Published, But Still More to Do ...

The last week or two has been really interesting.

I've managed to get my first game published to Google Play, but not exactly in the way I planned.

Play it on Android at:

<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1250442103014667262/8771391771030317941#" data-original-attrs="{" data-original-href":"https:="" play.google.com="" store="" apps="" details?id="com.crazyhoundgamedesign.monstermarchads"}"">https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.crazyhoundgamedesign.monstermarchads</a>

Publishing the Game

Over the last few weeks, I started the process of getting my first game on to Google Play.  The process to do this was quite involved, from preparing policies to completing the various test phases on Google Play in a way that Google could accept that I had done what I needed to do to get my game ready for what it calls "Production Access", where I would then be able to publish my game for the world to see.

Initially, I was concerned I might not be able to get enough testers for the Closed Testing phase, or that there might be some reason that Google might reject my game and deny me the ability to publish it for the world to see.

As time progressed, I managed to obtain enough testers to qualify for the Closed Testing, and they engaged with my game enough for me to be able to refine the game and iron out any potential issues with it.

Even after the Closed Testing period ended, I still had my doubts about Google accepting my game.  A small, self contained retro arcade style game from a novice developer with little to no experience.

During testing I had made several updates to the game, I had engaged with my testers, and they had engaged with my game, just not in the complete way that online advice suggests.  I also had barely 12 testers, while I had also read that games and apps with 100 testers had also been denied full Production Access.  Add to that the fact that Google is not entirely clear on how you conduct your testing, or how they review your app or game for Production Access, and you can see why I was doubting my chances of making it through.

With all of it though, I aimed to be transparent.  I recorded everything I could from my interactions with my testers so that I could use it to feedback in the application for Production Access.  I kept a record of the changes I made throughout the testing period.

When it came to completing the application however, it appears as though there is a 300 character limit to each response, so I tried to be as clear and concise in my responses as I could.

After submitting the application, Google reminded me that it could take up to a week (normally) or longer to be granted Production Access.  At this point I started to worry if I had done enough, or if I would be able to ask my testing group to go through another round as most of them were Friends, Family and Colleagues.

It turns out I didn't need to worry for long.  Within 36 hours of posting the application, I was granted Production Access, and could publish my game for the world to see.

The bit I didn't realise until 11:59:59

My original plan for my game had been to release two slightly different versions, one that you pay for without any ads, and one that's free, but shows ads.

I planned to do this because, based on my own user experience from a few years ago, that's how I remember mobile games organising themselves.  However, these days, Google does not like repeated content, and even has policies against these practices.  The preferred option around this is to implement an In App Purchase that would disable ads when purchased.

While this may be common knowledge to many app developers these days, I'm still learning and figuring this out.  I only noticed this when I started to investigate why the paid version of my game was taking so long to go "Live", when the free version went live almost as soon as I submitted the build.

As such, I decided to halt the rollout of the paid version and keep to using the free version.  I also started to investigate how to integrate an In App Purchase that could remove ads from the game.

My current testing so far has gotten to the point where I can make a purchase of the In App item, and resolve it in the game to not show the ads.

With how easy this step has been to implement, I have some doubt over the integrity of my implementation.

The In App item, once purchased, alters a variable in the ad logic to essentially switch off the showing of ads.  This variable is also saved to a file, and checked during app start up to ensure that offline play also doesn't try to show ads.  The purchases made are also checked on start up to ensure that, even if data is removed from the app, that ads shouldn't be visible if the item has been purchased.

So far as I know, this is all I need to do.  The test purchase, done through internal testing also works, but it still feels like there should be more to this problem than just toggle a switch ...

The Game's Reception

So far, after 5 days, the game has had little interest or much of a reception.

Part of this could be because I have had little time this week to keep posting on social media about my game, and I only have about 30 followers on X.  The other part is likely because the version that is currently live states that it has ads in the name.  I think this will likely put people off downloading the game where the fear could be that it has many different ads at all points of gameplay.  This is not the case, but with it being titled as such, I can see why some people might disregard it.

In respect of the ads, I have tried to set it up so that there are only two ad instances that are recycled, but one only shows at the start screen, or after returning to the start screen on a game over.  The other is an interstitial (full screen) ad that only shows at Game Over.  This means that in a normal play session, unless you die multiple times, you might only see about three to 5 ads.  If you close the game before you die, you might only see the one ad.

Over the next couple of weeks, I will try to advertise the game better, the more I can spread the word, the more likely it is to succeed, but the experiment continues.

What Now?

Now that I have published a game, I don't intend to stop.

I have several game jam games I can take further, and more proof of concept projects than you can shake a stick at.  So it will only be a matter of time until I release another game, and then another.

I also plan to keep this blog going, and have even started to look at expanding it.  Earlier today, I released my first Indie Developer Interview about Alnutmob Studios - Read it <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1250442103014667262/8771391771030317941#" data-original-attrs="{" data-original-href":"https:="" crazyhoundgamedesign.blogspot.com="" 2025="" 11="" indie-dev-interview-alnutmob-studios.html","target":"_blank"}"="">here</a>.

So even though I've published my game to Android, there is still more work to be done and the journey continues.

If you have been following my posts over the last few weeks, thank you, and I hope you continue to follow me because this is not the end of this series.

Follow me on icth.io and x.com

itch.io - <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1250442103014667262/8771391771030317941#" data-original-attrs="{" data-original-href":"https:="" crazyhoundgamedesign.itch.io"}"="">https://crazyhoundgamedesign.itch.io</a>

x.com - <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1250442103014667262/8771391771030317941#" data-original-attrs="{" data-original-href":"https:="" x.com="" crazyhoundgames"}"="">https://x.com/crazyhoundgames</a>