Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

My Year as an Amateur Android Game Developer

kerebus.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 73 posts

Re: My Year as an Amateur Android Game Developer

#61

Post by chipsy »

patio11 wrote: post #21

I have every wish for success of this and every other business, but in the spirit of helping other impressionable developers, making a business is hard enough without making video games. How do I love games and hate games businesses, let me count the ways. User expectations are pegged by AAA games, whose budgets you cannot possibly match. Those AAA products set a price point at $DIRT_CHEAP. (Angry Birds costs what ?)…

Disagreement. It is hard, yes, but if you approach the game design from the ground up as a business model with potential for built in marketing hooks and virality - even if it isn't a "viral" or "blockbuster" game - the way in which a game can be made is actually straightforward.

What makes it hard is not the creation, so much as untangling your brain from all the nonsense about what makes a game "legitimate." If you go for legitimacy you'll fail off the bat because it is, as you say, a matter of competing with the big guys. But if you are adhering to lean principles throughout, you can get a game business going. It just may not be a "dream game," necessarily.

Re: My Year as an Amateur Android Game Developer

#62

Post by TillE »

tomjen3 wrote: post #28
patio11 wrote: post #21

I have every wish for success of this and every other business, but in the spirit of helping other impressionable developers, making a business is hard enough without making video games. How do I love games and hate games businesses, let me count the ways. User expectations are pegged by AAA games, whose budgets you cannot possibly match. Those AAA products set a price point at $DIRT_CHEAP. (Angry Birds costs what ?)…

Sorry but I have to disagree with you - you use an awfully narrow definition of "game". The game he makes is very unlikely to ever compete with the studios who makes AAA games, this much more of a casual game something that you may play on the subway or the bus during your commute; it's main target is not teens and he doesn't have the expenses usually associated with a game that size. Minecraft proved that you can ma…

Minecraft is an excellent example of making something that is utterly different from anything else on the market.

The mobile market is hugely oversaturated with casual toys. Solution: don't make those. There are entire genres that are empty and waiting to be filled. Jeff Vogel is currently in the process of porting Avadon, his latest RPG, to iPad. I'll bet that he's going to charge at least $20 for it, and that he'll be quite successful. Why? Because there's absolutely nothing remotely like it out there on the iPad, and it's the kind of game I would love to play while relaxing with a tablet device.

Re: My Year as an Amateur Android Game Developer

#63

Post by jallmann »

bnenning wrote: post #45

Temporarily de-anonymizing myself because my Android experience is apparently not typical. My main paid app ( https://market.android.com/details?id=com.dozingcatsoftware.... ) is getting around 25 purchases per day, with no marketing effort whatsoever. It was featured in a few blogs and podcasts, but they came to me. It's had over 10k downloads in a year, and my original goal was 1000. Reasons I think it's done bette…

10k paid downloads of an edge filter? Well played.

Re: My Year as an Amateur Android Game Developer

#64

Post by TillE »

ymir wrote: post #60
leon_ wrote: post #5

> I knew I had a marketing problem but instead I preferred to refractor my code Heh, I know this too well. I suck HUGE at marketing. I've got 4 games in the iPhone app store and made since October 2010 whooping $780 ... Actually I would be very happy if I got 20 sales a day :) I guess my adventure in indie gamedev will end by the end of this year when my funds are used up and I'll have to get an office coding job ble…

It is nice to know that we are not alone in this, so let me tell you our story. Background: we are following the HN community for good 4 years now and it inspired us even more to start our own business. We are loving it and it is a dream come true. To the topic: yesterday we launched our first own product, iOS game Tap4Two. That made us very proud - we shipped! But what would make our day is - if it sold. You can see…

> We found a niche

OK. But who's your target market? How do you envision people using your game? In a game that is strictly multiplayer, I think you really have to understand the social context.

While I quite enjoy playing board games like Carcassonne or Arkham Horror with friends, or even stuff like air hockey on the iPad, I don't really see much lasting appeal in a game like this which is quite simple and so directly competitive.

In short, I think you need more interesting game modes.

Re: My Year as an Amateur Android Game Developer

#65

Post by xiaoma »

reitzensteinm wrote: post #37
patio11 wrote: post #21

I have every wish for success of this and every other business, but in the spirit of helping other impressionable developers, making a business is hard enough without making video games. How do I love games and hate games businesses, let me count the ways. User expectations are pegged by AAA games, whose budgets you cannot possibly match. Those AAA products set a price point at $DIRT_CHEAP. (Angry Birds costs what ?)…

While most of your points are valid, they're nothing that can't be overcome with persistance and the willingness to learn, and I fear that you've painted too bleak of a picture of the industry. I think the biggest problem is that making fun, engaging games is really, really hard. A lot of people assume that because they can program, and they enjoy playing games, making them should be relatively straight forward. But…

Awesome. You sound like exactly the kind of person I was hoping would jump into the thread. Have you written a blog or anything about how you made those improvements?

I'm working on game #3, still a sub 2.5 star game on Kong. I think I've only made about $5 over the past six months, but I've learned a ton about programming and artwork both!

Re: My Year as an Amateur Android Game Developer

#66

Post by dpcan »

karolist wrote: post #55
dpcan wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been in the android market for a year and have done over $100k in sales of my games, and you hit the nail on the head. Create lots of games, and not just for the money. You have to be having fun while creating or it becomes a miserable job. I'm falling into that rut myself, and because I've spent so much time working on my flagship game, I've gotten behind. Competition of that game has increased, sales have slow…

How many games have you released in that year?

I have launched 11 games in all since I started.

Only 2 have netted over $10k.

I think 2 others could do as well if I just get back in there and do some nice updates.

Re: My Year as an Amateur Android Game Developer

#67

Post by leon_ »

ymir wrote: post #60
leon_ wrote: post #5

> I knew I had a marketing problem but instead I preferred to refractor my code Heh, I know this too well. I suck HUGE at marketing. I've got 4 games in the iPhone app store and made since October 2010 whooping $780 ... Actually I would be very happy if I got 20 sales a day :) I guess my adventure in indie gamedev will end by the end of this year when my funds are used up and I'll have to get an office coding job ble…

It is nice to know that we are not alone in this, so let me tell you our story. Background: we are following the HN community for good 4 years now and it inspired us even more to start our own business. We are loving it and it is a dream come true. To the topic: yesterday we launched our first own product, iOS game Tap4Two. That made us very proud - we shipped! But what would make our day is - if it sold. You can see…

Heh, I'm from poland too. :)

btw. our website is: http://www.MinyxGames.com

Re: My Year as an Amateur Android Game Developer

#68

Post by reitzensteinm »

xiaoma wrote: post #65
reitzensteinm wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While most of your points are valid, they're nothing that can't be overcome with persistance and the willingness to learn, and I fear that you've painted too bleak of a picture of the industry. I think the biggest problem is that making fun, engaging games is really, really hard. A lot of people assume that because they can program, and they enjoy playing games, making them should be relatively straight forward. But…

Awesome. You sound like exactly the kind of person I was hoping would jump into the thread. Have you written a blog or anything about how you made those improvements? I'm working on game #3, still a sub 2.5 star game on Kong. I think I've only made about $5 over the past six months, but I've learned a ton about programming and artwork both!

I haven't written any blog posts about it (although I'm planning to after I get some more time).

If you (or anyone else) has any questions, feel free to contact me at michael@bigblockgames.com.

Re: My Year as an Amateur Android Game Developer

#69

Post by GertG »

patio11 wrote: post #21

I have every wish for success of this and every other business, but in the spirit of helping other impressionable developers, making a business is hard enough without making video games. How do I love games and hate games businesses, let me count the ways. User expectations are pegged by AAA games, whose budgets you cannot possibly match. Those AAA products set a price point at $DIRT_CHEAP. (Angry Birds costs what ?)…

A harsh analysis, but entirely consistent with all I've been reading about Android Market experiences. The developers that luck out and get hundreds of thousands of downloads for a game or even another application, STILL hardly make a living out of it (for the limited time that the success lasts, that is).

It's enough for me to bury my own commercial Android plans. I'll just finish the hobby game I'm working on as best as I can and release it for free. For a few dollars a month I'm not going to pester users with ads either. Who knows, with that experience and changes in the market I'll still have a shot at an Android business later on.

For the braver developers in this thread who already have applications out there, and building on the network promotion mentioned here: Why don't you get together and set up your own system of referrals? That could work much better than just referring to your own other applications (if any) in a closed loop.

Re: My Year as an Amateur Android Game Developer

#70

Post by metageek »

rhizome wrote: post #58
metageek wrote: post #52

I really need to add sound to my Android game. [1] It's a board game, which means elaborate sound isn't a normal part of the experience; but it could at least click as you move the stones around. I suspect, as the author says, that most people would turn it off; but it'll contribute to the appearance of a polished game. I released the paid version last November, for 99¢; so far I've had 8 sales. A month or two ago I…

I would encourage you to implement haptic feedback wherever possible. People still like to know the right thing is happening even if they turn the sound off.

Oh, yeah, that would be good. Thanks!
Post reply on HN