How to plan, design, & promote games?

This article is the ultimate source for all the people who want to know some creative concepts & ideas behind the game design. At present time, the number of people playing games is increasing significantly. But, everyone likes a different time of game genre like some people like multiplayer games (COD, BGMI, Genshin Impact), while some like playing Arcade games (Subway Surfers, Candy Crush, Asphalt 9).

So, in this blog, I will pitch some most popular game design ideas that can help you in deciding which game you want to develop.

What are Some Good Game Genres for Design?

First, you need to select what type of game you are looking to design.
Play to Earn Games:
Think of the scenario, when you can earn money by playing the games. This is the best game genre for both the game developers & the player. Players can earn real money or virtual money (cashback, discount, redeem), with the P2E games. Because many people want to earn money online, these games have become very popular & demanding. It means the chances to get the success of your game is also high.

There are many examples of Play to Earn Games:

1. Earn Real Money with Taurus Cash App
2. Earn NFT with Ether Legends
3. Get rewards as Crypto Coins in Axie Infinite
4. Bet & win on sports like Dream 11
5. Win gifts & scratch cards with Lucky ScratchTo start designing these games, you need to have a better understanding of payment gateway, strong financial inflow & outflows, account details encryption & user data security, etc.

Story Mode Games:
This is my personal favorite genre for the games as it keeps me interested with the new content available after some time. In the story play mode games, you have to role-play as a designed character & later you will get & use other characters according to the situations. Here are two biggest successful story mode games:

Genshin Impact:
One such game I want to recommend here is Genshin Impact by Hoyoverse. It was launched 2 years ago by Mihoyo & most recently its patch 3.1 was released. You can play with like 30+ five-star characters with their different abilities. This game is mostly based on elemental reaction & damage between 7 elements like Anemo, Geo, Electro, Dendro, Cryo, Hydro & Pyro.

GTA Series:
GTA is a very famous game created by Mike Daily & David Jones, which is launched by Rockstar Games. The game revolves around completing the missions & quests to earn rewards. Players can also do role-play & engage with other side activities. The main series of Grand Theft Auto are GTA, GTA 2, GTA III, GTA Vice City, GTA San Andreas, GTA IV, & GTA V.
Some other examples of story games are Harry Potter, Tower of Fantasy, Eco, etc.

Sports Game:
There are a lot of fans who want to play their favorite game. You can play your desired real-world game in a virtual environment. Although the sports game market is already tapped by large gaming enterprises including EA sports, Nextwave Multimedia, etc. So, if you are planning to launch your game in this niche, then it is recommended to offer a high-end user experience to its potential customers.
The latest FIFA 23 launch by EA Sports is a Football simulation game which includes rich high-end gaming experience to the players. It includes all the premier leagues & tournaments for both Men & Women. If you want to get real world experience in Soccer, then you must try this game by EA Sports.

Educational Games:
There are plenty of games that can be used as a fun & gain knowledge along with it. These games are appealing to all the masses including the kids, teens & even the adults. The biggest benefit of these games is many schools, colleges & universities endorse & promote such games. It will help the students to understand the complex theoretical concepts in a more understandable & fun way.
Some examples of Educational games are Big Brain Academy, Immune Attack, Typo Attack, Instant Artist, Sesame Street, uDraw studio, Puzzle Escape, Webbit Games, etc.
One such example is ABC Kids, which works on the concept of providing learning with visualization. It helps the toddlers, & small students (1-5 years) to learn alphabets easily. The ABC Kids will provide an attractive graphical environment to the kids which encourages them to identify & write the characters.

Arcade Games:
Arcade games have high reach in the masses due to their simplicity to understand & play. These arcade games are popular among the all age group of audience due to simple game concepts. Many people play arcade games to pass their time during the breaks, so it is better to design games where results can be declared within a short time.
Some amazing Arcade Games are Temple Run, Subway Surfers, Candy Crush, Angry Birds Reloaded, Bubble Shooter, A Monsters Expedition, Crossy Road Castle, etc.
You all must be aware of the Angry Birds game, which enables the players to shoot birds using a slingshot. The main target is to destroy the pigs. This game will require your strategies as the target structure has a variety of strengths along with the birds special abilities.

Strategy Games:
Strategy Games are mostly battlefield or war zone games, where your ultimate goal is to survive & kill your enemies. The outcome of the game completely depends upon the skills & strategy of the player. Some most popular Strategy games are PUBG, BGMI, Call of Duty, Apex Legends, Garena Free Fire, Company of Heroes, Stellaris, Civilization, Project IGI, IGI 2, Sniper Ghost.
These games are best when playing with your friends or if you want to play with random people & connect with them. I had made several new friends while playing BGMI & we regularly played games together. So, it's good if you can design something that connects people while playing the games together.

Racing Games:
How can we forget the racing niche like MotoGP, which was my first PC game when I was a teen. Car or bike racing games excite both kids and adults. To make your game different from the already published apps or games, it is recommended you add different circuit terrain or difficult challenges. Improvement in graphics can also help in user engagement.
Some popular racing games are Need for Speed, Asphalt 9, Midtown Madness, Moto GP 22, F1 Manager, Grid Legends, etc.
Once you know your Genre, it's time to find what are the good features & bad features in your main competitors.
Reach the Audience What Type of Games they Dont Like
It is another great way to understand what needs to be included & what needs to be avoided from your game. Many people didnt want lengthy games, while some people liked long games. So, you have to choose what majority of them liked to have in the game.

Process to Design Your Game:

Once you select your desired game niche to develop the game, the next phase is to identify a game design company that can fulfil your requirements. So, plan your strategy, game concept & reach to a good game designing company for completing the rest of the part. However, if you are a geek in programming & want to do it by yourself, you can read this beginners guide for game design. We also have a Game design community, where all the related posts are listed.

How to Promote Your Games?

Once you receive the game, it is a perfect time to market your game to increase your presence. There are several ways to attract users to your games. But, you need to find out the simplest way to reach out to them. First, start it by listing your game application on app store platforms like Google Play Store, iOS App Store, Microsoft Store etc.
You can also build a website for your game & then hire a digital marketing expert that can handle your SEO, PPC, Social, Ads, etc. & bring traffic to your website. One such digital marketing agency is AI Web Marketing, which is a pioneer in handling all the online marketing operations.