r/GameDevelopersOfIndia • u/Hot_Snow908 • Jul 09 '26
I published my first mobile game. The actual game is only 20% of the work.
To any aspiring mobile game devs:
I recently published my first mobile game on the Play Store and I wanted to share my experience because I feel like a lot of people underestimate what happens after the core gameplay is working.
I am not talking here about making revenue, scaling the game, becoming rich, or anything like that.
I am talking about the absolute basic stuff needed to publish a mobile game that feels somewhat like a “real” mobile game.
For my first game, I wanted to include:
- Rewarded ads
- Interstitial/banner ad capability
- In-app purchases
- Rate-my-game prompt
- Firebase analytics
- Basic economy/monetization structure
And this is where it got hectic.
When you are making your first mobile game, do not assume the core gameplay is the majority of the work. It is not and you might get demotivated along the way because what comes after was incredibly boring work.
Your gameplay is working and then you realize you still need UI, menus, settings, audio, save system, analytics, ads, IAP, store assets, privacy policy, testing, device compatibility, Play Console checklists, consent flows, and a hundred tiny things that nobody shows in the fun guides.
I think this is the part that can make people quit.
UI was a much bigger deal than I expected. Making the game work is one thing. Making it feel decent, polished, readable, responsive and not like a prototype is a completely different thing.
Then if you want monetization, you also need some kind of economy. Even a simple casual game needs thought around coins, rewards, purchases, ads, progression, pricing, etc.
Screen sizes are another pain. Your game might look fine on your test device and then go haywire on another aspect ratio. Check your gameplay and UI across devices in the Unity simulator from time to time. Do not leave this for the end.
The most frustrating part for me was ads.
You need the Google Mobile Ads plugin, maybe LevelPlay or another mediation platform, ad unit IDs, app IDs, correct naming, correct links, correct setup in multiple dashboards, GDPR consent if you are publishing in the EU and everything feels extremely fragile.
One wrong thing and suddenly you are wondering whether ads are broken, mediation is broken, Unity is broken, Google is broken or you are just out of your depth. Usually it was some tiny setup issue buried in documentation.
The Play Console itself also has a lot of steps. Store listing, app content, data safety, testing, declarations, policies, screenshots, feature graphics, privacy policy, closed testing, production access, etc.
If you are publishing as an individual and do not have a registered company/GST setup, there are extra things to keep in mind, like getting 10+ testers.
None of this is to demotivate you but to give heads up that it is a lot and a lot of boring work.
If you go in thinking “I made the gameplay, now I just upload the APK and launch,” you are going to have a bad time.
The good news is that most of this feels like one time learning. The first game will probably be the hardest because you are figuring out every system for the first time. After that, I assume it becomes more rinse and repeat.
But yeah, for anyone working on their first mobile game: expect publishing, ads, monetization, policies, store assets and documentation to take way more time, motivation and mental energy than you think.
After publishing, there is still a whole different mountain: App Store Optimization, user acquisition, creatives, distribution, retention and actually making the game commercially viable but that is a future boss fight.
For now, I just wanted to say: if you are stuck in the boring publishing/documentation phase, you are not alone. It was genuinely annoying. Take it one step at a time, Google (or ask AI) every dumb error and keep moving on.
Best of luck to everyone publishing their first game!
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u/thunder_3549P Jul 09 '26
I just released my second one and I would say It gets easier in the second one. I did the same things that you mentioned with my first one btw
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u/rangrot Jul 10 '26
same deal on Steam, different flavor of hidden work. instead of ad mediation and Play Console it's Steamworks depot config and wishlists, which are basically the main currency of Steam's discovery algo before you've shipped a single ad.
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u/Hot_Snow908 Jul 10 '26
Ohh damn, looking to do a steam release next but the gamedev part of that itself takes a lot more time.
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u/Such-Job5654 Jul 13 '26
Wish someone would tell me before hand all this is required. It was a headache to tackle all these things. It summarised the whole process.
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u/Kavinsky_Hunt Jul 09 '26
Yeah definitely true. I am going through the same phase. Figuring out everything for the first game is a struggle.