Revenue projections for the mobile games market are expected to reach $315.9 billion this year. Game development has been a lucrative venture for many developers globally. The rise in smartphones globally has significantly counted towards the increased profits from mobile games. We take a look at the best practices to develop mobile games.
For some people, gaming is a great passion of theirs. For these people, spending several hours a day enjoying a mobile game is a routine thing that happens daily. Such people opt to go for more intense games with a captivating storyline.
Mobile gaming is also developed to suit casual gamers. There are numerous casual games available on PlayStore and AppStore. The casual games come in handy for people looking to play mobile games to pass the time or occupy their minds for a while.
While gaming is a fun experience, some people claim that the gaming experience on android phones and iPhones is different. Most people prefer to have the gaming experience on iPhones. For people using android devices, an iOS emulator for android comes in handy. The emulator is required for playing iOS games on android phones.
With the mobile games industry being a lucrative business, many people want to get into it. One should be well equipped with the knowledge to ensure their game attracts good returns. In this article, we go through the process of developing a mobile game for either Android or iOS.
1. Game Plan
The first step when developing any software or mobile application is to think about and plan the project. When creating a mobile game, you should consider the game you want to build. It would be best to consider factors such as the game type, storyline, etc.
When working on the game plan, you can consider the game types performing well. Researching the current market situation for mobile games will give you knowledge on how to develop a well-performing game.
You should develop the storyline for the game you want to bu. Structure the various parts of the game and how they work together to offer a good experience for people who play the game. Consider the multiple environments to be in the game. It would be best if you also worked on the screen layouts and designs at this stage.
Once everything about the game and experience is well structured and planned, you can work on the next step.
2. Monetization Plan
Every game developer intends to make money from the game they are developing. When developing mobile apps, one has to include a structured monetization plan. The monetization plan states how the game will make money for the developer.
In the current age, developers can use several monetization options for their games. One common monetization option is the inclusion of ads in the game. With the rise of online marketing, companies, and businesses pay to have their advertisements on various common apps used by people. As a developer, you can plan to use advertising as the sole method of making money from your mobile game. However, you should keep in mind that having ads can make the game boring for some people.
You can also have in-app purchases to make money from the game. In-app purchases depend on the type of game one is developing. An excellent example of in-app purchases is allowing gamers on mobile racing games to buy exclusive cars or car modifications.
3. Development Tools
A significant portion of developing a mobile game or any other software entails programming. Before starting to work on your mobile application’s programming, you must choose a relevant development tool. This will include the IDE and other tools for testing the mobile app.
When choosing an IDE, you should consider factors such as the programming language you will use. Some programming languages require specific IDEs to get the most out of the language. You should also consider the deployment platform. Games being deployed on iOS used different development tools when compared to Android games.
When choosing your development tools, you should consider multifunctional tools. This will ensure you have an easy time developing your mobile game.
4. Programming
Programming is the main task when developing your mobile game. Before programming, you must create a well-planned and ascertained algorithm for the mobile game. The algorithm dictates how the storyline of the game will be developed. In most mobile games, the algorithms that guide the programming stage is pathfinding and movement algorithm.
The pathfinding and movement algorithm dictates how the game’s main character, played by the user, navigates the game environment and story.
When programming, you should use a language you are well conversant with. This will ensure you have an easy time developing the mobile game and adhering to the game’s algorithm. The programming language to use is also dependent on the platform that you are designing for. There are various programming languages to use for android games and others for iOS games.
5. Testing
Once you develop the mobile game, you should test it before deploying it. The tests for your mobile game should test all aspects of the game, such as independent game units, UI elements, etc.
To end up with a game with no bugs, you should have a well-structured testing plan. The testing plan should dictate the test cases for all the planned use cases and user journeys. The test cases should vary and cover functional tests, unit tests, integration tests, end-to-end tests, etc.
You can opt to grant a few target users the application so they can do some beta testing. This will help uncover some bugs and give you an estimate of the user acceptance rating of the game.
Once the mobile game is well tested, the last step is to deploy it to the mobile platform of your choice.
Conclusion
When developing a mobile game for android or iOS, you should stick to the plan discussed above. This is key to ensuring the game is successful once launched in the market. To analyze the success rate of your game, you can observe certain KPIs, such as the number of downloads and the income from the monetization structure of the game.
