How to Get Into Mobile Game Design: 7 Steps to Take
Mobile game design is one of the most profitable careers today. Look at some of the most popular games, like Candy Crush Saga. Imagine if you were the brains behind this game or even the developer.
Well, getting started is not as easy as everyone else might think. You might end up developing a mobile game that is never downloaded. However, if you follow the steps discussed below, you will find it easy to join this industry and get successful.
1. Understand Yourself and Conduct Market Research
You cannot join the mobile gaming industry if you do not know why you are joining. Ask yourself why you need to join the industry, the things you are passionate about, your motivations, as well as your strengths and weaknesses.
Once you have answers to all these questions, you should conduct market research. This is important in helping you identify and understand the market and your audience. Look at some of the most popular games, their genres and categories, and learn a thing or two from how they work.
2. Create an Idea and a Story
For your mobile game to be successful, it needs to start with an idea. This step is essential and will dictate the direction of your game. You can brainstorm with the help of your team to come up with an idea that will keep your target audience on their toes when playing your game.
If you create a killer idea, you might find yourself in a situation where your game becomes an instant hit, something every game developer wants. In addition to an idea, you will also need a winning story.
Think about the characters, rewards, elements, surprises, and victory parameters that will keep your target audience engaged. You should make sure that your story is big enough to drive your target audience into wanting to get to the highest levels of your game.
3. Build a Winning Design
This is one of the most challenging yet important parts of mobile game design. You need to ensure that you have the best game designers for your game to stand a chance in the market.
Some of the things you need to pay attention to are your game graphics and user experience. You will also need to choose the perfect font for your game.
In addition, gamers will always choose games that they are happy with. Would you spend time playing a game whose graphics are not clear or whose design is difficult to use? Most likely not. This tells you that your game design is very crucial to its success.
4. Identify Mobile Platforms and Monetization Opportunities
Which mobile platforms are you going to choose for your game? The most popular ones are iOS and Android. You can build for one of these platforms or choose a hybrid model that allows you to build for different platforms.
However, it is important to note that you will incur additional costs if you decide to build for multiple platforms. Look at your target audience before choosing the platform to use. You also need to look at monetization opportunities for your mobile game.
You will be spending a lot of money when building a mobile game, and therefore, need to find ways through which you can make money. Look at in-app purchases, adverts, pay-per-download, and premium versions.
5. Choose The Right Technology
Now that you have followed all the steps discussed above, you need to start development and choose the design tools to use. The best option is native development. This requires you to choose a language that is native to the platform you are building your game for.
For instance, you can choose Swift if you are developing a game for iOS or Java for those developing for Android. There are many technologies to choose from, so make sure you have chosen the right one for your game.
6. Launching and Going Further Once You’ve Launched Your First Mobile Game
After developing and testing your game to make sure that it meets all your requirements, the next step will be launching the game. Ensure that the game is available for download on all platforms.
However, this does not mean that you need to sit down and relax. You also need to increase your mobile game app’s visibility. You should optimize the visibility of your game on app stores to ensure that users can easily find and download your game.
7. Maintenance and Support
Finally, your mobile game will need continued maintenance and support. There will always be something you can improve on to give gamers an even better experience. You can add new surprises, rewards, and features to keep gamers engaged.
The mobile game industry will keep on growing. We will also keep on getting more mobile games, meaning that the industry will keep on getting more competitive. If you want your game to stand out, ensure you have followed the steps discussed in this article.