Making the Dream Work Part 4

Living on a Prayer

Following 2 weeks of Closed Testing, my first Android game is now at the point where I can apply for production access to Google Play.

My understanding of this is that I am at the point where, once I apply, Google gets the final say as to whether or not my game can be rolled out across the globe for people to play and maybe even buy.

There's still a chance that Google will reject my app, even though I have tried to ensure that I have accommodated every little hurdle I have been able to figure out in the process.  Over the last 2 weeks, I have made various updates to the game, some have been modifications based on user feedback, some have been things I've noticed when playing the game myself.

I have also kept a record of the changes I have made to the game to ensure that I can complete the application questionnaire honestly and effectively.

Closed testing

My experience of the Closed Testing process has, so far, been beneficial.  As much as it was a bit of a challenge to find at least 12 people around me that had an Android device and were willing to test my game for me, I was also surprised at how willing people were to support me with this.

Once the testing cycle had started, I was a little bit apprehensive about whether or not my testers would actually play the game, and whether or not they'd enjoy it.

For the most part I was worrying about nothing, everyone seemed to enjoy playing the game, and the feedback I received helped me to refine the experience a bit.  It's by no means a perfect game, but it's a bit of fun, there's no major bugs, glitches or crashes.  The only real improvements that were made were made to improve the experience of playing the game.

The game itself is a simple(ish) arcade style game based on a classic.  The feedback I had suggested I wanted was that it looks the part, plays well enough for the style and if it is fun to play.  The only real challenge in it is to beat your own high score, and that's pretty much it.  As I said, it's a small game.

One of the more outlandish ideas from the feedback I had for the game, was to introduce a boss level to break up the gameplay a bit.  While this is a fairly common idea in games made today, due to the way my game has been written, I would need to completely reorganise the game to accommodate a boss level, as well as introduce new mechanics around the boss battles.  Sadly this isn't something I can fit into the timeframe of the testing period, but I might consider expanding the game in future to include something akin to a boss fight (though I'm not entirely sure how this would work yet).

So, overall the testing period has proven to be useful and beneficial for my game.  Initially I thought that going through the test period was Google's way of adding in another road block for indie developers.  After going through the process, so far at least, I can say that it has been helpful and has helped to improve my game.  Everyone will have a different experience with it, but if you really want to publish a Game for Android, you need to do the Closed Testing, so you might as well make the most of it.

Google's Requirements

The requirements on Google's website for the Play Store state that as an individual (solo) developer you will need to go through what it refers to as Closed Testing.  Google describes it as a process to help ensure the quality of apps and games on the Google Play Store.  The requirements as listed by Google are:

• Have 12 Testers "Opted In" to the test.
• Have the 12 Testers "Opted In" for not less than 14 days.
• And that Testers must engage with your app/game.

For the way Google manages the testing from its own perspective, "Opting In" to the testing period is just the Testers confirming to Google that they are willing to participate in the test.  This does not necessarily mean they need to install or use your apps, just be opted into the test.  They also need to be "Opted In" for 14 days continuously.  If the number of testers "Opted In" drops below 12 at any point, the 14 days start from when you next have 12 Testers "Opted In".

The final point of user engagement is never fully explained by Google, and no information is available for how Google measures the engagement of Testers.  I can only assume that, because you are able to see the number of installations in the Google Play Console, that Google can see if your app/game is being downloaded (or maybe even used) by your Testers.  Also, in the questionnaire, as I understand it, you will need to explain how you conducted the test and received feedback from your Testers.  Both of these sources could be used by Google to quantify engagement with your app/game, but Google does not explicitly state how it quantifies engagement with your app/game.

Beyond these publicly described requirements, there also seems to be a few "hidden" requirements that can limit the success of your testing.  They are:

• You must make updates to your app/game during the testing period.
• You must provide enough information in the questionnaire to be considered for Production Access.

Google seems to expect that any individual developer attempting to publish an app to the Google Play Store must not have a production ready app at the start of Closed Testing.  As such, Google expects you to need to make updates to your app during the testing period.  It doesn't seem to matter if your app is perfect (or perfect enough) before you start Closed Testing, if you do not make any updates, Google will likely reject your application for Production Access.  Some of the information I found previously (a blog post on Medium from a Google search a few weeks ago) suggested that you should aim to make at least 3 updates to your app during the testing period to show to Google that you are responding to feedback and updating your app.

I'm pretty sure that it was the same source that also suggested the restrictions on the questionnaire as well.  Where it was described that if you do not enter enough information, that Google is likely to reject the request for Production Access.

How I Managed My Testing

As I've already mentioned, my group of testers was a selection of people I know from Colleagues, Friends and Family.  Due to the relatively small and informal nature of the group, I decided to manage the testing through an email list myself.  Over the course of the test period I physically saw about 66% of my testers multiple times, and we would use these encounters to discuss their experiences.  Others would send me emails of their experiences and suggestions.  One or two would message me in other formats.  As a result, it made more sense for me to collect and collate this information myself, and then review and act on it based on the feedback I was given.  Most people would say that this approach isn't ideal, however it worked for me, and I was able to record the primary issues and suggestions for later implementation.

If I was looking at using a group of individuals that I had less physical contact with, or I was using a third party service, I would manage the testing differently.  The most important part of the process is obtaining useful feedback, feedback that can either fix or improve your app/game.  So long as this aim is reasonably achieved, it doesn't really matter how it is managed, so long as you get the useful information out of it.

My Advice to You

If you ever plan on making an Android App or Game yourself, make sure to do your due diligence.  Knowing what you will need to do before you do it can save a lot of time and frustration.  I still don't know if my game will pass Google's last hurdle, but I'm fairly confident that it will.

Make sure that you consider the requirements, both the public and hidden ones, and how they will affect your testing experience.

Finally, make sure you understand what you need out of the testing process.  As much as you will need to make updates for Google's sake, understand what type of feedback you are looking for and how to respond to this feedback, and any unexpected feedback.  If your testers suggest major improvements, you might need to reconsider things that will take longer to fix than the testing period.  With minor improvements, while your testers are suggesting them, you also need to think about how the improvements are implemented, and how that will affect other features of your app or game.

I hope you find my experiences useful.

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GameDev: There's no Cheat Code for Success

Earlier, while having a look at X.com (formerly Twitter), I came across a post by another solo indie dev explaining how finishing a game as a solo indie dev doesn't really get enough praise.

Finishing a game as a solo dev deserves way more praise than it gets.

— CodeRed (@CodeRed_dev) October 18, 2025

It got me thinking about my own journey, and that I am, myself, nearing that point of finishing the process of making a game.  As much as I would like praise, £1 million, and a standing ovation, it's not realistic.  My only real hope is that it gets some attention and that people enjoy playing it.

I have taken the relatively safe option of making a game that is quite simple in terms of design, mechanics and graphics.  It looks as it should, plays as it should and is a "game".  It might be simple and, while based on an arcade classic, has been built from the ground up.

All over social media, I see people trying to make games and make progress, and the inevitable idea of imposter syndrome happens when I see people who have invested time and money into their projects.  They look closer to the sort of games you see being released everyday.  They're normally 3D, with a fleshed out world, more mechanics than you can shake a stick at, and have probably been worked on for several years at least.

As much as I want to get to the point of making those sort of games, my own circumstances prevent me from being able to allocate the time required to make everything they seem to have in their games by myself in a way that would keep the process fun.

My own view on this is that, because I am starting with nothing, that I should start small.  Release a simple game, learn the process of polishing, testing and releasing my games, then make the next game a bit more complex, and then the next one after that.

I want to get to the eventual point of doing this full time, but I also want it to succeed.  To make it succeed, I need to learn the process, and improve my own methods as time progresses.

I also find myself realising that most of the developers making their games for years and working towards the idea of a fully fleshed out world with loads of mechanics that I end up seeing, normally have used their own savings to take time off work to be able to make their dream a reality, or to purchase services to help them make their games.  I also see others that spend years on a game, only to drop the project for some reason or another.  And then there's others that realise that to really find some success, they need to think about what success means to them, and then reshape their activities to work towards that vision.

I started this journey with nothing, and really I still have nothing from it at the moment.  My vision of success however, is to be able to use game development to support myself.  To do that I need to release games and have those games earn some money.

I don't expect my current project to make me millions, as I've said, it's a simple game based on an arcade classic.  My financial outlay for the project is just the $25 fee to become a developer on Google Play.

I have not bought assets, software, code or anything else that is used throughout the lifecycle of the project.  I made all of my own assets (apart from the fonts), coded the project from the ground up, and I am planning, initially at least, to rely on social media to market the project.

While I know my time has value, over the last 2 years, I have been learning.  This project was originally aimed at being a personal test to see if I could make a game in a day (I got most of it together for a rough prototype).  So, while my time has value, it is almost like an investment at the moment.  The realisation of the value of my time will be when I can release a successful game and use it to support myself.

So, for my game to be successful for me, it only needs to make $26 US.  After that point, any money made by the game is raw profit for me to invest in game dev, or keep for myself.  This view comes from the idea in business that for a business to be viable, it only needs to make profit, so $1, or £1 of profit for me proves the concept that I can make money using game dev.  After that point, making more money is just about refining the process, from generating game ideas to completing those games for sale and publishing.

As it presently stands, I make all of my own assets, and write all my own code.  I will use sample code to get in idea of how to do things a certain way, but will then rewrite, tweak and adjust the code to fit my own purposes.  This is more work, but it means everything I create is unique, and it also means that I own it.  If I end up with a successful game, or project and I want to be able to make branded products, I can, if I want to reuse assets in other games, or media, I can.  If I want to look at selling the assets themselves, or the IP, I can.

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Making the Dream Work Part 3

Post Copied and Shortened From CrazyHoundGameDesign.itch.io originally posted 14/10/2025

The original post also included information about the game, Monster March, and an overview of the expected marketing approach.

Part 3 - Nearing the Finish Line, and the Start

Since the last part of this series of posts, I have been able to make an incredible amount of progress that I never thought I would be able to make.

While I took a distraction and participated in another game jam which cost me nearly 2 weeks of progress, I was able to jump straight back into the project I want to turn into an Android app and continue to tidy it up ready for the next steps.

As things have progressed I have started to figure out the steps needed to go from having a simple, and relatively tidy game, to getting it uploaded to Google Play Store and I am currently working through the required "Closed" testing phase.

The Steps Taken So Far

So far, the development life cycle of this project has gone through most, if not all of the "easy" bits of a normal life cycle.  The steps left to take are mostly the business focussed steps where it will go from something I have made in my spare time, to what I hope can be described as a finished product.

It is probably easier to describe the steps taken in categories that represent the type of step in the life cycle of creating my game.

Creative Steps

• Coming up with the game idea
• Choosing a visual style for the game
• Designing the Art, UI, Characters and Layout
• Creating, and adding the Sound Effects and Music
• Design game logo and associated components (e.g. icons, symbols, visual commonality)

Technical Steps

• Setting the technical requirements of the project
• Choosing a target publishing platform (and device/OS) for the project
• Developing and coding the game logic, setting up the created or chosen assets.
• Incremental testing and bug fixing as the game is developed working in the confines of the chosen game engine.
• Creating and deploying test builds to a target device to see how the game both looks and performs on the target device.
• After technical proof of concept is done, clean up code, assets, UI, effects and overall look and feel for the game.
• Adding in capability for policy compliance (e.g. privacy policy links and user preferences).
• Technical Ad Integration
• Optimising the Apps and the Build Process to ensure that the exported project is small as it can be.
• Adding the Apps to Google Play.
• Initial Upload testing.

Business Steps

• Creating and obtaining the appropriate service accounts needed to be able to upload and reference the game in the required services.
• Policy reviews to ensure compliance with service and legal requirements.
• Creating a website (currently a Google Site) to host the privacy and cookie policies for my apps and projects.
• Creating specific Privacy Policies for my apps and a Cookie Policy.

So far, these are the steps that have been taken, and while some break down into more tasks, and there may be other natural steps I've not mentioned, these are the main points that come to mind when I think about it.

The Next Steps

• Final Beta App Version following testing ready for publishing.
• If it passes the Beta Test Phase, request live publishing from Google Play.
• Marketing Activities, trying to get the word out there about the game using my limited follower base from itch.io and x.com

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itch.io - https://crazyhoundgamedesign.itch.io

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Making the Dream Work Part 2

Post Copied and shortened from CrazyHoundGameDesign.itch.io original date 29/08/2025

The original post also included an explanation of integrating GameDev into my daily routine.

Part 2 - Progress and Motivation

Since the Last Post

Since my previous post on "Making the Dream Work", things seemed to drag a bit.  Work was busy and, as has been the way over the last 18 months or so, GameDev took a back seat and stalled for a time.

It was always on my mind, but I didn't feel like I had the head space to really focus.  As frustrating as this was, I started to think about how I could change things up and try to add a little consistency to my GameDev activities.  I thought about how, whenever things pile up that it gets put aside, and how I might refocus my efforts to try and fit it in.

Then something happened that helped me realise something incredibly important for consistently moving forwards.  I was having lunch out with members of my family, and as the afternoon progressed I wanted to depart to try and use some of my day for GameDev.  On trying to explain this to a family member, who was enjoying the afternoon and thought I was making excuses, their response to my wanting to do some GameDev was, "... So nothing then."

Now, to clarify, my family knows I have been trying to make headway with GameDev, and that I have trying to chase the dream as it were.  However, my family is not really technically, or creatively inclined, so my efforts seem like a passing fancy that will ultimately result in nothing.   It's not that my family is against the idea, but more that they don't care to understand it.  As it doesn't fall within their experience, they can't quantify the progress, the aims, or the outcomes, and it just seems like a waste of effort and time.

On hearing this response, I was a little surprised because I have been trying to progress and learn over the last 18 months.  I don't feel like it has been a wasted effort, and I have a clear goal in mind; To be able to make the sort of games I want to play, to a quality that I would expect, and to offer those games for others to play (and hopefully pay for as well).

Later, thinking back on this moment, I also realised that my efforts in GameDev have been sporadic, somewhat disconnected, and with sometimes large time gaps between activities.

This brought me back to the thoughts of how I can try to add consistency to what I'm doing and keep progressing forwards.

My conclusion was that I need to treat GameDev like I would a job.

I still feel like I'm a hobby developer, but if I can start to treat GameDev like a job, I should be able to allocate regular time for making progress.  It doesn't matter if that progress is administrative, organisational, research or other activities that are not directly making games, so long as the activities help to progress my capability to make and publish games.

By allocating a specific time, and number of hours in the week, I should be able to regularly contribute to my own progress and get ever closer to the dream I want to make a reality.

The Progress

Over the last few weeks, I started to refocus my efforts.  As part of this, I decided I would need a tool that could help me keep my projects and activities organised.  Normally, I use spreadsheets to do this, but constantly staring at, creating and losing track off multiple spreadsheets can become tiresome.

To accommodate this, I decided to create my own tool to track the projects and tasks I want to complete for the projects.  I know there are a great many solutions out there that can do this, and probably do it better than my solution.  But most of the solutions out there come with a lot of bloat that can distract from the core purpose of the tool.

My requirements were simple:

• Be able to Create and Manage a Project
• Be able to Create and Manage Tasks for a specific Project
• Have a clear user interface that can show incomplete and completed Tasks

The Tool - https://crazyhoundgamedesign.itch.io/crazy-project-tracker

Building the tool took approximately 16 hours over 4 days, and the end result is a tool that meets these requirements and works.  There are a few minor alterations and additional features I would like to add, but the core features are there and it is usable.

This tool is now my main repository for tracking my progress and remembering what I was working on for each project.

Following the creation of the tool, I also started to look into getting the Android SDK installed and set up to work with Godot.  Initially, installing the SDK, Studio and the Virtual Devices didn't really seem to like my laptop.

After a bit more research, I realised that my laptop didn't have the power to run the Studio with Virtual Devices, so I reinstalled it without those features, integrated it with Godot and have now managed to successfully install test builds of a few apps to my phone.

For myself, this is a huge milestone.  With my aim of being able to offer apps through the Google Play Store, being able to create test builds of my apps and games, and install them to my phone is an amazing feeling.

This progress has brought me closer to making the Dream a reality, and closer to getting to the point of uploading games and apps to the Google Play Store.

For the currently planned apps and games to be uploaded, there is still a bit of work to be done getting them to work with touchscreen controls, ads and the like, but now that I can test them on Android, it is really beginning to feel like I can do this.

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itch.io - https://crazyhoundgamedesign.itch.io

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Making the Dream Work

Post Copied and shortened from CrazyHoundGameDesign.itch.io original date 16/07/2025

The original post on itch.io included discussion of the business considerations, potential income streams and marketing, these sections have been removed to reduce length.

Part 1 - Setting Up for a Return

About

After a little more than year learning how to make games, there are a few things that don't seem to often be discussed, or I'm looking in the wrong places.  One of the big things seems to be "How to start making money" or rather, how to start from nothing and get to a point where my gamedev activity can fund itself.  In this devlog I explain the process of how I'm figuring this out and trying to get to a point where I can get a return on my efforts and feel like more than a hobby developer.

This is the first post in what I hope will become a series of posts that can record my progress in formalising my gamedev activities, and I hope that my experiences can help others who have gotten to this point.

This is a long read, if you want to skip to the Tips I can give you, scroll to the bottom of the page.

The Realisation of a BIG Gap

Over the last year or so I have participated in more than a few game jams, started and stopped many experimental projects, improved my musical capabilities, and started to naturally acquire followers and "dev friends" through the jams.  But one big step has, until recently, been a step too far.  Not because I feel incapable of taking the step, but because there really doesn't seem to a lot of information out there on how to do it.

That step is moving from a hobby developer to a supported or paid for developer that can try to make a return on the time investment of making games.  Now I'm not talking about making the next multi-million dollar AAA game, I'm talking about moving on from relying on game jams for visibility, or only ever offering free to play games that never seem to receive a donation through itch.io

This problem is really two-fold.  First you need to set yourself up to be able to receive payments and upload projects to appropriate app stores, all while ensuring that anything you do can be done legally from a tax and business perspective.  The second part of this problem is Marketing, ensuring that you can build a following that is willing to download and interact with your projects.

While I've not really started focussing on the Marketing problem yet, I have recently been getting myself set up to be able to really start pushing forwards with this big step.

Over the last few weeks I have been doing a lot of research, and started following a plan to move towards the reality.

Google Play Developer Account

Although I plan to eventually offer my games and apps in multiple marketplaces, as I will be starting with Google Play there are a few points to consider about using the Google Play Store to publish my apps.

Recently (early 2025) Google Play changed its policy about the information it displays to users about the developer for accountability and transparency purposes.  After doing some reading on the changes, there has been quite a negative response from developers on these changes.

If you create a Google Play developer account, you will need to provide your Full Legal Name and Address, a developer email contact and a developer phone number.  With the changes in policy, this information will be publicly accessible to everyone that uses the Google Play store.  The negative response from developers has been focussed on the perceived risks of providing this information knowing that it will be publicly available, to the point where some developers have allowed their apps to be removed from the store rather than provide this information.

As part of these changes, for Personal accounts, Google Play has also introduced a closed testing policy that needs to be followed before your apps can go live on the store.  The closed testing requirement appears to be for 12 people to download and use your app for 14 days.  If this is not followed, the 14 days starts again from day 1.

If these considerations initially deter you from using Google Play to publish your apps, I would recommend fully investigating other services, but ensure that you fully understand both the requirements and possible risks of using any market place you intend to use.

My Tips to You

While I have been considering how to do this since before I started making games, over the last few weeks I have tried to research and focus on doing this.  Figuring out a plan and setting everything up.

Even though I'm only just starting, I hope the following tips can help other developers and maybe save you a bit of time or stress.

My tips to you are:

• Figure out what you want to do - Before you really start figuring this out for yourself, you need to figure out what your end goal is, what does success really look like to you.
• Figure out the steps you want to take - When you know what your goal is, figure out the steps you think you need to take to make your goal a reality.
• Do your research - When you figure out the steps you "think" you need to take to do what you want, do your research.  As you research the steps or actions you want to make, you will likely uncover other steps you will need to take to be able to take the steps you want to take.  Make sure you have a good idea of what you need to do, and when.
• Record everything - Make sure to record and track everything you do.  When you are looking to make money from your activities, everything needs to be done methodically and recorded to ensure there is a paper trail should you need to worry about tax, business or legal considerations for your activities.
• Consider your revenue streams - Identify and research your possible revenue streams.  Consider where you want to start and how you might grow your activities from there.  Make sure that any tax or legal considerations are taken into account as you plan your growth.
• Keep moving - As you research how to get going, and as you start taking actions to make it a reality, keep moving forwards, keep reviewing the actions you need to make, and keep recording the progress you're making.
• If you get stuck, do more research and review your actions so far - If you get stuck, you might have missed something, or some step that you needed to take before trying to do what you got stuck on.  A system of constant review can help you identify where you might be going wrong, or even spot it before it becomes a problem.  There's normally a reason why you get stuck.
• Finally my plan, and my journey, will be different to yours, and yours will be different to everyone else's.  There is not really a good way to guarantee success, and if I make it, my approach might not be right for you.  Do your research, make you own plan and follow it, and you will figure it out.

While I hope to make it, I hope that you do too.  Good Luck!

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itch.io - https://crazyhoundgamedesign.itch.io

x.com - https://x.com/crazyhoundgames

Monster March is in Closed Testing

 

Monster March, my first attempt at making a game Android and Google Play store is now in its closed testing phase; a requirement of Google to be able to publish games under an individual developer account.

With it being my first ever Android app, I decided to go for a game that would be simpler to build to allow me to focus on the process of getting an app published on Google Play.

Monster March is a retro style arcade shooter based on a classic, with gameplay that gives all of the nostalgia of the original.  The overall aim is to keep increasing your High Score.

If you want to mix it up though, you can use the options to make the game as easy or as difficult as you want, from changing the number of enemies, lives and bunker resets.

The game itself, while based on a classic, has been built from the ground up with custom sprites, sound effects and music, and the ability to change up the game with a variety of options to adjust the layout of enemies, and even a "Revenge" mode that breaks the original strategy for beating the classic this game is based on.

The testing period is expected to run for 2 weeks until 27th October 2025, with a hopeful release date a week or so after that.

If I manage to successfully publish this game, I hope to be able to publish a few more over the next year based on some of the games I have made for game jams, and maybe look at finishing off a few of the experimental projects I have previously started to help me learn how to make games.

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itch.io - https://crazyhoundgamedesign.itch.io

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CrazyHoundGameDesign Blog Started

 

Welcome to the new blog for CrazyHoundGameDesign.

This blog will be used to communicate my various gamedev activities, from participation in game jams, to new releases, trailers, and planned activities.

If you stumble across this blog, I hope you find something useful.

If you have a look at my games, I hope you get some enjoyment out of them.