Anyone who has ever worked on a game knows that game development is no walk in the park; it takes lots of hard work, dedication and patience to ship a game that reaches the front page. The Featured games list is no different! Developers of Featured games work hard to polish their games, and upon selection for the Featured games list, they work closely with the Developer Engagement Team to prepare their games for front-page featuring.
The developers behind the Featured games list have a few tips and tricks that can help shorten the polishing and feedback process that all developers go through when working to get their game posted on the front page. Here’s what they said:
Inspiration and Features:
As we’ve seen with past games, developers draw inspiration from anything from interactions with friends, their favorite games on Roblox or other platforms, their favorite themes and more. Each story is unique, and the games that result from these inspirational draws are equally unique!
We wanted to find out from these developers what features they added to their games to make them even more unique. Roblox offers tools and services to help improve in-game experience and draw attention to particular features. Here are a few of the features that the developers behind the Featured sort applied to their games:
“The new relative humanoid platforms feature allowed us to create more immersive boats that multiple players can be on simultaneously as the boat is moving,” FierceByte told us.
cbmaximillian told us his favorite feature was Textures; “Many developers underestimate the power of textures, and often restrain themselves to the limited supply of just the studio’s materials.”
A particularly interesting use of Roblox features is the Quest System that Candeesia and BOF used in their game, Marble Adventure. “Marble Adventure has a unique variety of features, but the best one would probably be the Quest System, as it allows everyone to earn Experience, Coins and also Gems (which are originally a Cash Currency). We like to keep our game interesting for people which can’t afford to buy Robux as well, and we’re doing our best to make it the best for everyone playing it.”
A few other features that were referenced by multiple developers are the Custom Character and Custom Physics features, ImageButtons and Labels, localization tools and more!
Learnings:
Developers who accept the invitation to join the Featured games program also receive large amounts of feedback on their games to prepare them for front page featuring. While each game receives specific feedback to their games, there is some overarching feedback that can help accelerate a game’s path through the Featuring process. Check out what some of the Featured games developers have taken note of as they worked on their game for the Featured sort:
Both BOF and Shyfoox highlight the importance of making sure your game functions on all platforms, a common challenge for developers working to get their games featured. Alternatively, K_Seven mentions that he leaned a lot about communication, “I learned a lot about communication. Since it is quite hard to do everything yourself I had to gather people to do certain tasks like the graphics for the thumbnail and game icon.”
Many developers, including CanadianDevKevin, asmanwoks and cbmaximillian also touched on the importance of preparation, noting that the Featured game program pushed them to consider first impressions, prepare their games for multiple platforms, time management and more.
Advice:
The Featured games developers worked hard to get their games on the front page, but they started from the bottom, just like all developers on Roblox. These developers provided lots of great advice, but there were two key themes in all of their feedback; make games that you enjoy playing and inspire you, and don’t be afraid to go all in on your game!
Thanks it for this week’s Featured games spotlight! Check out the Featured games list on the Games page, or sort through the list below to find your new favorite game!
Metal Detecting Simulator @BuildIntoGames
Wreck Ball Survival @asmanwoks & @Dayren
Elemental Royale @Turpichu4321
Marbventure @Candeeisa & @BOF
The Guide Of The Realm @CanadianDevKelly
Operation Scorpion @cbmaximillian
Buccaneers @HenryDev & @FierceByte
Monster Battle Simulator @K_Seven
Learn more about the Featured Games Program here