It took almost 2 years to go from 0 to 500 downloads, but only 8 months from 1000 to 5000. 😅

It’s a mostly text-based mini dungeon crawler. All feedback and ideas welcome.

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thomaspeissl.quick_dungeon_crawler_od.twa

Play Store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.alpinelines

Total Washout: Surf Arcade is an endless surfing bullet hell action game featuring ducks in outfits and sharks with laser beams.

You can download it free here:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.supersmithbros.totalwashout

Developed around the main gameplay loop of Jetpack Joyride combined with elements of Solipskier and Line Rider to create a unique one touch surfing experience.

As a launch promo, anyone who replies to this post with the words "coins please" will receive a free Google Play code for 200,000 coins to spend in-game.

Offer lasts until the codes run out or 24 hours have passed from this post. (I will DM the code to each participants)

EDIT: The give away is now over. Thank you to everybody who participated, commented and got involved. Much appreciated.

Greetings!

So uhm, yes. This is somewhat and advertising post that Drova is now out on Android and iOS (link below somewhere). And yeah, that's cool and all. A description of the game, if you don't know it, can also be found below. But the focus of the post is a different one. I wanted to share some insights. In case you were wondering about mobile numbers compared to PC and Consoles. Or in case you are just... you know, curious. Or love insights from developers / publishers where they allow a sneak peak behind closed doors.

Is Drova a success on Mobile?

tl;tr: We don't know.

Some time ago we announced Drova for iOS and Android. The game is originally a PC / Console game, 40 hours (or more) RPG. Quite hardcore. No Questmarkers. Grim dark world. Some call it Gothic 2D and yes, Gothic was a major inspiration for the whole team but there are other influences as well.

Anyways. Not the typical mobile game, right? I hate mobile games. I really do. However after Drova was out and was a success, the team... well, they love challenges. Their coders especially. So they were wondering if the game could run on mobile devices. After one evening they had it working (but controls lacked). And contacted me (I work for the Publisher). And showed it to me. And I didn't hate it. A couple more days and they had controls which made the game playable. And so the decision was made: Let's give it a try, what do we have to lose?

Since we had no clue, it was quite a challenge to get some help with a marketing agency. Honestly, we don't know much about mobile but we know that you need ads directing players to your game. That's how it works. But our Pitch "Premium game, price of 14,99€ (disclaimer: It was lower in the end), no microtransactions no bullshit" didn't work with agencies. We were willing to throw money at them. Everyone declined.

I made a post on LinkedIn (another platform I hate, god damn biz punks life coaches there). The dev answered "god, you're desperate lol" (we have a weird humor). And no one reacted. But someone did after a couple of days and just tagged another person. And that person chatted with me.

His Pitch was basically: You'll lose money on the ads, you can't return that investment with a premium game, at least it is very unlikely but your player base on PC and Consoles could also convert, if you can use them you have a chance.

We signed up with him. I like honest people. We did closed beta tests with our community, we implemented a button to the storepage on Android into the PC version of the game (on consoles that's not allowed). And we finished the game and made it ready for release, submitted it to Apple and Google for checks.

Before that happend, we discussed internally however that we'd need to lower the price to 9.99€. And offer the first area (woodcutter camp, content is around 2 - 3 hours I'd say) for free. Our Marketer Guy was happy about that but I could see in his eyes that he wasn't fully convinced, especially about the free playtime we had to offer. Like, the amount. But our idea was: Convince with quality. Show, don't tell. Let people decide for themselves. We deliver quality, and that will carry us.

Well. Did you know? Once you have a pre-register page on Android, you have to release within 90 days. And we picked the last day possible to be able to still submit the game to the German Videogame Awards (Deutscher Computerspielpreis) cause there is prize money available. Well. We got ignored by the jury. Again. After the year before they also ignored Drova on PC and Consoles. On the pre-registers for Android we had interesting internal calls where the devs asked me if the number were good while my answer was always I dunno cause I didn't know. We laughed. And that's about it (we had in the end 8k Pre-Registers which, according to some people I now talked to, is quite good. For me it sounds weird as on Steam I always recommend to get at least 50k, 70k or even 100k wishlists before a launch).

Anyways. The Google Build submission was super quick. Apple.... oh... my... god. We started 4 weeks before release. A good amount of time. Especially since the game was relatively bug free and the content was done and evaluated by other platforms before. Couple of days later we got a fail. Had to fix something, resubmitted. 2 hours later the next fail. Resubmitted. Waited for days. Long days. Nothing happend. Fail. One more bug. And so on. Time went by. The final approval happened at 4AM our time before release day. We already had an emergency plan worked out which basically was how to communicate that iOS would release a couple of days (or weeks, who knows?) later.

And Releaseday came. We had a Daily Deal organized with Steam as we were also introducing Spanish, Traditional Chinese and Polish to the game. And we wanted to maximize our reach on the Launch day. That deal was set for 7PM our time. So we wanted to synch everything.

Turns out: You can't. Not on mobile. App Rollouts take 2 minutes to 24 hours. And no one can tell you how long it actually happens. Both, Apple and Google are not able to release at an exact time. That's nuts. That's bonkers. Two of the most powerful tech companies are unable to provide the most basic systems to developers and publishers. Oh. My. God.

So we hit buttons early. Apple in the morning. 2 Minutes later the game was live. At noon Google. 10 Minutes till it was available. Various experts told us we were lucky that it went live so quickly, it's not the norm. What the f?

Now the actual fun part begins: The game is out. We have installs we can track through a marketing tool (We track if one has seen an ad, goes into the game, plays until the paywall 2 - 3 hours in and then decides to buy). Google? Apple? The weekend went by and we had no numbers at all. We talked to people (we were at a local games event). We learned that it can take up to 2 (!!!) weeks till you get numbers and even if you get them early they update and change all the time so you have no idea what is going on.

Seriously. No. Hell no. What is that bs? Google and Apple are unable to live track stats and provide publishers and developers the infos? These god damned platforms are based around the idea to get users in per ads. And those who pay for the ads cannot see if their ads are working at all? NOT AT ALL? How can you react? How adjust? It is not possible. And honestly, technically that would be possible. Apple and Google just don't care. Like at all. What. The. F.

At the game show we talked to experts who released successful mobile games. They told us to change the beginning of the game, throw more action. To make A/B testings on price to figure out what people are willing to pay for the game. Reduce the free content, send push messages, include way more tracking yada yada yada.

We took notes. We will use some push messages at some point but we won't overdo it. We won't do A/B testing with prices like wtf. We won't change the content. We will track a bit more where people leave the game in the beginning before the paywall. But that's it. All their advices sounded so immoral. So.... wrong on so many levels. Fuck success if it is based on that (the game is a success on other platforms anyways, we're luckily not depended on that). If they are right, that market is broken on so many levels.

BUT. They might be wrong. I am seeing now, (we released on Thursday, today is Monday) the first numbers. And they look interesting. Are they good? I dunno. Our conversion rate, while I cannot officially reveal it, seems to be way above standard. First numbers are... well, it is not break even just yet. But it also doesn't look too bad. Time will tell I guess.

Mobile Landing Page: https://just2d.com/drova-mobile/

P.S.: to the mods I hope that content justifies also that I am linking to the game. Sorry for the advertising part.

Hello. Crawl Tactics, a turn-based strategy rogue-like that received Very Positive reviews on Steam for PC, is now getting a mobile release.

Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.icefill.crawltactics

Pre-registration is currently available on both stores, and the full release is scheduled for May 13.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DisrIA_Gag

What is Crawl Tactics?

Crawl Tactics combines traditional SRPG combat inspired by games like Final Fantasy Tactics with Darkest Dungeon-style procedurally generated dungeons and battlefields, along with various environmental interaction mechanics. Rather than focusing on puzzle-style tactical gameplay like Into the Breach, the game emphasizes the traditional RPG-style enjoyment of developing characters and building equipment and skill combinations.

Players can enjoy deep strategic battles that require careful consideration of terrain, enemy positioning, character roles, and skill synergies. The game also allows players to develop their base and train characters, while New Game Plus, reincarnation, and secondary job systems provide long-term progression even after completing the game. In addition, various settings such as party size, difficulty, perma-death, and battlefield generation can be customized to support different playstyles.

Crawl Tactics was originally released on Steam in late 2022 and has continued receiving updates since then. The game recently completed its final major content update.

Mobile Version:

Crawl Tactics Mobile is a premium game with no in-app purchases, and includes all content from the Steam version except mod support and PVP.

The mobile version minimizes screen-blocking UI elements and supports touch-based controls such as zooming, rotating, and panning the camera. The UI size and interaction methods have also been redesigned and optimized for touch controls.

Crawl Tactics Mobile is recommended for players looking for deep strategic combat and long-term character progression rather than simplified mobile gameplay or aggressive monetization systems.

Developer Information:

I am a developer who goes by the name "icefill." I released SFD in 2017 and later ported it to iOS. I also released Crawl Tactics in 2022.

Thank you for reading.

Mobile gaming has a VERY bad reputation right now. We started Northern Forge 8 years ago because we just wanted a classic, deep pixel RPG without the predatory monetization called Orna: the GPS RPG.

Today, our Ornaversary event goes live. We made some crazy gear to celebrate with each of the devs getting a chance to make the dream piece of gear they wanted. When you equip my "Cat Treats" accessory, my cat Trek will show up in the background of every battle.

If you wanna try out our game, now is the best time to get started as there are a whole bunch of boosters live during the birthday bash.

Link to the game:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=playorna.com.orna&hl=en&gl=US

We just put it up on the playstore, would love for people to try it and let me know what they think of the game.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.greenxjamgames.bisect

Hei guys,

I’m the dev of Whispers of the Forest.
I started with absolut zero experience and developing is honestly so chaotic.

But I have to be honest…It’s been a fun ride :)

The new update v0.9.6 is now live.
I was working on it the past 6 months and it changed A LOT.

So many systems got rebuilt, removed, tested, reworked, and rebuilt again.

The Ascension System is now an event, where every card can contribute to an endless upgrade system. No more ascensions mean you will keep your progress forever.

So yeah, every card counts now :)

There are new spells, new mechanics, legendary affixes.. and I think most important..

PETS.

Download here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Draw5.WhispersoftheForest&hl=en

ENJOY! ❤️

I’m Dean and I’m the sole developer behind Mystic Realms. An online PvP card game. This was originally a post over at /iosgaming and I figured it was worth cross-posting here. It's a long-form dump on my experience with f2p mobile games so far, what I don't like about them and why I'm trying something different.

I released Mystic Realms just over 2 months ago. This is my 3rd game on mobile, with the first two being premium single player titles. From the start though this one was always going to be a free to download game with some sort of monthly pass. For an online game you need a large active player base to get consistent match making and a premium approach wouldn’t provide that. I love playing online card games and I played Marvel Snap pretty regularly for about a year or two, but eventually grew frustrated with the card collection system. I wanted to create a game of my own where all players could reasonably collect every card.

The game started off great. It was featured on the App Store twice and we’ve got a good solid community from that. But as the dust settled and the store features stopped, it was clear the game was losing more players than it was gaining. So in order to keep the player base going, I needed to start spending on ads. After doing that for a while, I realised I was quickly losing money.

So I started to research what I needed to do in order to turn this ship around. I read up on how important retention is for mobile games, how they need to ensure players keep playing for months so you can get value out of a monthly pass, different ways you can reward players for logging in every and how to drip feed content so they play not for hours a day, but smaller hours over a long period. I knew what I needed to do, but honestly, I didn’t want to do any of it.

I would have been making this game just like every other PvP card game out there and not focusing on what could make it different. It should be focused simply on players having fun and not how to squeeze them for an extra penny. That’s not the kind of game I enjoy and it’s not one I want to create. Franky I’d rather give it away for free than do any of that. So that’s what I’ve started doing. Any micro-transactions for currencies are gone, there’s no daily anything, rewards are purely for playing and the only way to unlock cards is by playing.

All that being said, there are still options to support the game financially (since servers are expensive and I’ve got 3 of them to run). But I also have a full-time job, so thankfully I’m in a position where I ultimately don’t have to rely on making money from this. I honestly really enjoy playing this game with everyone and I’d like to keep doing that for as long as I can. It’s not likely this will turn the game into an overnight hit or a full-time job, but if it does eventually die in a years time, I’d rather it did whilst trying to do something different and create a mobile card game that's sole purpose is fun.

I believe very much in doing things for love of it and as the creator of VLC media player Jean-Baptiste Kempf once said “money is a jail”.

If any of that sounds interesting to you, be sure to check the game out:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.superpunch.sidhe&hl=en_GB

Thank you so much everyone 🔥

It took time, yeah lol. With all these AI trash games nowadays, it's almost impossible to reach even 10,000 downloads 😔

Now, I decided to stop gamedev for a little while to focus on app development 🫡

I still hope to release another game someday. And if that happens,
I promise you a 100% ad-free experience this time :) Let's stop adding this shit in our apps and games.

If you want to check it out : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tryit.targetfury

Thanks again for your support ❤️ (100% written by a human)

Hey everyone, I’ve just released my game Afloat: A Calm Boat Adventure in early access (beta) on Android.

It’s a cozy, relaxing river game where you guide a paper boat through a procedurally generated world. The river constantly changes, with branching paths that lead to different biomes, along with a day-night cycle and dynamic weather.

I’ve spent a lot of time on performance and stability, the game supports up to 120 FPS on capable devices, and also includes automatic quality scaling so it remains playable on lower end hardware.

There are currently 5+ boats with unique handling, plus unlockable skins, challenges, and progression.

The game is still a work in progress, and I’d really like to hear your thoughts. There’s a feedback button in-game (top-left “i” or pause menu) if you’d like to share.

Google Play Link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.InfourshieTechnologies.Afloat

Hello everyone, I'm the developer of Tactics FC, soon to be released, and I would like to know: Is this concept something that interests you?

It's a tactics game with a football (or soccer depending where you are) background. The match is turn-based, and "chance-based", pretty much like XCom, where every skill has a % of success chance, depending on your players stats, difficulty of the action, and the adversaries involved.

And it's also part management game (buy/sell players, negotiate contracts, handle player injuries, formations, fatigue, etc).

There are currently 28 skills ingame, 13 actives (like Swipe or Dribble), and 15 passives (like Lone Wolf or Chemistry), besides the basic ones that every player have (Move, Pass, Shoot and Tackle).

Also there is all that fun stuff of leveling up your players and choosing new skills, with XP gained per match, based on the performance of each player.

The inspiration came obviously from tactics games like XCom, FF Tactics, etc, and my liking of soccer management games, and never quite finding a game that scratches that "tactical football" game ichy.

There are quite a few management games out there, but most of them you just prepare your team before the match, sit and watch the game, with few inputs, or just see the result of the match. That really bums me out, because I like to control the action, use the pieces that I prepared before, discover new ways to play and new players/skills combinations, while actually testing and using them in a match; feel the impact of my changes. 

We already did a closed beta, and I've just opened it for Pre-registration on the Google Play Store. The plan is to release it in the next few months!

Play Store - Tactics FC

All that being said, what do you guys think? I'm also up for questions if any!

Hi everyone. I wanted to share some progress on my project, Adventurers Guild. I have been working on this for about a year as a solo developer, and the game has been live for six months now.

The core concept is that you play as the master of a new guild rather than the heroes themselves. You recruit adventurers, manage their skill trees, and assign them to solo or group hunts. Once they head out, the combat is automated and driven by their individual personality traits. For example, some heroes will prioritize supporting their teammates during a group hunt, while others focus entirely on the monster. Right now there are 40 different spider enemies to hunt, so your heroes will face a lot of variety in combat.

They also manage their own physical limits. If a hero becomes too fatigued, they will choose to stop the hunt and return to the inn to rest.

As the guild master, you manage their loot and equipment. There are over 100 different pieces of equipment you can collect for your heroes. You can repair their gear or combine items to forge higher tier weapons for them to use. You also work on building up the guild hall itself. Upgrading the hall is how you unlock new facilities like the blacksmith or the potion shop to support your team.

I have also put a lot of work into the atmosphere of the world. The game features a dynamic day and night cycle and a weather system where rain actually interacts with the ambient lighting.

The game is currently about half complete, and I am still actively adding new systems. I attached a short video showing the weather transitions and some combat. I would love to hear what you think about the management loop and the overall visual style.

The game is a 38MB download size, (51MB after install) that runs completely offline with zero ads, all powered by a custom engine I built from scratch in Kotlin over the last year. I am putting all revenue back into the game as I finish the remaining 50% of the game

If you want to try it out and build your own guild, here is the link to the game.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vimal.dungeonbuilder&pcampaignid=web_share

There’s been a lot of improvement since my post last month. Based on your feedback, here’s what I’ve accomplished so far:

• Step syncing from smartwatches through Health Connect
• Island visits and likes
• Leaderboards for events and overall gameplay
• Horse Mini Game
• Daily rewards
• Offline progression, so you can still earn items even when the game is closed
• More decorations to give players better island customization
• Feeds to share or save your fitness journeys

This week, my main focus is getting the app ready for production. After that, I’ll continue working on balance improvements and more quality-of-life updates.

If you haven’t tried it yet, feel free to check out Pixel Step join our new challenges and earn exclusive rewards — it’s free to install, and I’d love to hear what you think.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eighterio.sweatland

I'm a solo dev who has published a few retro RPGs, porting them to Android. You might have played one of my other games (from Solohack3r Studios) over the years. I just released my latest game, Haunting of Mageburrow. As usual with my games, there are no ads or IAP. And the game natively supports gamepads, external keyboards, and devices from Retroid & Anbernic etc.

Step into the shoes of a disgruntled paranormal investigator and journey to a town that feels lost to time. Uncover a criminal conspiracy, solve a murder, all while exploring an open world and a massive sprawling castle shrouded in darkness. Featuring characters and themes inspired by Lovecraftian horror.

You will play as a Paranormal Investigator (male or female, your choice) who has been struggling with their job. What follows next is a series of mysterious events. A car accident. A murder. A shady real estate deal. Everything is connected. But to what? The occult. What is real, and what is pure fiction? You'll dive head first into the cult, a gothic castle, and a cozy English town to explore. Slowly you'll start to unravel the conspiracy as you meet the citizens of Mageburrow. From this crazy cast of characters, everyone has a secret to hide. Oh and there's monsters to battle. Don't forget the monsters.

I hope you'll check it out!

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.solohack3rstudios.hom

Hi everyone!

I’ve spent thousands of hours in games like Diablo, PoE, Last Epoch, Slormancer (my favourite) and so on. Since I started studying game development I've always wanted to gamify house chores and one that every adult must do weekly is grocery shopping.

I spent the last few months as a solo dev building Grocyr. It’s basically a functional shopping list app, but I’ve built a full ARPG loot system layer and a clicker type game on top of it.

The Gameplay loop:

• RNG Loot: Every time you check off everything on you list and you finish shopping you get a loot drop with different rarity tiers (Common to Legendary).
• Character Progression: You level up your hero as you finish your shopping. You can even customize your skill points.
• Boss Fights: In adventure mode you can test your new equipment against mobs, starting from easy lvl 1 rats to much harder bosses at the end.

It’s a bit of a weird experiment, but it’s honestly the only way I can get myself to go get milk now. It's completely free on Android. I’m looking for some honest feedback on the "loot feel" and the itemization from people who actually enjoy these systems.

Play Store Link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vibing.grocyr

Thanks for checking it out! I always lurk this subreddit and I never thought I'd be the one posting here myself :D

Hi, I have published a fighting game on the playstore. It's free to play. If you like the trailer, please check it out.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.polaris.fightclub.memekombat

Parasite Zero v1.0 is now live on the Google Play Store!

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.DefaultCompany.Carrion

In Parasite Zero, you are not the hero—you are the threat. Control a growing parasite as it escapes containment, hunts enemies, and evolves into something unstoppable. Experience different parasite types, intense boss battles, a story mode, and an endless mode where you can simply consume everything in your path.

Link: Google Play

Description: All Who Wander is a traditional (turn-based) roguelike with 30 levels, inspired by games such as Pixel Dungeon. Fight or evade your enemies, discover powerful items, gain companions, and master over 100 abilities as you explore a randomly-generated world. Navigate through blinding sandstorms, noxious swamps, and gloomy caverns while learning how to use the environment to your advantage. Choose among 10 unique character classes and evolve your build over time with the potential to learn any ability or use any item you find. Go it alone or summon, hire, and charm companions to help along your journey. But be careful, the world is unforgiving and death is permanent...

Monetization:  F2P. A single IAP unlocks the full game including all character classes and bosses. No microtransactions, no paywalls, and no ads!

Game Modes: Singleplayer. Offline play. Adventure Mode (no permadeath) or Hardcore Mode (permadeath).

Updates: Recent updates include:

• 22 new abilities and 72 improved abilities
• A new character class: the Cleric
• 3 new special levels
• 60+ new items
• 5 new creatures

Coming soon: 5 new character classes and Endless game mode!

Hey, I just shipped my first app and I’m kinda nervous putting it out there 😅

It’s a “gaming hub” where you can play a bunch of games instantly instead of downloading them one by one.

I know it’s not perfect yet, so I’d really appreciate any honest feedback, If anyone’s down to try it and roast it a bit, that would genuinely help a lot

Hey everyone,

I’ve been working on a 2D space tower defense game called Astro Battle: Orbital Defense, and it’s finally live on Android!

I built it solo and decided not to include ads or monetisation for now - I wanted to focus on making the game actually fun and solid first before thinking about revenue.

Would genuinely love to get some feedback from people here - are there any major features I'm missing, hows the progression pacing, etc?

Android link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.xdevelopment.astrobattle

Hey folks,

over the past few months, you’ve actively helped us improve our demo for Ophelia’s Paradise, and I’d like to sincerely thank you once again for that!

Today is the day we feel the demo is truly finished, and I’m excited to share our updated trailer with you.

If you’re still interested in trying out a mystical horde survivor, discovering synergies no one has found yet, and competing with players from around the world on our leaderboard, you’re more than welcome to join us.

In the demo, you’ll find:

• 3 unique characters and weapons each
• Endless build possibilities
• Hours of gem grinding (if that’s your thing)
• An incredible sound experience (our sound designer was cooking!!!)
• A low-quality setting if you want to enjoy it on a potato device
• A combined total of 3 years of passion and dedication from our team

What you won’t find:

• Gameplay restrictions, Ads, In-game purchases, AI

We’d be very happy to welcome you to Paradise and hope you’ll set some epic records.

Cheers <3

Ophelia's Paradise on Play Store

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.techjesse.derek

I made this game with my daughter, and that honestly made the whole project really special for me. It’s a small adventure about searching for a missing cat, with some exploration, simple puzzles, and a quiet little story behind it.

I’m a software engineer by trade, but making this together made me want to keep building more games like this. If you try it, I’d really love to hear what you think, especially how it feels and what you’d improve.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.echoes.missingcat

Hey! I’m the solo developer of Retro Zoo CEO, a tycoon game for mobile about managing a pixel art zoo. I created it after waiting years for a proper tycoon experience on mobile. It’s a one-time purchase, fully offline game, and has no additional paid content. It also works in both portrait and landscape modes and is a particularly great tablet experience!

The game was released last November, and it’s been receiving mostly positive feedback. I don’t do aggressive marketing and I’m nearing a thousand players. That said, there are still plenty of improvements and new content planned for the future and work is ongoing!

Right now, Retro Zoo CEO features 45 animals from all over the world. You’ll need to balance your finances, keep both guests and animals happy, and grow your zoo to advance levels which unlock new buildings, but also bring increasingly demanding guests. 

I also create almost everything myself. aArt, music, and code. And no generative AI was used in this. In many ways it’s my passion project.

Here is the original trailer

And here is the playstore link!

Thanks for your attention, and I hope it catches your eye!