As they say every problem is potentially an opportunity so this became a jumping off point in trying to solve the "visibility" problem. Instead of relying solely on a ranking algorithm, it seemed obvious there should be some human element involved in testing, reviewing and recommending apps. Unsurprisingly there were such "all things Android" review sites but they lacked a focus on curation and development in a feedback loop with developers in order to raise the floor of app quality. Instead of "top 20 android games for 2014" or "latest adventure games on android", I felt that the focus should be on whether a game was genuinely fun, had room for mastery, easy to pick-up, avoided predatory practices (e.g. in-game purchases, pay-to-win, etc.), were worth paying for, in active maintenance or development, etc.
So, again, I jumped in head first and got to work to test out this idea. I created an account on Reddit and began engaging with other Android game developers. I and my artist partner created a name and logo called TwayRadio and opened a Twitter and Tumblr account. We began testing games and only posting the actively developed, quality ones with links to the creators' Reddit so the developers could gain some feedback and build a community around their games.
Our work can be seen here and here. Below is our logo along with an introduction form for developers to work with us.
We also experimented with other ways to bring our game to life on the internet; for example, how could we flesh out our game world and characters online using Twitter? This proved to be a great idea in theory but to execute properly could only be supported with rapid content creation to expand the game world.
It was now over two months since the project began and it was clear that the lack of tools necessary to nurture and grow a successful game were limiting what was possible. So, again, I put a thumb tack in my journey to mark a learning point as this would become the launch point into my next coding project.
In summary, my time doing mobile development was important for the simple fact that it let me explore the problem space thoroughly; what tech was available, which platforms were being used, the hardware limitations, the potential for future growth, the economics, the marketing and, of course, what it was like going from an idea to a fully released project using this ecosystem.
The biggest negative takeaways were that of in-game ads and the realities of touch screen gaming.
There's no use mincing words, in-game ads suck. Period. They are a sudden source of outside content that does not mesh with the rest of the game world which breaks the immersive-ness and unified experience of the game. Further, they feel cheap, annoying and intrusive while contributing nothing to enhance the experience. At the very most, ads should be something you can have the option of viewing when a player is leaving the game.
I also have no kind words for touch screens. They are, at best, a mediocre form of input for pretty much all forms of gaming other than swipe and tap. I'm sure millions of people disagree because I've observed people on phones playing every imaginable game type out there (FPS, RPG, side scroller, etc.) but I am not remotely convinced. Fingers block the screen, on-screen controls block the screen, lack of localized haptic feedback, lack of tactile feedback, limited response time and spotty accuracy are just some of the issues that immediately come to mind when thinking back over my experimenting with touch screen controls. Put a tack in this point as well because this too becomes another launch point for future code research.
Onward.