How To Make A Mobile Game App?

Mobile game app development services are widely improving, and many companies are taking part in the race to become the best development agencies. With a global market value of about $100 billion right now, in 2021, it’s interesting to see how many people are fond of making games. For reference, with Newzoo.com, we’ve analyzed the graph that shows about a 13.3% increase, creating a value of 16.2 billion dollars.

Game engines are creative yet hard to handle and develop because you’ve to add stages to the application. People usually search for how to make a fantastic application covering all the bullet points. Seamless game development is one of the important ways to get the attention of users. However, we’ve got a comprehensive guide on mobile app development for our potential readers who want to learn game app development.

We’ve got the best mobile app creators, having expertise in both iOS and Android development. Unlike this, we can make AR Zone App beneficial for adults who love to capture moments! So, get ready as in this blog, you’ll be getting answers to all your questions about making a mobile game app and what is necessary to develop it for adults & youngsters.

Let’s Get Started With How To Make A Mobile Game App – Necessary Elements You Need?

Developing a game can not be done using a conventional developing practice. However, if you have an experienced game developer, who specializes in Android and iOS development, then you’re just around the corner for success!

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Let’s get started with the quick checklist answering your query and handling the gaming engines for efficient working with the internal settings. So, before you start with the development, follow these pre-app development tools to build an app with perfect functionalities.

1. A Personalized Computer

The first point, which we’ll cover in developing a game application, is having a computer where you’ll do all the development. The game engine requires large specifications hardware to sustain and get the application developed. Whether move with a personal computer or mac book pro depends on the game engine’s portability and working criteria. The only reason behind this is that gaming engines have compatibility issues, like some work on Windows while others work on Mac OS.

2. An Android or iOS Smartphone

If we look into the software development lifecycle, then every developer is well-known for testing. However, making a gaming app and testing it on multiple phones is very important! Most developers anticipate that only a single smartphone is fair enough to test their application.

So, it’s impressive and beneficial for the developers to have a set of smartphones for testing the developed application. Whether iOS or Android, you require a testing mechanism to ensure everything is up to the mark! The best approach is to have at least two to three spare Android and iOS phones for testing purposes from different generations. Compatibility testing, stress testing, and usability testing are vital in-game app testing.

3. Game Developers Experienced With Android & iOS

Thirdly, the essential actor in the entire process of making a game for smartphones is an experience mobile game creator. The most developer has an account to deploy the game app. Unlike others, the developers should have experience in deploying and launching that application on Google Play & Apple Store so anyone can install and enjoy playing the games. For your knowledge, let me inform you that both the stores have different payment & subscription plans. Apple Store has a yearly subscription plan of 95 dollars, whereas Google Play comes with 25 dollars.

4. Creative Head To Design Screens & Know Animation Tools

Lastly, animation and the utilization of graphic designing are the main backbones of any mobile game app. Whether it’s a jigsaw puzzle or an arcade game in both cases, you need animation expertise to bring out the best results! You can read one of our amazing blogs on the animation process and learn about the best animation practices to create tremendous objects.

Want To Know About Mobile Game Engines? Here You Go …

You’re interested in how to make a mobile game app so. Let’s have a list of some of the best game engines available with a dedicated reason! In that case, so you would require some toolsets to start the process and bring out the best-animated game to the storefront.

1. Mobile Game Templates:

One of the easiest ways to make a mobile game app is by starting with a game template. You don’t have to change anything except the characters, backgrounds, and objects, and add some background music with animation. Many companies provide templates, like Appypie, one of the best unreal engines with templates.

So, if you are steadily looking around for a quick launch plan, this strategy will work out the best for you!

2. Simple Drag & Drop Of Mobile Game Engine:

Wait for a second; if you think this is the usual drag & drop, then you’re mistaken! The logic behind drag and drop is behavior-based. Like, if you plan to make a mobile game app that is an arcade and your character moves up and down, then insert a logic with spikes on the ground. You only have to decide which game object and character you will select for performing any activities. So, if a freshie plans to make a mobile appropriately developed, then the drag and drop technique is the best way to accommodate their gaming logic.

3. Visual Scripting-Based Mobile Game App:

Thirdly, there are two types of mobile game engines available in the market; some of them are based on scripting, so you don’t have to write the code from scratch, but the mobile game engine will work as they are coding for you! You only have to create a workflow diagram that shows all the activities with nodes involved in the process. Through flow charts, you’re indicating your logic and actions behind the game development.

4. Programming Language-Based Mobile Game App:

I guess the section is self-explanatory and doesn’t require any explanation. However, I can explain it to you. Complex mobile game app development like PubG, Call Of Duty Mobile, and Clash of Clans require every element and object to be appropriately developed. Although you have to code everything, which is a time-consuming process, the results would be jaw-dropping! Minor neglect can result in massive disasters.

However, if you wish to learn about scripting vs. programming differences, look at our blog and enjoy a remarkable experience!

What Sort Of Mobile Game Applications Can You Develop For The Audience?

Then you can develop any mobile game application. However, if you’re asking about the genre and type, then it has multiple factors involved. Pricing, Efforts, Time, and Resources are some of the most important factors one should consider before making a mobile game.

Let’s have a look at some of the mobile game app types you can develop and publish on Google Playstore or Apple Store:

1. Thrill
2. Mystery
3. Arcade
4. Action
5. Adventure
6. Card
7. Casino
8. Lifestyle
9. Puzzle
10. Music
11. Racing
12. Storytelling
13. Simulation
14. Informative
15. Strategic
16. Episodic
17. Wordy
18. Platform Games

However, no matter what type you choose to make a mobile game, application efforts are necessary! You’ll most likely find these types of articles because users are curious to know the most accessible categories.

6 Best Mobile Game Engines – A Detailed Analysis

There are a lot of mobile game engines available in the market, but the final decision is yours! You’ve to choose the best mobile game engine with 100% relevancy. With relevant skill sets, you need assistance in making a mobile game at every level.

For your assistance, I’m here to help you with a compiled list of the six best game engines available which will best suit your needs and requirements!

1. Unity

You’re now reading about one of the best and my favorite mobile game engines with powerful working capabilities. Unity is a well-known mobile game engine, and usually, blogs covering the answers to how to make a mobile game app covers this engine in detail. Unity uses scripting language, i.e., C#, and millions of game developers to make a mobile game app for adults.

Many popular games are developed on Unity, like Assassin Creed, Escape from Tarkov, Praey for the Gods, Ori, and the Blind Forest are some of the incredible games developed and deployed using Unity. Although you’re new to making a mobile game app, you require some basic knowledge of these applications.

Let’s look at some of the core benefits, advantages & disadvantages of using a Unity mobile game engine to make a mobile game app.

Pricing:

One of the fantastic features of Unity game development is it’s free of cost unless you cross a benchmark of $100K.

Advantages:

1. Unity is free of cost concerning the terms & conditions.
2. It’s compatible with all mobile game development platforms like iOS and Android.
3. You have to build it once and deploy it anytime, whenever, and wherever you want.
4. It has instance graphic support which very few mobile game engine provides to mobile game creators.
5. Unity game engine is optimized for rendering 2D and 3D-based mobile game applications.
6. It shows complete analytics of your game and comes with many tutorials through which users can learn how to code and why to use Unity.

Disadvantages:

1. One of the most significant disadvantages of the Unity mobile game engine is it doesn’t allow you to load your work from any template or foundation formation. You have to write the script and the code from scratch.
2. Often you will face licensing issues in the Unity application.
3. There is still a lot of lack in plugins, like when it comes to creating arcade games highly, you require assets and have to prepare yourself for coding a lot more by yourself!

2. GameSalad

Secondly, we have GameSalad which falls in the drag-and-drop kind of mobile game engine with an impressive interface, along with well-documented tutorials for beginners! GameSalad allows you to handle and manage 2D animation easily with perfect visualization for mobile and desktop!

 

Many mobile game creators enjoy using the ‘mobile viewer’ feature available exclusively on GameSalad, which allows you to test your game on different mobile platforms.

Let’s look at some of the core benefits, advantages & disadvantages of using a GameSalad mobile game engine to make a mobile game app.

Pricing:

GameSalad comes with all the basic game development templates at an introductory price of $17/month. However, you can switch to pro-plan, which will cost around $25/month.

Advantages:

1. GameSalad is very easy to install and creates code itself from the back.
2. Highly compatible with Mac and Windows both.
3. Impressive 2D video illustration for a mobile game application.
4. The simple Drag and Drop feature allows you to add images and character movements seamlessly!

Disadvantages:

1. One of the biggest challenges any mobile game creator face using GameSalad is the limitation in features like background focusing.
2. It is hard to focus precisely on a single character at a time.

3. Unreal Engine

 

The unreal mobile game engine is the biggest competitor of Unity because it used a powerful engine used by AAA studios for making different mobile game apps. Abzu & Kingdom Hearts were developed using Unreal Engine. One of the intuitive features of the Unreal engine is Blueprint which shows the visual implications of the characters & objects.

You can publish apps on both Apple & Google stores easily with the Unreal mobile game engine. Game Developers are always astonished to work on this platform, and target high-end games with it.

Let’s look at some of the core benefits, advantages & disadvantages of using an Unreal Engine.

Pricing:

The unreal engine comes with a visual editor beneficial for creating heavy mobile game applications, and you’ve to give 5% of the total money if you’re making $3000 quarterly.

Advantages:

1. The unreal mobile game engine supports all types of videos and comes with a solution.
2. A toolbox is released every time a new update is launched for the mobile game creator.
3. You can easily integrate VR and make impressive games using Unreal Engines.

Disadvantages:

1. One of the most significant disadvantages of Unreal Engine is you need a copy of the license before working with the studio.
2. Moreover, if you want to develop simple games, Unreal Engine is not your piece of cake!

4. GameMaker Studio 2

 

In this blog, we will discuss another export and import mobile game engine, ‘ how to make a mobile app,’ which is GameMaker Studio 2. It is one of the most powerful mobile game engines with a visual editor to visualize the elements. You can animate anything, anytime, in your developed game.

Mobile game creators should have impressive and remarkable coding skills to create amazing games because it’s based on coding. Drifter, Downwell, Nuclear Throne, and Katana Zero are some of the best games developed using GameMaker Studio 2.

Let’s look at some of the core benefits, advantages & disadvantages of using a GameMaker engine.

Pricing:

For availing of the full version and features, you’ve to pay $399 for exporting it to any other platform like Android or Mac.

Advantages:

1. GameMaker Studio 2 is available with an animator for 2D visualization.
2. Unlike other mobile game engines, it comes with a visual editor as well.
3. All the assets and plugins are available easily on the Internet.

Disadvantages:

1. One of the most significant disadvantages of GameMaker Studio 2 is that it requires acquiring a full version to export and import any game application.

5. Stencyl

 

Stencyl is one of the most exciting and unique,’ We will discuss other mobile game engines based on MIT Scraftch projects. The history behind Stencyl is also unique because a couple of years ago Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed a visual programming language to teach all students how to code. Later on, the elements of Stencyl were used to develop puzzle games explaining to the students how to code and visualize it.

Let’s look at some of the core benefits, advantages & disadvantages of using a Stencyl engine.

Pricing:

Stencyl, a visual scripting language game engine, costs around $199/yearly whenever you plan to publish the app anywhere.

Advantages:

1. Stencyl is a code-free scripting engine.
2. An impressive and easy-to-handle drag-and-drop mobile game engine proficient for building mobile games.

Disadvantages:

1. One of the most significant drawbacks of this mobile game engine is that to access all the features, and another export, you need to pay for them.

6. CryEngine

 

And the last mobile game engine we’ll discuss in this blog, ‘ how to make a mobile game app,’ will be CryEngine, which is considered an alternative to the Unity platform. A prominent competitor for Unity, Cryengine has impressive features & functionalities. A mobile game creator makes a mobile game app for free with this mobile game engine.

Let’s look at some of the core benefits, advantages & disadvantages of using a CryEngine.

Pricing:

You have to pay $10/month to avail yourself of the brilliant features, geometric designs, image visualization & a lot more!

Advantages:

1. CryEngine is an AI-based game engine with complete support for graphics & storyline plotting for the users.
2. Modification of the default shades to achieve the desired goal.
3. CryEngine adheres to the phrase, Code Easy & Build Easy.
4. You can enjoy scripting and developing complex games without writing a single line of code!

Disadvantages:

1. CryEngine doesn’t have robust customer support.
2. The bugs and errors are still unsolved, which is undoubtedly a turn-off for developers.

How To Make A Mobile Game App – Process

As for now, we’re all done with the mobile game app engines and what to choose, but still, we’re missing a critical point. Having a comprehensive guide about gaming engines is good, but having no expertise in the development process is clueless!

We’ve compiled all the intuitive seven steps necessary to make a gaming application.

1. Start With Developing A Working Plan

First, a developer has to make a mobile game design and decide what type of gaming application they will develop. You can design your own cell phone game, but it still requires some expertise with coding and scripting languages. Having an initial working plan is very important, no matter what type of game you plan to build. You need to have a comprehensive guide in your mind before you kick-start the game development process.

This operational plan will serve as a roadmap to the development process. All the minor details you should know about the game development agency will be present in that document. So, start by planning the type of the game, then the engine, and the number of characters you’ll place in that game.

The monetization strategy, character’s movements, animation, visual graphics, and integrating this all into the application. All of these questions will be answered in the initial plan document.

2. Deciding the Game Engine

In this second step, you’re accountable to select the gaming engine. As we have already mentioned, game applications are now built through coding or scripting, making developing much more manageable.

For the readers & developers, we’ve already mentioned all the top-notch game engines, both scripting & coding-based. Some are template-based, while the rest are based on coding or scripting. Choose the best one for yourself!

3. Educate Yourself With Scripting & Programming Languages

Undoubtedly, the gaming industry is revolutionizing and has to minimize the usage of coding in the game development process. If developers have basic knowledge about C#, C, or even Kotlin, they’re near to experiencing an outstanding game development process! Still, you need to have some basic programming knowledge to handle the exceptions.

However, if you’re new, start with reading and understanding C language and code simple basic programs to test your skills. So, if you have a complete team working with you, you don’t need to docus on this but if you’re working all alone, then start reading programming languages.

4. Start The Application Development

And now you’re all set to start with the development process. You can now start with the coding or scripting of your application but remember to keep things simple and concise. Try to code more straightforwardly instead of making it difficult, so if you get stuck somewhere, you won’t be able to fix it and manage the entire process.

Decide how many levels your game will possess and the dead-end in the application. Once done with the levels, start thinking about the characters, attires, and accessories. Then move to the background and user-interface planning, which possesses game controls, menus, and relevant settings options.

5. Integrating Graphic Assests

Without visuals and colors, your game is clueless! Integrating graphic assets for your application includes everything from minor detailing to the character’s clothing, background colors, styles, and movements to give your game a lively look!

Usually, game developers use Photoshop or Maya to create impressive advanced graphic designs and characters. You can read about Maya and Blender from the blog we’ve already published for you!

6. Finalize Your App

You’ve worked seamlessly with the game development process in the previous steps and covered all the necessary steps. The final step is to finalize your application and ensure everything is up to the mark!

You can make a gaming application following this complete checklist;

1. Ensure the graphic of the game is perfect and doesn’t pixelate.
2. The users control all the characters without any glitches.
3. Try to remove complex actions, making the storyline more engaging.
4. Before launching the game, try out playing the game till the last level to ensure everything is working correctly.

7. Launch The App

And boom, you’re all ready to launch your game app. You have successfully learned the process of how to create a game app for android or mac platforms. Firstly you should realize it and then add updates in a few months or quarterly! Decide a launch date for your gaming application on which you will launch your application.

Developers know how difficult it is to make a mobile game design and then launch it smoothly on the play store. You need to have a developer account, and submit it at least one month before the launch date so that the store will approve the request.

What are the ways to fund my mobile game app?

There are many ways available through which developers can fund their mobile game applications and easily continue with their design and development process.

Crowdfunding for mobile game applications

There are various platforms like Indiegogo where you can look out for crowdfunding and get enough funds to start your mobile game development. However, you have to do strong marketing to attract players who will be interested in playing your game. It’s a challenging task, but if you use some strategic marketing approaches it can be easily achieved.

Bootstrapping

Most game developers in their initial stages use this strategy and raise funds by using their own hard-earned money or asking from some of their friends and family who act as angel investors. Once the game gets live and starts generating revenue, you can return them back the money along with a share if they ask for it.

Collaborating with Private Investors

There are private investors who’re ready to invest in your game application, but, once you start earning money through the app monetization, you have to return back all the money along with other expenditures like hosting, marketing, and promotional fees. They can even ask for some shares as well.

Participating in funding competitions

There are various competitions where private investors and other companies come and invest in ideas if they find them profitable. You only have to present your game ideas in front of them in the most appealing way, and convince them to invest in your gaming idea.

Venture Captial Investment

Venture capital investment is one of the most strategic approaches through which you can raise sufficient funds for your mobile game application. People participate in various tech conferences and have one-on-one meetings with investors to convince them. However, you should have a working prototype to show in front of investors.

What Is The Best Mobile Game App?

To answer this question, just listing one game app will be unfair to a lot of games. So, I’m listing some of the best gaming applications with smooth navigation and proper character movements.

1. Minecraft
2. Words With Friends
3. PubG Mobile
4. The Classics
5. Marvel Contests Of Champions
6. Garena Free Fire
7. Clash Of Clan
8. 8 Ball Pool

FAQ

Let’s have a look at some of the commonly asked questions related to the gaming industry;

How To Make A Mobile Game App For Free?

If you wish to develop a gaming application for free, you would require a game engine that supports all the features for free! But still, while launching it to the app store, you have to pay something otherwise; launching won’t be possible.

Can Unreal Engine Make Mobile Games?

Yes, of course, you can develop a gaming application using an unreal engine which we’ve already discussed in this blog.

Can Unity Make Mobile Game App?

Yes, any developer can develop any gaming application using Unity as a gaming engine.

How Much Does It Cost To Make A Mobile Game App?

This is a very straightforward question because every game engine comes with a different pricing package. It can range from $300,000 to $100,000.

What Different Programs Do Mobile Game Designers Use?

Developers use different game engines to develop games like Unity, CryEngine, GameMaker Studio 2, Stencyl, and others we’ve mentioned already in this blog.

How to make a Roblox game?

You can create a Roblox game on your own using a few detailed steps. However, ultimately you would require a mobile phone for testing, a computer for performing the coding, an animator to animate the screens, and definitely a coder to perform the overall coding.

How to make a mobile game in unity?

The design and development process of the mobile game app is somehow the same as eachother. However, if you wish to learn more swipe up to the section where details regarding unity mobile engines are mentioned.

The Final Verdict

I hope you are now very clear about game development,  and its different working engines and animation. This blog is a detailed guide consisting of mobile game engines, animation layers, choosing the right colors, & creating levels beneficial for any game developer. It’s advised to read a guide first before you start developing any gaming application.