How to Make a Mobile Game from Scratch in 7 Easy Steps

Mobile games are accountable for generating more than 50% of the overall $184 billion revenue of the global gaming market.

Since mobile games are easily accessible, don’t need heavy investments, and can be enjoyed on the go, they have become a preferred source of entertainment for many gamers.

Mobile game development has opened up new business opportunities for entrepreneurs as they can invest in game development and make their mobile games.

But, getting started with mobile game development is not an easy process.

How to make a mobile game that engages players, it’s crucial to follow a strategic mobile game development process.

Regardless of your mobile game idea, if it fails to provide enticing gameplay, it’ll struggle to become a huge success.

Not to mention, if you’re planning to make a mobile game for a highly competitive genre, you’ll be faced with the initial barrier of directly competing with industry giants.

The ideal way to tackle this situation is to partner with a dedicated mobile game development company. Having a skilled technical partner to handle the development process will help you launch a market-centric mobile game in the market.

To help you along the way, we have compiled an in-depth guide on how to make a mobile game from scratch.

Quick Insight into the Mobile Game Development Industry

Post-COVID-19 pandemic, mobile gaming witnessed a sudden surge in terms of customer base and business revenue.

According to Statista, The overall revenue in the mobile gaming industry is projected to reach US$315.90bn by the end of 2023.

The same study also suggests that the market is expected to acquire 2.32bn users by 2027.

To put it in simple terms, mobile gaming is one of the most lucrative industries for investors and startups.

Moreover, these lucrative figures showcase that investing in mobile gaming is an ROI-driven business plan for many entrepreneurs.

The goal is to devise a mobile solution that offers addictive gameplay.

How You Can Make a Mobile Game in 7 Easy Steps?

Now that you are ready to get started with game app development,

Let’s go through the step-by-step procedure to make a new mobile game from the ground up.

Before we proceed any further, it’s important to understand that launching a successful mobile game requires coming up with the best mobile game idea.

The market is already stacked with thousands of action-packed mobile games.

In such a scenario, a unique gaming idea will pave the path for you and you’ll be able to step into the market with a user-centric mobile game.

1. Have a Captivating Storyline and Character Personas

In the modern world, mobile games aren’t just a source of entertainment.

They create an enticing environment for the players, allowing them to dive into a virtual space and enjoy rich gameplay.

Consequently, you can’t expect to lead the market, or even engage the initial user base, with a regular game with no storyline and poorly designed character backgrounds.

Regardless of your preferred gaming genre, prioritizing storyline and character personas will help you create a unique gaming solution.

The more you invest in building a great storyline, the easier it will be to boost player engagement.

You can also integrate a custom feature that lets players create their digital avatars and enjoy a more interactive gaming experience.

2. Hire Professional Game Developers

Mobile game development is a critical, time-consuming, and technically inclined process.

If you want to launch a full-scale mobile game, you’ll need a team of professional game developers who specialize in your preferred gaming engine.

The general thumb rule says that you should hire game developers who have prior experience in designing comprehensive mobile games that fall under the same genre.

When it comes to recruiting game developers, every entrepreneur follows a different approach.

While some business owners hire a dedicated mobile game development team, others look for offshore partners as a way to cut down on the development cost of mobile games.

With offshore developers, you have the liberty to focus on your business objectives as there’s a dedicated team to manage the entire development cycle.

You establish a single point of communication and get your idea executed by a team of professional game developers.

3. Decide a Game Development Budget in Advance

When it comes to knowing how to make a mobile game, it’s crucial to plan your budget in advance, especially if you want to make a mobile game.

Mobile game development is a continuous and time-consuming process. It can take several months to ideate, design, and build the final working product.

Throughout this period, you’ll have to invest in different development components, starting from the development fees to the external APIs you prefer to integrate.

It means if you have a rough budget in mind, you’ll be able to avoid unexpected roadblocks.

The most convenient way to finalize a mobile game development budget is to lay down your objectives in front of the development team.

Based on your final goals, the team will provide you with an estimated quote to turn your idea into an action-packed mobile game. It’s also advisable to have a buffer along with the suggested development cost as the development plan may evolve down the line.

4. Select the Right Technology

The game development team you hire will also depend on the preferred technology stack.

As of 2023, there are dozens of gaming engines and development technologies developers can use to construct both 2D & 3D mobile games from scratch.

All these technologies are tailored to build specific types of mobile games.

It means choosing the right technology platform will be crucial as you would not want to get stuck with a tech stack that doesn’t align with your business objectives.

Unity 3D and Unreal is most popular gaming engines developers use for mobile game development.

Both these gaming platforms are ideal for constructing high-performance mobile games for different platforms including iOS and Android.

These gaming engines have built-in libraries for quick element integration and graphic rendering.

In short, developers can use these gaming platforms to build small-scale and fully-functional mobile games.

Also, Read | Top 15 Game Development Tools You Can Use in 2023

5. Start With the Initial Prototype

After you’ve evaluated all the important factors, the next step would be to build an initial prototype for your game.

Keep in mind that the primary goal of designing a prototype is to build a functional model of the game that has all the necessary features.

A playable prototype will help you evaluate potential loopholes and overcome them in the future.

This will also help you understand the user dynamics and build a user-centric mobile game accordingly. 

6. Don’t Overlook Mobile Game Testing

It’s no secret that testing and quality assurance are two crucial parts of building any mobile solution, including mobile games.

During the initial development phase, a mobile game is prone to unexpected errors and multiple bugs.

Comprehensive testing will ensure that your mobile game is free of any bugs that might hinder the user experience.

When it comes to mobile game development, developers follow different testing methodologies to validate the overall functionality of their mobile games.

Based on your target audience, user preferences, in-game features, and integrated APIs, the developers may rely on one or more testing methods to full-proof your gaming solution.

7. Invest in a Marketing Plan

At this point, your mobile game is up & running and it’s time to launch it into the market.

But, wait!

Before you move ahead with the final deployment, make sure to partner with a dedicated marketing team to build a robust marketing strategy for your product.

Having a strong marketing plan will allow you to maximize user acquisition and reach potential customers more effectively.

Throughout your marketing game, social media platforms will play an integral role in engaging your target audience.

You can even run paid ads across different social media platforms and get maximum exposure for your mobile game.

Conclusion

Even though the availability of drag-and-drop DIY game builders has gone up in recent years, building a full-scale mobile game requires extensive expertise.

After all, if you want to compete with the industry giants, it’ll be imperative to equip your mobile game with all the necessary features that could captivate the target players.

Consequently, hiring a professional game development partner will be an ideal approach to achieving success.

Find a company that provides end-to-end mobile game development services tailored to help entrepreneurs launch action-packed mobile games for different platforms.