There is still much romanticism around game development: every day hundreds of people decide that this is the right occupation for them. Beginners imagine themselves sitting in a cozy office or even at home, sipping coffee, and creating the most beautiful and unique game that will have millions of fans across the world.
Those, who check the list of reliable online gambling sites powered by NetEnt at Casino HEX or monitor video game launches, can’t imagine how much work stands behind a single title. They think that creating a game is a pleasant stroll, while the reality is completely different.
As well as Hollywood, the game development industry loves winners. Thousands of new titles vanish and only several of them remain. That is why we decided to write about the reality of game creation: the pros and cons of being a designer, as well as a few rules that may help you to stay in the industry as long as you want to. We hope that the article will be useful!
Pros of game creation
Let’s start with a positive note. Here are the benefits of designing games:
1. You can impact millions of people
Nowadays games are more than a way to kill time. You can create a game to educate people or to prepare them for an interview. Thus, you’ll contribute to society and leave a mark in history.
2. You can create the game that you’d love to play
One of the best things about game creation is that you can design a project that you’d love to play. Instead of waiting for game development companies to create something that might interest you, learn the basics and build your own game!
3. You get money for being creative
This benefit doesn’t even require explanations.
Cons of game creation
1. Forget about personal time
If you are a devoted game developer, be ready to forget about sleep and leisure because you’ll be spending all your time on designing and improving the product even when it’s launched.
2. Communication
Not all of us possess strong communication skills, which becomes a real nightmare for game developers. They need to express and share ideas, and if other team members don’t speak solid English, the process becomes twice harder.
3. Your place of residence
There are many game developing companies but most of them are concentrated in particular regions. Thus, to join a team of developers, you may need to relocate to another city or even country.
How to create a successful game
While there are no common rules for creating a best-selling game, we have collected a few rules that can be applied no matter how experienced you are and what kind of game you are developing.
1. Think about the audience. It may be tempting to design a game you’d like to play but make sure to consider the target audience: what its tastes are? Are they fans of a certain genre?
2. Unique design. Considering that there are thousands of games on the market, players won’t waste time deciding whether they like your product or not: they will simply delete it and download another one. Thus, your game should have unique design and features that stand out from the rest;
3. Consider competitors. Once you know the niche you’re going to enter, we recommend making a list of its top participants. Take time to analyze their strong and weak points, read comments, and note any feature that may be useful when creating a game of your own. If there are any distinguishing elements that each of the competitors have, you should also include it to your game;
4. Pay attention to every detail. This is an obvious rule but most developers neglect it. Even the best ideas may be ruined if the product contains multiple bugs that interrupt players or complex features that are difficult to understand. Before launching, make sure to test the game several times and fix all imperfections. If budget allows, hire experienced game testers.
Game creation requires sweat and sometimes tears
There are many occupations, which are considered easy and fun: acting, writing books, and of course creating video games. However, months or even years of hard work stand behind the process and you need to know all the tricks and rules in order to succeed and not to burnout. The good news is that everything’s possible!