Mobile game development is a fast-growing industry. With games accounting for as much as 43% of smartphone use, it’s only natural a lot of people will be willing to tap into its revenue potential. In 2018, the mobile gaming market has reached $71.3 billion, which is more than a half of the entire gaming industry earnings worldwide.
But profit is not the only driving force for aspiring mobile game developers.
The success of blockbusters like Pokemon GO, Candy Crush Saga and Fortnite inspires creative souls to unleash their potential and make something truly captivating. What exactly makes a good game depends on individual preferences, yet, there are commonly accepted criteria defining what, generally speaking, makes it good:
– Game mechanics
– Game dynamics
– Game aesthetics
and, ultimately, satisfying User experience.
With today’s market offering a variety of great game development platforms to choose from, you have all it takes to build a good game. Surely, every game development process goes through consequent stages. Below is a step-by-step guide to making a great mobile game the players will truly enjoy.
1. Come up with an idea
A great idea is what usually makes a game stand out. Unfortunately, there are no proven methods of coming up with ideas for mobile games. One tried and true method, though, is to take an existing idea and spice it up (Candy Crush and Diamonds weren’t exactly very original, for that matter). The trick is to strike a balance between offering something fresh and innovative and something people will surely like.
2. Plot a story
Every good game has a story behind it. In general, people love stories for giving them a sense of purpose as they play and a sense of accomplishment as they complete a game or a game level. Most mobile game development manuals will ask you to answer certain questions about your characters in order to create a story:
– Who is the hero of your game? And who is the villain?
– What strengths and what weaknesses do they possess?
– What are they fighting over?
– How will your hero achieve success?
By answering these questions you will have your storyline developed and will be ready to proceed.
3. Create engagement
The most engaging games are easy to learn. They captivate you as they get harder level by level. Make the game you are building simple, but gradually add challenges with each level. Short levels with lots of unlockable content generally make for lots of engagement and excitement. Conversely, most users tend to get tired with games that are too lengthy, even if they feature great graphics and storyline. As you launch your game you can start adding occasional freebies and updates to boost their interest.
4. Identify the target platform
Are you building a game for Android, iOS or other platforms? Developing a game for multiple platforms is what most developers would gladly opt for; unfortunately, developing cross-platform games is also more expensive. To answer this question you have to focus on your key audience. Which smartphones and operating systems are they most likely to use? This choice will ultimately impact the choice of your game development platform, as well as monetization model, advertising and promotional activities, etc.
5. Work on design
Again, creating great design for a mobile game is a balancing act between making it appealing and keeping it as lightweight as possible. It’s hard to overestimate the importance of great design. From two very similar games, users are most likely to choose the one with better graphics and sounds generating intense emotional response. Most professional game development platforms like Unreal Engine and Unity will offer asset libraries with sounds and graphic elements for 2D and 3D games. Designing something truly unique will consume more time and budget, though.
6. Choose the monetization model
Above, we have stressed the importance of knowing who your target audience is when deciding on a game platform. The same goes for monetization model: know your audience to choose the right monetization strategy. All in all, the three main strategies for monetizing your mobile game include in-app purchases, advertising and paid subscription model, but you can choose a combination of them as you decide how you are going to reap revenues.
7. Choose a platform for game development
By now you should know all the specifics of your future game that will help you decide on a mobile game development platform. There are many sophisticated platforms for mobile game development out there, user-friendly and easy to learn, enabling you to quickly develop fun and engaging games for smartphones. This overview of mobile game development engines should set you on the right track.
8. Think of your support strategy
A lot of people, kids especially, choose mobile gaming because of its interactivity. Multiplayer mobile games are now more popular than ever, moreover, they have great growth potential. The advent of AR/VR and the sophistication of HDM displays is likely to turn them into something truly exciting and captivating. Yet, these games place high demands on the underlying infrastructure: you need a solid, yet flexible backend to store player information, ensure real-time interactivity and handle quickly peaking and subsiding workloads.
Building your own mobile backend solution involves a lot of work. As a matter of fact, it is so time-consuming and resource-intensive, your game may lose competitive edge by the time you are done with server-side development. Ensuring 24/7 support is also a tricky task, best handled by mBaaS cloud platforms.
At VARTEQ we have built an advanced backend solution that you can use to support and develop your mobile games. Festi Cloud Platform features built-in backend modules, turn-based game service, push-messaging to manage communication between players, data history storage, leaderboards for analysing player performance, game script scheduler, in app purchase option and more.
Built to support multiplayer mobile gaming, Festi Cloud integrates with most game development engines, such as Unity 3D.
On top of that, Festi Cloud will accelerate your development speed, bring faster time-to-value and help you stay ahead of competitors. Having said that, we know it’s hard to tell the difference unless you try. Feel free to contact us now to request a free trial and get a taste of the Festi Cloud potential!