What Does It Take To Make a Killer, Winning Game App

I just listened to a lecture about how to make a winning game app that will make a lot of money.  They say there is a formula that needs to be followed when preparing and submitting your games.

The speaker spoke about killer game theme's, great design, fun gameplay, monetization and a "killer" team.  There were suggestion made that can be followed by any mobile app game developer.

And, here they are:

1-  Good Theme :  The theme is the fell of the game.  Who you have targeted and why.  How do you collect ideas on good game themes.  You must stick to the chosen path ( don't recreate the wheel, just make it better or different).  When you're talking and thinking about demographics try to reach a broad range of ages for both male a female gamers.  You should look at places like Toys R Us in their character theme section on the web to get theme ideas.

2- Design : This is the look of the game.  How will you attract your customers.  I learned the first thing mobile game players look at is the icon then the screen shots and from there they make their decision ( icon --  screenshots ).  One of the "Go To" places to build a team is Odesk.  You can submit your request for jobs and designers and programmers submit their bids along with their samples.

3- Game Play : Make sure your game is fun to play.  If you don't think your game is fun, no one else will.  And, you will need good reviews after buyers play your game.

4-  Monetization : The secret to monetization is to go from a paid app to a free app.  You can offer your followers promo codes to download your paid app for a limited time.  Then you switch the app to free and adjust your ads in the game.  Offer your buyers the opportunity to pay for power ups or to get an extra life.  Maybe, if they like your Facebook page offer them a free life.  You can also use monetization sources such as linkshare along with, chart boost, Revmob and iAds.

5- Killer Team : The first thing to do when creating a killer team is to know that you want all "A" players and no "C" players.  "A" players deliver what you ask and when you need things completed.  When looking for team players on places like ODESK, make sure they comprehend what you want and their examples specifically deliver that very exact thing.  I went on a search for designers and developers on a freelance site ( I'm not going to mention which site ).  The designers for example did not show me their examples in the platform i wanted to build. Although, they stated they had experience working on that platform.  They sent me examples of taxi apps and restaurant apps which I thought was very strange because I wanted to develop a game app.  So, go with your first instinct.  Know what you want when searching for a designer or programmer by first understanding how to search for games that you want to develop and the look your seeking.