This Christmas Android sales doubled that of last years sales. Developers are raking in the profits on both iPhone and Android platforms. It seems that mobile gaming, that was once not considered real “gaming” not too long ago, has exploded and has become one of the largest markets for all types of games, ranging from casual and puzzle games to high quality 3d graphics first person shooters.
I have an Android. I studied the top paid games list day after day and seeing what was being successful on there. It seems that the games that really appeal to mobile gamers share a few of the same qualities. With games like Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, Doodle Jump, Fruit Ninja, and Where’s My Water in mind, let’s take a look at what these games are all about.
They all in some way have :
-Cute/non-violent themes.
-Simple Controls.
-Short game play sessions.
-High replay value(This is achieved by multiple levels, or randomness as seen in Doodle Jump Fruit Ninja)
-Cheap cost, $0.99
I recently just uploaded my first Android game, Backyard Zombies, to the market. I tried to include all of these qualities in my game. I’m curious to see the sales in a few months. (There’s a free version, too! Check it out )
But please share your thoughts concerning mobile gaming, and what developers should keep in mind when making games for this platform. There are some amazing bloody gory shooter games out there, but to me it seems that the games that appeal to the casual gamers are the games that are really raking in the money.
I like the art style, but the apparent gameplay has worn thin. Honestly, I think it could do well with good marketing though. It seems like the type of thing people would like. Zombies are getting old. =/
Thanks, I worked real hard on the art. Well the thing with zombies is that everyone knows what they are. Rarely do you have that immediate connection with people who are looking at your game. But I suppose it can go either way, as in your case zombies are getting old.
The first thing the customer does is scroll endless and fast through the app store pages, and if your icon doesn’t stand out then your game was a waste of time.
I released my first app a few weeks back, I think it reached 106 at highest in the Denmark charts when it was free, set it back to 99p and it sunked to around 900 in all the charts where it was featured.
From my first experience, its hell. never stressed so much when I was trying to market, its like you need to nail it on the first day or your out. I must of been sat there for hours like a headless chicken trying to get it noticed and still got hardly anything in return. its nasty.
I definitely agree with the icon statement. Yeah It’s pretty stressful worrying about how well the game will do, but even if it doesn’t do too well I enjoyed doing it.
To go along with the icon statement-
Rarely do people read the description of what the game is, they just scroll down to the pictures at the bottom, and if the icon hooked them but the pictures didn’t, you lose
Gosh, there’s like 1 million articles about that on the internet, unfortunately an easy recipe for making a simple game and get rich within a month is not available, yet
You can really get lost in these, cause everytime you read something new, you tend to agree and want to apply that to your game. Can make you go crazy. In the end it’s just about chances. You might get lucky or not. You can’t calculate that. Build reputation and release games within a reasonable amount of time and you’ll make a good amount of money.
Many people stop after first release and complain
)
