There are many more places you can export your game to. Remember that for every platform that you export to, there can be a completely different set of hardware and software that run it. An iPhone is very different from an Android device, and mobile devices are completely different from consoles.
Often, an HTML5 wrapper has to be used for an HTML5 game to run on the hardware.
The Chrome Web Store is Google's answer to the Mac App Store. The best part about Google is that it is very web friendly. In fact, Chrome is the best browser for HTML5 games. You can export a game to the Chrome Web Store where you can sell it or make it freely available.
In order to export to the Chrome Web Store, you need to perform the following steps:
- Sign up for a Google Chrome Web Store account.
- Export your game using the Google Chrome Web Store export in the same way as you exported your game for HTML5.
- Create some promotional images for the game. They have to be in a specific resolution. These resolutions change all the time. So, make sure that you find out what they are when you log in to the Chrome Web Store and upload your app.
- Create an app icon.
Once you have these items, you can upload to the Chrome Web Store.
Scirra Arcade is made by the people who made Construct 2 and it is a very good arcade for people to publish their games. Publishing to the Scirra Arcade can give you lots of great feedback and exposure. Because it is made by the Construct 2 developers, there should be very few (if any) problems in exporting to this platform. In order to upload to the Scirra Arcade, you need to perform the following steps:
- Sign up for a Scirra Arcade account at http://www.scirra.com/arcade.
- Export your game to the Scirra Arcade in the same way as you exported your game for HTML5.
- Upload your game to the Scirra Arcade through your Scirra Arcade account.
- Make sure you have the necessary promotional images! The following screenshot shows the icon for the Scirra Arcade:
Kongregate is an online hosting service that hosts free-to-play games. Kongregate has a lot of web traffic and if you have a good game, you should upload it there. You will need to sign up for a Kongregate account. In order to upload to Kongregate, you need to perform the following steps:
- Export the game as an HTML5 website.
- Download Kongregate's JavaScript API located at http://developers.kongregate.com/docs/api-overview/client-api.
- Extract the contents using a file unzipper and drag them over to the game's content folder that was created when you exported the game.
- Open the
kongregate_shell.htmlfile and add the following code at the bottom:<div id="contentdiv" style="top:0px; left:0px; width:700px; height:500px; borders:none;"></div>
- Place the following code within the content
div. You should put the following code before the</div>tag:<iframesrc = "index.html" width = "[gamewidth]" height = "[gameheight]"> <p>This Browser does not support the iFrame.</p> </iframe>
- Sign up for a Kongregate account.
- Upload your HTML5 game. The Kongregate icon looks like the following screenshot:
PhoneGap is a wrapper that makes it easy for web applications to be run on native devices such as mobiles. The way it works is that you make your web app, in this case an HTML5 game, and you wrap it with PhoneGap. When you export your HTML5 project to PhoneGap, it has to wrap it in order for it to work. Then, you can deploy your app to multiple platforms. The following screenshot shows the icon of PhoneGap:
Intel XDK is similar to PhoneGap—it acts as a wrapper for your HTML5 web app and makes it deployable to phone devices. The differences between the two will depend on your game as the backend of these apps is completely different. When you are exporting to a mobile device, try these wrappers out. Depending on what is in your game, it could affect the outcome. When you do wrap web apps to native apps, it doesn't always work the way you want it to. It's best to try multiple wrappers and see which one works best. In order to make an Intel XDK, you need to perform the following steps:
- Export the game to Intel XDK.
- Use Direct Canvas when you are exporting.
- Then, make an app at the Intel XDK website. This entails signing up for an account.
- Create a game so that it can be modified online.
- Upload the app. The following screenshot shows the icon for Intel XDK:
CocoonJS is another HTML5 wrapper. The only difference is that CocoonJS is tailored towards games. If you want to make games for the Apps Store or Google Play, then try wrapping your game with CocoonJS. In order to make a game for CocoonJS wrapping, you need to perform the following steps:
- Export the game using CocoonJS.
- Test your game with the Cocoon JS launcher. This can be found on Ludei's website at http://wiki.ludei.com/cocoonjs:launcherapp.
- Make sure you sign up for a Google Play or an App Store developers account if you want to deploy to these locations.
- Upload the app to whichever app store you want. The following screenshot shows the icon for CocoonJS:
If you want to make a Windows Phone 8 game, you will have to download Visual Studio from the Microsoft website. Luckily, Microsoft supports HTML5 in their native apps. You will also need to apply for a developer account, which is also on Microsoft's website. In order to make a Windows Phone 8 app, you need to perform the following steps:
- Make sure your name, description, and author details can be found in the main layout. You need to do this because Visual Studio requires a project name, as shown in the following screenshot:
- Export the game using the Windows Phone 8 app.
- Open up the app in Visual Studio.
- Double-click on the app manifest, which should be on the right-hand side.
- Choose Create a test certificate. This creates a certificate unique to your game. The certificate is required to upload the game.
- Sign up for a Microsoft developer's account.
- Submit it to the Microsoft Dev Store.
Tizen is a software platform where you can upload your code once and have it deployed to multiple locations. Like other wrappers, give it a try if you want to export your game to multiple locations. In order to upload to the Tizen Store, you need to perform the following steps:
Amazon also has an app store. If you want to make a game for the Amazon Appstore, your game has to support multiple screen sizes. (The same is true for any store with devices that have multiple screen sizes.) You also need a developer account at Amazon. There are a few more steps you have to perform with verification keys. Whenever you work with keys, the more secure the platform is, the more in depth the process will be. In order to upload the game to the Amazon Appstore, you need to perform the following steps:
- Sign up for a developer account.
- Add a new web app in their interface.
- Once you are here, go to the app files tab and take a note of the verification key.
- Export the file from Construct 2 as a wrapped HTML5 form.
- Upload it to the developer account, and make sure you copy the verification key. The following screenshot shows the icon for Amazon:
If you want to make a Windows 8 game, such as a Windows Phone 8 game, you have to get Visual Studio and you have to become a developer. You will also have to download the Metro plugin for Construct 2 as well. The process of uploading is very similar for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 apps; the only difference is that in the Dev Store, you have to make sure you are uploading a Windows 8 app.
The Open Web App store is Firefox's answer to the Chrome Web Store. Making a packaged app is very simple. In order to upload to the Firefox Store, you need to perform the following steps:
- Sign up for a developer account.
- Export the game using the Firefox exporter.
- Make sure you set the orientations to what you need them to be. If your game runs in portrait only, then you should select that. You can select these settings in the Firefox Store.
- Simply submit your app to the Firefox marketplace.
Node-Webkit is one of my favorite exporters in Construct 2. You can make OSX, Windows, and Linux apps with Node-Webkit. It wraps your game into an .exe, .app, or .pak file and you can see the exported files. From there, all you have to do is run the apps on the respective systems. The following screenshot shows the icon for Node-Webkit:
Just click on Export to Node-Webkit and you should see the exported files. From there, all you have to do is run the apps on the respective systems.
The best part about this export is that you can start selling from your website immediately.