Creating a game is an exciting journey that opens up a world of possibilities.
These best practices when making games guide will help you to bring our vision to life and create the best experiences for our players. Let's explore the essential knowledge you need to make your first game good and entertaining.

Thumbnail

This is the entry point for your players, a good thumbnail has a significant impact on the choice players make between your game and others. Keep the thumbnail simple and contrasting so that it stands out from the rest. Highlight an important element of the game in the thumbnail.

The first impression

Paying attention to important aspects such as promotional stuff is one part of the first impression, the second is the loading time. A game that launches quickly will have a better retention rate because people won't leave in the first few seconds due to a too-long loading time. Get the player directly into the gameplay as quickly as possible.

A playable game

When you start creating a game, you're eager to share it quickly with everyone. However, doing so can lead to several issues as people may not understand how to play it. Keep your gameplay loops simple. If the game becomes more complex, introduce new gameplay features gradually over time. This will allow players to familiarize themselves with the game and its controls.

A smooth learning curve guides the players in understanding gameplay mechanics, ensuring that our games leave a nice impression.

Menus

Don't overlook the importance of menus; they are the first thing people see. Take the time to structure the menus and ensure easy navigation. A poorly designed interface can be frustrating, while a well-crafted menu is one where users don't get lost.

No need to reinvent the wheel, GDevelop includes ready-to-use interface elements such as buttons, switches, sliders , and various types of pre-made objects.

AZERTY, QWERTY, controller, mobile?

Game controls come in various forms, and if possible, they should be configurable. The more options you add, the more potential players you can reach. Don't forget about arrow keys, they are a simple and quick solution that works for every type of keyboard and are universally understood, unlike the AZERTY/QWERTY layout.

A game that supports multiple devices gives players the right to play wherever they like. Adding basic support for mobile is greatly appreciated by players, it can be achieved in seconds with the multitouch joystick pre-made object.

Game feel contributes to the player experience

A game that is enjoyable to play not only triggers emotions but also provides satisfying feedback. The game's feel, animations, moments of contemplation, and bouncing effects all matter. A static element on the screen is lifeless and easily overlooked. Bring it to life! This will grab attention and enhance the overall quality of the level's environment.

Make your game engaging

To keep players engaged, your game should evoke emotions such as joy, fear, stress, or a sense of reward. Reward the player, whether it's at the end of a level or after a challenging moment, such as completing a dungeon, by giving them a special sword, for example. This also sets up anticipation for future levels where the epic sword will be used in more complex challenges.

Another positive way to foster people is competition. To engage people to spend time on your game a leaderboard is a simple way to create a first level of competition.

Analytics and feedback

Understanding the data is power. GDevelop provides analytics data such as the number of sessions, time spent in a game, the bounce rate, and the time players spend in-game. Take advantage of these analytics to see how your game changes affect the player's experiences.

Because the data doesn't tell everything, GDevelop also made available the Feedback service. This allows any player who plays a game on gd.games to provide user feedback directly to you, the game's creator.

Conclusion

Remember, people are looking for something engaging, and waiting for the game to load or getting lost without a good tutorial is just frustrating. It's by offering the best possible experience to players that they'll come back to play. Because if players don't understand the game, they'll give up in seconds.

Now it's up to you to create the best game ever!