How does one make a successful mobile game?
That is the question I had been asking myself during the beginning stages of this game. For a student nearing the end of their degree it became abundantly obvious that I would need to answer this question, but how to answer it? Well an easy way was to look at other peoples success, games that had achieved their success what did they have in common? What did they offer the player who was their players? And all how these factors combining to make them a success. For starters I had to make sure the games I was researching were at an attainable level for an indie dev such as myself and the first thing I found during my research was that a lot of successful games on mobile used simple enough mechanics and theming. When it came to mechanics it was apparent that the games I was researching all shared the same ideal that being that they are simple enough for even the most casual player to pickup and play but are much harder to master. Couple this with a theme that appeals to an already established large audience was the most basic recipe for success. My research was more in depth than what I am presenting to you the reader now but I digress.
After establishing the framework for a "successful" mobile game, I began designing my game Bloop Boop. Boop bloop is a simple 2D physics arcade game that takes inspiration from games like doodle jump and temple run. The player swipes to create a platform and this "Boop"s their "Bloop" toward the end of the level... And that's pretty much it, they may pickup power ups and coins to upgrade their bloop but in terms of the core game play loop you simply Boop your Bloop. This coupled with the fluid-like theme and simple 2D style is the extent of my potentially successful game. I say potentially because no amount of research in the world can determine how it may be accepted or rejected by a wider audience. However with our Beta deadline due tomorrow I am cautiously optimistic that the game may at least receive a positive review or 2. Even if the game is not successful or receives negative reviews, this being my first actual game release has given me a wealth of experience when it comes to the processes that go into researching, designing, marketing and releasing a game. Checkout the snippet of game play in the video section for this game and I would love to receive some feedback.
Thanks for reading!
Joel.
