the game, and click hosting. Start hosting
3. Open your Watch version of the game
4. On the world screen, tap the game controller at the bottom right
5. You should see your iPhone world, try joining it
6. Wait a few seconds, you should join. If not, go back to the controller menu thing, and see if an error popped up. Let me know what the error is if there is one

https://testflight.apple.com/join/jeVme5VX

Hey everyone! I’m the developer of WatchBlocks, a 2D sandbox game inspired by games like Minecraft and Terraria. It’s designed to run directly on Apple Watch, and it’s also available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

You can explore, collect resources, build structures, and survive in a blocky world right from your wrist. I originally made it because I thought it would be fun to have a game I could play in short sessions without taking out my phone. This is my dream game I wanted since I was in middle school (currently done with college).

I’m also making a video where I play WatchBlocks on my Apple Watch for one hour to see how far I can get without the battery dying.

If you’d like to check it out, here’s the App Store link: WatchBlocks. Also, a new WatchBlocks update is coming on July 23!

The update will introduce a free-to-start option, so anyone can try the game at no cost. The free version will include the core gameplay, but saving worlds, creating mods, Creative Mode, and custom worlds will be exclusive to the full version.

I’d love to hear what you think and what features you’d like to see added!

Hey everyone!

I’m looking for beta testers for the biggest WatchBlocks update yet. The update is planned for July 23, and I plan to submit it to Apple around July 13, so I’m spending the next week polishing everything I can. Aside from bug fixes, the last major additions are new button icons, sounds and music.

Getting Started

When you first launch the beta, you’ll see a walkthrough with the option to start a free trial or purchase the full version. Please choose the free trial. It doesn’t require any form of payment, and the in-app purchase isn’t expected to work during the beta (it should simply display an error).

If you’re able to provide helpful feedback during testing, send me an email afterward. As a thank you, I’ll send you a promo code for the full version when the update launches. If you already own WatchBlocks, you shouldn’t have a in app purchase and all content should be available.

What I’d Love Feedback On:

Multiplayer

Play together across iPhone, iPad, and even Apple Watch.
Apple Watch multiplayer is one of the features I’m most excited about. The iPhone app must remain open if you’re hosting. I’d love to know how it performs on different devices and network conditions.

If you can, gather a group of up to four players and test both LAN and Game Center multiplayer. Two-player sessions have been very stable, but I previously ran into a few issues with three or more players. Those should now be resolved, so I’d love to know if everything works as expected.

Mods

Create your own mods directly in-game (works for every device, including Apple Watch)

Share mods with friends using mod files. (Maybe even in this thread?)

This is a brand-new feature, so any feedback on usability, bugs, performance, or ideas would be incredibly helpful.

Movement

I’ve reworked player movement and animations. iPhone now supports tilt controls for moving left and right.

I’d love to hear how movement feels on both Apple Watch and iPhone.

Controller Support

Controller support has received a major overhaul across Apple devices.

The Watch Console on iPhone now includes an Apple Watch controller. Give it a try! It is now super responsive

If you notice any issues, incorrect button mappings, or anything that doesn’t feel quite right, please let me know. There’s currently issues with it not working with UI menus.

How to Send Feedback

Any feedback (big or small) is incredibly valuable. If you find a bug or have suggestions, you can:

Reply to this post.
Submit feedback through TestFlight (screenshots are especially helpful).
Email me at formidablegamesstudio@gmail.com.

Whether you play for five minutes or a few hours, your feedback will help make this launch as polished as possible.

I’d also love to see screenshots of your worlds, builds, or any cool discoveries you make while playing! With your permission, I may feature some of them on the App Store or in future promotional material (and credit you if you’d like).

TestFlight

https://testflight.apple.com/join/jeVme5VX

Thank you so much for the support. I genuinely appreciate everyone who’s willing to help make WatchBlocks the best it can be. I can’t wait to hear what you think!