Advice for son on developing/releasing simple games

[Biggles111]

Some ideas please - I bought my son (11) a Raspberry Pi when they first came out, and gave him a python book. Since then he has bought a number of other books and basically self taught himself Python, C++, and Java.

We have taken care to limit screen time, he has lots of other interests, e.g. Sea Scouts, Football club, but seems to have a real aptitude, which I am keen to encourage.

Last week we had a call from Nintendo. Unknown to us last year when I was seriously ill he had taken it upon himself to apply for a Nintendo developer package, with the aim of releasing some software and making some money to support us. Now, he is not old enough to do this (Nintendo require you to be 18), but I was really happy that he showed initiative.

The question is how I guide him going forwards; my last programming other than HTML was on a Spectrum, 30 something years ago. Given he wants to release something I have suggested maybe going for an Android platform, for which he has got the App Studio. He wants to start with a simple platform game, which he has already made examples of on other formats. This is unlikely to make him money, but that is not the main aim; if it goes well could give him a good start in this and other fields.

Is the Android platform and App Studio suitable, or is something else easier/more accessible. What resources could I look at with him to help him?

[Foliage]

only advice I can give if to have a look at steam greenlight. That's for PC games.

There is also the option for him to make browser based games and host them himself/yourself to get the ball rolling.

[Biggles111]

Thanks Foliage - useful idea, I will have a chat with him later.

[MysteryLemon]

Biggles111 said:

This is unlikely to make him money

Don't be too pessimistic about what will and wont make money based on its simplicity. Some of the most simple, stupid games ever created have made their developers very, very, very rich just based on it being picked up and passed around. Look at flappy bird. It's st, but made someone a lot of money. All it takes is a popular youtuber to jump on it and then everyone gets it and it becomes an overnight hit.

Gaming is a very different world to how it was 10 years ago when you actually had to go to the shop to buy them.

[Foliage]

MysteryLemon said:

Don't be too pessimistic about what will and wont make money based on its simplicity. Some of the most simple, stupid games ever created have made their developers very, very, very rich just based on it being picked up and passed around. Look at flappy bird. It's st, but made someone a lot of money. All it takes is a popular youtuber to jump on it and then everyone gets it and it becomes an overnight hit.

Gaming is a very different world to how it was 10 years ago when you actually had to go to the shop to buy them.

Twitch streamers as well have a lot of pull on making games popular.

[silent k]

If he wants to release games on Android, tell him to have a look at cocos2d-x . It's a game development platform, if he can code in C++ he should be able to pick it up pretty easily.

It makes the graphics and game side of development much easier. So it gives you the ability to move sprites (graphics) around on screen, add sound that sort of thing. Don't go into it thinking you'll make any money though, it's very tough out there. It'll give him great experience though.

[Biggles111]

Thanks guys - all useful and positive stuff, really helpful.

[P4ulB]

Unity might be something to look at - there are free options available that enable publishing to all sort of formats.

http://unity3d.com/

[Hoofy]

I wouldn't discount Android as a games platform for making money. There's a reason why the likes of EA and Gameloft are churning out top quality games such as Real Racing 3 and Dungeon Hunter 4 apparently without charge.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com....
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com....

I mean, if you'd told me 10 years ago that I'd be able to play the equivalent of Gran Turismo on a phone and it would not cost a penny, I'd have called you a big fibber. Yet, they're clearly making money out of it.

And on the lighter side of things, there's Crossy Road (can't think of how the developer thought up the name!). It's basically an infinite Frogger.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com....

It's all about In-App Purchases (IAPs). How your son goes about this is down to him, but he needs to think about what annoys gamers - I've read numerous threads on Reddit and things like pay-to-win really annoys gamers. Having bonus things like extra levels (or a different graphic for your character in Crossy Road) will generate money. Also, for indie developers, whales are a godsend - people who have too much money and just blow hundreds of dollars on a game to collect cars or whatever. It's crazy because they wouldn't spend $300 on a game outright but via IAPs they'll piss away money.

[130R]

He's 11 and knows Python, C++, and Java? Let me know when he leaves school and I'll give him a job in my team!

[Hoofy]

130R said:

He's 11 and knows Python, C++, and Java? Let me know when he leaves school and I'll give him a job in my team!

Ha. Indeed. At 11, I could barely code BASIC (yeah, showing my age). I still cannot code an app for a phone. (Any idiot's guides online?)

[Biggles111]

130R said:

He's 11 and knows Python, C++, and Java? Let me know when he leaves school and I'll give him a job in my team!

Thanks, he might just take you up on that one day in a few years, I will show him your message as further motivation for him, appreciated.

[Biggles111]

Purity14 said:

THIS

He only has to make one game that suddenly becomes "on trend" or whatever they call it.

99p download, thousands of people buy it = win win.

Look at flappy birds as an example of a simple platform game, and that went crazy.

Agreed, I think what he might have an angle on is being young he has a handle on what is fun/funny for young audiences, which in turn may get wider popularity. Early days for now, he has lots of time to continue learning, but I have given him all the thoughts above and will work his ideas through with him.

[silent k]

Purity14 said:

THIS

He only has to make one game that suddenly becomes "on trend" or whatever they call it.

99p download, thousands of people buy it = win win.

Look at flappy birds as an example of a simple platform game, and that went crazy.

I don't want to put a complete dampener on things, but the chances of having a hit are tiny. There are thousands of apps each day being released, most of those won't even break a hundred downloads. Download numbers are heavily skewed towards top 10 big sellers, where they get millions of downloads. The average app just disappears. If you're looking to make money from in-app purchase or ads then you need 100,000's of thousands of downloads to make any money from them (and I'm talking about a couple of grand not millions).

Treat it as a learning experience - there aren't many 11 year olds who can say they've released their own app, and any sales you get are a complete bonus.

[Altrezia]

silent k said:

I don't want to put a complete dampener on things, but the chances of having a hit are tiny. There are thousands of apps each day being released, most of those won't even break a hundred downloads. Download numbers are heavily skewed towards top 10 big sellers, where they get millions of downloads. The average app just disappears. If you're looking to make money from in-app purchase or ads then you need 100,000's of thousands of downloads to make any money from them (and I'm talking about a couple of grand not millions).

Treat it as a learning experience - there aren't many 11 year olds who can say they've released their own app, and any sales you get are a complete bonus.

Totally correct.

Good luck to the lad!

[Hoofy]

Create a game, make sure it auto-updates when you create updates, stick it on Google Play as a free download. If it's successful, create IAPs in an update.

[Biggles111]

silent k said:

Treat it as a learning experience - there aren't many 11 year olds who can say they've released their own app, and any sales you get are a complete bonus.

Thanks James - that's exactly the view we are taking, the main aim is that he enjoys it, ends up with a game he can share, and hopefully develops some great skills along the way.

[eps]

I would recommend looking at Basic4Android (they also do a Basic4iOS). It works, really well. I was up and running with demos in a few minutes and it can be as complicated as you want to get. There are a lot of examples and willing people to help on the forum and the Developer works hard to keep people going and get results.

www.b4x.com (as it now covers Android, iOS and WinPPC and Java stuff for PCs)

It's relatively cheap in terms of entry. For Google Developer you need to have an account, which is a one-off 25USD. B4A, for instance costs around 70USD (there are usually offers around - let me know if not, sometimes on BitsduJour) and this gives you 2 years licence, so 2 years worth of updates to B4A. There is also a free version to use, which allows you to do most things apart from placing it in the Google Play Store (iirc).

I've used it to develop Apps for Android, they're a bit of a hobby of mine, rather than serious stuff, but it's been a good learning exercise. Most of my Apps are free, with advertising. They've more than paid for the licences and so on and a few beers, races away and hotels. Some have created some really good work and earnt a fair few pennies from using it.

It is possible to make some money with Apps, if you produce anything that is half decent, it will get noticed. Of course effort needs to be put in, i.e. most of the time if you put the effort in you will be rewarded. Flappy Birds is the exception to this rule!

re: Nintendo.. If it were me, you should have said that it was you doing the developing (even though it's not) and then 'subcontracted' to your son and got his stuff out there... Where there's a will there's a way.

[Durzel]

Hoofy said:

Create a game, make sure it auto-updates when you create updates, stick it on Google Play as a free download. If it's successful, create IAPs in an update.

And watch people 1 star your game because they think it should be completely free, even though they admit to being addicted to it.

As has been said above just treat it as a learning experience with anything else a bonus and you can't go far wrong.

[russ_a]

I'd start with a simple JavaScript \ HTML game and take it from there.

Someone released a HTML version of Super Mario last year coded entirely in HTML \ JavaScript! Nintendo didn't like it but it got the young lad some great press.

https://github.com/Diogenesthecynic/FullScreenMari...