Hi all,
This isn't strictly AppGameKit related, but I found a few tutorials/blog posts on things like UI, icon, screenshots etc that I think will be helpful for a few people out there
I feel a lot of devs out there (myself included) finish coding their games and are in too much of a rush to release it. However it's pretty important to take a quick look at some other things to make sure users get the most out of your game.
UI Design:
http://www.raresloth.com/design/game-ui-design/
Basically remember that users want to get in and start playing your game straight away. So you want to design your game in such a way that they can enjoy it immediately instead of having to read pages of tutorials, or figure out confusing gameplay etc.
Most users will NOT read things in your game. Use visual indicators to show them what to do. Make sure users have all the information they need to know immediately available at any particular time, but avoid any useless additional information, that's just clutter.
Some UI Design examples:
http://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/tutorials/game-ui-by-example-a-crash-course-in-the-good-and-the-bad--gamedev-3943
Screenshots Design:
http://splitmetrics.com/blog/10-tips-on-designing-screenshots-that-convert/
http://splitmetrics.com/blog/designing-screenshots-a-guide-on-how-to-achieve-a-32-conversion-lift/conversion-lift/
http://splitmetrics.com/blog/how-ecc-achieved-31-conversion-lift-with-a-simple-screenshots-edit/
http://splitmetrics.com/blog/songpop-success-story-shorter-captions-bolder-graphics-10-better-cvr/
Basically always put your most eye-catching screenshot first. Most devs try and have some sort of chronological order in their screenshots. Don't do that. Put the brightest, flashiest, most interesting one. This will encourage users to stay on the page.
Try and have a different colour scheme for each screenshot.
Also try titles on each icon. Don't be afraid to heavily photoshop your screenshots. Make them a combination of titles, actual screenshots and concept art.
If you check most of the games from big studios, you'll see they follow these principles (there are exceptions of course).
Check these out, each screenshot has a different colour scheme, titles/characters, and the first screenshot is really flashy (often a concept art or loading screen, not even a screenshot):
http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wb.goog.dc.legends
http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pixelbite.rr3
http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ustwo.monumentvalley
http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.productmadness.hovmobile
http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kiloo.subwaysurf
http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.squareenixmontreal.hitmango
Not all of them follow every single principle, but the one principle that is followed by almost all of them is having a different over all colour scheme for each screenshot.
Also, they are followed much more closely in games by the top developers. Less so by indie and individual devs.
Icons Design:
http://splitmetrics.com/blog/case-study-how-to-double-your-app-downloads-just-by-changing-the-app-icon-by-per-haglund/
Another interesting article:
http://splitmetrics.com/blog/what-makes-a-perfect-app-store-page-for-a-game-an-interview-with-jero-juujarvi-user-behaviorism-expert-and-marketing-consultant/
I'm not expert, but I found these articles very interesting. I'm certainly going to try doing all this for my next project
Cheers,
EB
