Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission. Learn more.
Best resources for Android Game Developers
Android game development can be fun albeit stressful. There are so many resources for game developers. Some resources cater to PC or console games, while others try to cover all game devices.
Some resources are therefore more useful to mobile game developers than others, while some resources are more useful to Android game developers than other mobile device types. Most game resources are gravitating towards a cross platform model, so most of these resources will be useful to game developers for other platforms, or those looking to develop portable cross platform games.
Development
Before you begin development, you should have a basic understanding of the Android platform, and should know where to go for help if you get stuck. Here are a few useful sites:
Android Developer Blog
This is the official news and announcements for android developers, coming directly from the android team at Google. Every android application developer should, at the very least, visit regularly.
StackOverflow
Stackoverflow is a question and answer site for developers. Most issues you run into while developing has been encountered by someone else before, and asked, and answered on stackoverflow.
UX Magazine
The User Interface and User Experience of your game is a very important part of your game, which you ignore at your own peril. This website contains a ton of articles, tips, tricks and resources to guide your Interface design
Game Engines
It is pointless re-inventing the wheel and writing your game engine. There are many game engines out there that do all the grunt work for you including moving sprites, handling collisions, physics, etc. Take the time to learn and use one of them for your game:
Cocos2d
A widely used game engine, for mobile game development. As it’s name suggests, its used primarily for 2D games.
Corona
A free to use cross platform gaming SDK which can create apps for Android, iOS and Windows Phone. Based on the LUA language the SDK is easy to learn and includes a phone emulator which makes development easy on a Windows PC or a Mac.
LibGDX
A fantastic game engine, that also integrates with a physics engine. It is primarily a 2D game engine, although it can also be used for 3D game development.
Unity
Unity has become one of the most successful game engines for mobile games. Games developed with unity are portable across mobile devices, consoles, PC operating systems and the web. It has been used in a number of very popular games.
Unreal Engine
Another excellent game engine, developed and backed by Epic Software. Based on the engine used to develop the hugely popular and successful Unreal Tournament. Games developed with this engine are portable across mobile devices, consoles and PC operating systems.
Game Content (Graphics, Art and Music)
While the actual game play is very important, the game content is also very crucial to a game’s success. Here is a list of some of the places where you can get excellent game content for free, or purchase, as well as some places where you can get artists to work on your art:
Graphic Buffet
Contains a selection of 2D game graphics, assets, UI elements and more.
Lets Make Games
This is an excellent resource, containing links to assets for game developers. There are links to free and paid resources, including art, graphics, sound, music, models, animations and more. For both 2D and 3D games.
Super Game Asset
Has a selection of game art, including environment, characters, icons and more, mainly for RPG games
Unity Store
Artists and content creators can register and freely sell their creations through the Unity store. Game developers can then purchase the content and use within their games.
Unreal Engine Marketplace
Another excellent marketplace. If you use the Unreal Engine then this should be your first port of call for art.
Analytics
Once you game has been released it is important to collection information about how it is being used. Where are the players getting stumped and giving up, and how do they react to purchase buttons and so on. To do this you need to use an analytics service. Find one that has an API and terms of use that you are comfortable with, and use it. While most are free, others come with fees.
Some of the most popular services used for game only analytics include:
Other widely used analytics tools, for Android apps in general include:
Monetization
Like the analytics space, there are quite a number of mobile advertising networks. There are different types of ads that can be served, including banners, interstitials, videos, walls, and even ones integrated with in-app purchases. Some networks, for example, deliver excellent interstitials, but do poorly on videos. It is possible to register on multiple ad networks, and serve ads based on which network has the higher rate for a given user location. Some of the major ad networks include
News And Publicity
Of course after writing your game you would want to publicize and share it with the world. These are a collection of websites and blogs that are dedicated to gaming news, trends and information. Most of them are cross platform, not Android only.
- Gamasutra
- GamesBeat
- GamesBrief
- GamesIndustry
- GameSauce
- GamingInsiders (Weekly news and analysis newsletter)
- Indie Games
- PocketGamer
- Polygon
Wrap up and Android Developer Newsletter
These are some of the most best and most useful resources available for Android game developers. Now you can get coding, and create the next viral mobile game. Is there any other resource you think should be here? Leave a comment below and share with us.