Member Avatar for jkon

I am a partner in a company that deals with various aspects of the web presence of a company. Those aspects some times touch back office and more often replace it entirely. I have no idea of the mobile games field but last week my interest flamed. I tried several games in my phone that were “most downloaded” in Google Play and I couldn't find anything that made them really unique as ideas or great as graphics and user experience. That made me think of a game I have developed back in 2005 and I recreated it . So now I have this game that is build with PhoneGap and could easily make in Java for Android as well (objective C is not my thing … but if I had to I can write in that as well).

The graphics isn't great (remember I am a programmer, and although my company has a graphic designer she has nothing to do with creating creatures) , we could pay around 500$ to 1000$ to make them what we need (very simple graphic job) , but will we get our money back ? Of all the payment resolution I found that the most “honest” one (for me) is to charge for another round of levels when someone finishes the levels. All the other approaches seems a little lame or chip.

Should I invest 1000$ or maybe more to that or the whole mobile games thing is a big mess that only a company that spend a lot can make money out of it ? What is your opinion ?

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A realistic read for : the mobile-games market is crowded and hit-driven, so ’s caution is valid and ’s point about IAP upside is also right. That makes a measured, metrics-first approach the best way to decide whether a $500–$1,000 art spend makes sense.

A compact, low-risk plan:

  • Keep the PhoneGap build as an MVP to get a playable APK quickly. If performance or cross-platform needs grow, consider a game engine (Unity/Godot) or a native rebuild later.
  • Instrument analytics before launch: installs, DAU, session length, level progression funnel, D1/D7 retention, IAP conversion and ad eCPM/ARPDAU. Stop spending if retention and monetization are flat.
  • Monetization strategy: combine a small paid “level pack” (one-time unlock) with optional rewarded video (natural place: after a failed level or between worlds). Pure paywalls usually convert poorly unless the paid content feels compelling and immediate.
  • Soft-launch in 1–3 smaller markets first, run tiny user-acquisition tests, and optimize the store listing (title, short description, screenshots, 15–30s video). Measure CPI vs LTV before scaling acquisition spend.

Practical art and UX advice:

  • $500–$1,000 can buy simple, consistent sprites and UI if the art brief is tight (silhouettes, flat shapes, readable colors). Consider asset packs or a minimal, distinct style rather than photoreal detail.
  • Prioritize clarity of feedback and a short first-session loop that teaches and rewards; that drives retention far more than pretty art.

A single experiment with clear go/no-go KPIs (retention + ARPDAU/IAP conversion) turns this from a lottery into a learnable product decision. If those KPIs look promising, invest in polish and marketing; if not, iterate or cut losses.

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Member Avatar for rproffitt

I'm going to write no, not worth it. Why? From https://www.quora.com/How-much-money-can-an-Android-developer-earn-from-a-free-app-on-the-Google-Play-store I read this.

200000 installs in and earned around $1500. Although it was called an interesting game and is highly rated, most users stopped playing it after a day or two.

That was over 2 years so unless you have the next Angry Birds, it's just not going to pay off for some time.

Member Avatar for JamesCherrill

I agree you're not going to get rich on up-front pricing, but in-app purchases are a different animal - all you need is a couple of thousand $1 purchases to get your investment back.
So maybe your marketing with bloggers etc will fail and nobody will ever hear of, let alone download your game. Or maybe you can get one good mention on a key blog and it will go viral. Nobody ever made their first fortune by avoiding risk!

Here's a very relevant and interesting case study... https://medium.com/@alpsoy/how-much-can-you-make-from-a-20k-downloaded-ios-game-ed91e5caf67d

Member Avatar for jkon

rproffitt and JamesCherrill thank you for opinions and the case study links. Probably we will go with our own graphics for now and maybe improve them if you see that the game has any revenue at all. Also although I despise ads in apps I am thinking to give it a try. A minor budget will be spent in blog advertising. I will keep you informed of how this experience will unfold.

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