Foreword

I dreamed of making video games when I was young, like nearly every other boy my age, but had no idea where to even begin. Everyone has the capability for a great game idea, but having the tools to create it is a much different story. The internet was in its infancy and there were precious few resources on game development, since even those in the industry were still figuring things out. For me, things changed as I got into my early 20s and found that universities were now starting to teach game design and development.

Even after finishing my degree, I remember realizing that there was very little opportunity for me to showcase my skills to potential employers. I was good at programming, but there wasn't much in the way of game development software that would allow me to focus on creating gameplay. It really took a team then to create anything more than the most simplistic games. There was certainly no way for a single developer to make a living working on their own unless they were skilled in all types of programming, art, and design and could sustain themselves for years while working on it.

Things started changing rapidly as the social gaming market began to explode and mobile devices became powerful enough to run truly fun game experiences. Things have continued to evolve so much that I'm blown away to see that games that I played on a console a decade ago are now fully functional in the palm of my hand. Along with this came game development software environments that allowed game developers to easily create games and focus on fun and functionality, no longer having to worry about just getting the nuts and bolts going.

Now there are so many choices out there for game developers that the decision just becomes which one to focus your time on? If flexibility is your goal, then Android is the clear winner with its open environment that encourages the developer and gives options for how and where to make their content available to consumers. It's also simple to create content that is usable on both Android tablets and mobile devices, making your chance for profit much higher with the same work involved.

If you are jumping into Android development as a springboard for other things, the good news is that Java is a widely used language, so, you will be able to use the knowledge gained in the future. Plus Java is one of the easier languages to start with as a beginner. I wish I had had such tools and platforms available when I began my career! Now is a great time to jump in and make that dream of making games happen.

Jameson Durall
Game Designer
@siawnhy on Twitter
www.jamesondurall.com