How Is Android App Development Different From Android Game Development

Android app development and Android game development differ in various aspects starting right from the idea to implementation and monetization. Yes, same techniques and coding are often required in both Android app development and Android game development, but they are very distinct in the way screens are created and changed. Also, game app developers mostly use game engines to build Android games which are very different from non-game app development. Game apps also require game art designs, animation, music, sound effects, physics, and real-time multi-user interaction, which is not a case with most non-game Android apps. Let’s discuss in detail how Android app development is different from Android game development.

How Android game development differs from Android app development

Let’s begin with design first

When designing an Android game app, the process involves story, storyboarding, graphics, creative writing, character design, 2D/3D modeling, set design and animation. On the other hand, a normal Android app (like an ecommerce app) involves interface design, graphics design, navigation ergonomics, app layout, app structure, contrasts, fonts, colours, imagery, animation, videos, logos, and information structure. The success of an Android game depends a lot on its design as gaming is a whole new world and players become a part of it as soon as they enter it. A video game is designed from scratch to the level of its full representation and it’s a more intense process than designing a non-gaming app. This makes it important to hire game designers and developers who are passionate about gaming and have the experience of creating awe-inspiring imaginary worlds gamers just don’t want to come out of.

Android game designers also use some tools that Android app designers often don’t need. Maya, Blender, 3ds Max, ZBrush, to name a few. These tools allow designers to create wonderful game art and export them to game engines, such as Unity and Unreal, without any rendering issues later on. That’s basically how an Android game design and an Android app design follow different approaches.

Android App Vs Game Development

Android app developers use Android Studio, Eclipse, Android SDK and APIs to build Android apps. If you want to build additional features for the app, then you can use special libraries, like JavaCV library for computer vision features. Android game app developers, on the other hand, mostly use game engines like Unity, Unreal and Godot. Android Studio can also be used for building Android game apps as it’s a dedicated software program to make Android games, but game engines make it easier and faster to build games as they have many in-built features that developers don’t need to code. Also, an Android app may just need a button, which is often not enough in Android game apps as developers also put animations on the buttons to enhance the look and feel for visually-oriented people. This becomes easier with game engines as they are designed to add such elements in games. Another big advantage of using game engines like Unity is that you can build game apps for multiple platforms without writing the code again and again.

As far as programming languages for android game development are concerned, it depends on the game engine you opt to use. For example, Javascript, C# or Boo is used in Unity, whereas C/C++ is used in Unreal Engine. Android studio is a general purpose coding engine and enables developers to use general libraries. Unity is specifically designed to output game code and compile events and structures, which makes it easier and faster to build a game app than in Android Studio. If you want to build an Android game without too much programming, games engines should be your bet. Unity also offers advertising and monetization solutions. Using Unity, you can integrate relevant ads and in-app purchases into your game to increase earnings. It saves you significant engineering hours while helping you to generate more revenue.

The Takeaway

If you want to build a simple game like Fastest Finger, then there is not much difference in normal Android app development and Android game development as both the code and functionality are almost the same. But if you want to build a high end game like a real car racing game or a Temple Run, then it’s a totally different ball game. Although the code is visually not that different, the way game designers and developers think and implement a game screen are very different from a normal Android app. The Java classes have to do a lot more than just activities, adapters and model classes.

When designing a normal Android app,  the major focus is on how each activity should look and its layout, UI elements in the form of buttons, text fields, etc. and touch controls like touch, swipe, double touch, etc. Android game designers have to focus on individual scenes. Each scene has a background and various objects like player objects, enemy objects and different obstacles that have to be presented in 2D or 3D. Some Android games involve physics and complex algorithms as well. So, depending on the end goal, building an Android game can be more intensive than building an Android app.

Build Your Android Game with Logic Simplified

There are more than 2 billion Android users world over and the OS has 74.6% market share in the global mobile operating system market, which makes Android devices enticing targets for building both game and non-game apps. If you have a wonderful game idea and want to turn into an Android game to earn high ROI, you can choose Android game development services to build a headturner Android game. We have a team of expert game designers and developers who are passionate about gaming and have hands-on experience of building Android games of international standards. Logic Simplified has been in the game development space for over 10 years now and has built many successful games using cutting edge tools such as Unity, Unreal, Godot, Blender, Maya, 3ds Max and many more. Getting your Android game done from experts like us will help you save a lot of time, money and avoid hassles of managing operations. You just focus on your core business activities and leave the rest to us. You can count on us to build a quality Android game with reduced time to market and highly engaging game elements that today’s gamers expect from mobile games. Share your game idea with us at enquiry@logicsimplified.com, and we will get back to you shortly to provide you with gaming solutions we are proud of.