If you saw this game icon in the popular sort as a sponsored game, would you click it? If not, why not?
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I dont know if i personally would, but i can assure you that many, many, people would.
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Iâm not sure I would, given the amount of icons that are more âinterestingâ. I donât mean this to put down your work - you clearly know what youâre doing in terms of graphical work, but the design has room for improvement.
With all of this, please keep in mind that these are my personal interpretations and that Iâm in no way an expert on the subject. Others may have more qualified opinions.
Now: Your icon is the first impression players get of your game. Assuming the page loads properly, which it probably will, the userâs eyes will go to the icons first and then the title. You want to capture peopleâs attention immediately with your icon, and ideally it should contain the name of your game (make sure to pick something captivating there as well). Thereâs a lot of thought that goes into designing a logo, and how well you do this can make or break your success.
Existing Logos
Let's take a look at the popular sort:
There are some really good examples of icons here:
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Adopt Me shows a cute, dressed-up pet, because players go there for cute pets and theyâve just released an update that allows players to dress up their pets. The bright colors in the background help convey that itâs a light, cheery game.
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Arsenal shows off a person shooting a flame thrower. The slight upwards camera angle makes that character look tall and intimidating, which is common for shooter games. The players in it want to see themselves as big and powerful (PvP shooters generally are an ego contest), and that character looks powerful, so it draws in players that are seeking that feeling.
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Anime Fighting shows a battle scene. The icon here essentially puts you right in the action. The icon conveys fast motion very well. While I donât particularly care for anime games in general, this one caught my eye pretty quickly because of that.
It also does the same upwards camera angle as described for Arsenalâs logo, but does this for both characters. It gives a sense of equal-ish strength in both, and thus draws in players who are looking for an epic one-on-one battle. -
Royale High shows two characters seemingly gossiping. For what is (I presume) a primarily social game, this draws in players who are all about chatting and keeping up to date with their social circles.
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Welcome to Bloxburg shows a friendly, welcoming character. This promises a friendly and calm environment. This also draws in social players, but unlike Royale High, draws in those who are looking for a relaxing experience.
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Piggy shows two characters in silly outfits about to commit some violent crimes (the bloody letters also convey that idea). Iâve never played the game, but the icon reminds me of Gang Beasts, which is a pretty silly brawler game. As someone who enjoys a silly game, this also caught my attention and Iâll probably play it when Iâm done writing this post.
EDIT: Piggy definitely isnât what I was expecting and I horribly misinterpreted the icon. Itâs a horror-style ârun away and escapeâ type of game with one player trying to kill everyone else. The icon doesnât represent this too well because it shows two piggys with baseball bats.
Your Logo
Your icon actually has to convey a lot of information in a small space. It needs to:
- Convey what your game is primarily about
- Convey the theme of your game: Is it serious, silly, cheerful, sad, calm, frightening, etc.
- Appeal to your target audience
- Eventually, tell people whatâs new
And this is why I feel your icon falls short:
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Thereâs too much going on. You need one primary focus. Are you focusing on the action, or does the story drive the game? Decide on one and make it take up the full icon. You can advertise the other factors in your thumbnails or an introduction video once the player clicked your icon.
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I can tell that youâre going for a more serious tone, but neither the action nor the story section tell me much else. I get that you donât want to spoil the story, but I should know roughly how Iâm going to feel for the majority of the game from the icon. Right now, the icon doesnât really trigger any emotions for me.
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I canât tell whether or not Iâm part of the target audience.
My advice would be to take a good look at what currently popular games do for their logos. Focus on the ones that immediately catch your attention, and try to understand why. Then, try to mimic their strategies for your own.
11 Likes
Looks good!
Personally I wouldnât click on this but there are many people who I know that would!
Keep it up!
Probably not, but sort of well at the same time, I feel like thereâs a lot going on in the separate designs the effects look a little overwhelming. Instead of having same similar character in both of the genre game concept you should include another character in the âactionâ genre icon so it looks more interesting and players will know what the actual game footage will be.
I wouldnât click on it because thereâs too much going on the image itself, you should switch another character in the action genre instead of being the same character playing another role. Iâd suggest changing the outfit to something with more of an action type of game, perhaps have a man with a sword fighting with his own concept itâll look more attractive from my opinion.
Try making it more unique and see how it can attach players into clicking your icon Iâm sure with a few touches and improvements I myself will click it but the effects look a little overdone. See what will target your sort of audience at the start itâll be good to add different characters.
1 Like
When both of you said that itâs too messy, I immediately thought of the background and icing.
This is what it would look like with a uniform background and no icing.
Do you feel that this change fixes the âmessyâ element of it?
2 Likes
With the small improvements this looks more clearer, but apart from that, the design isnât cluttered with missing placed effects. Essentially, you will require objects and different background color to fit the genre of the game along to attract interest, perhaps give the 2nd icon a different background, so it doesnât have a similar appearance as the first one however you could take my suggestion anyway you like.
The icon looks clean and sleek with the glowing effect placed on the icon it makes it look more appealing. Using similar background images looks a little here and there I would highly recommend using a different background selection in order to fit the genre of the game (2nd icon).
Other than that, it looks good. 
I wouldnât. I suggest you make a poll thought.
It just doesnât appeal to me.
If you want people to click your icon, you have to think about what you want. Who is the target audience for your game? Do you want your ad to appeal to your target audience, or do you want as many clicks as possible? Your ad doesnât convey any information about the game, but what I get from the ad is that it is some type of medieval fantasy game.
Of course, you made a great devfourm title, it caught my attention perfectly.
I would like to know the genre, setting, and time of your game before I say anything about clicks. Because I needed to ask all of these questions, your logo does not make a big enough statement about your game.
I donât know why but this should more likely be image for ads.
Cuz most ads have these types of images but in portrait angle.
BTW I really like the Icon you made 
Good Job man 
Iâd honestly say your new icon is a step backwards. I donât think I criticized the detailing. Detailing is good, and a lot of the icons I talked about do some of it. You basically made a change to your icon that makes it less eye-catching:
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Removing the red background from your âactionâ section made the (presumably?) opponent seem less threatening and thus the action portion of your logo just feels bland in comparison to your original logo
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The icing did a lot to make the action seem more intense, and the story portion just looks like a screenshot now.
However, most importantly, you didnât address any of the things I criticized about your original icon: The biggest point I was trying to make is that you really want to avoid splitting your logo in two. You kept the Story / Action split. Keep in mind, you only get 150x150 pixels to work with, so you should really be using all of that space to represent one primary aspect of the game. Decide whether the story or the action is more important, and then make a logo that represents whichever one you decide is the main selling point.
Again, a logo is the playerâs first impression of your game, so you want to make sure you have one thing that really captures their attention. To capture attention like that, you really have to pick your battle and fight it well, and not divert your attention to two things at once. You can advertise all the other features of your game once youâve gotten the player to click on your icon on the games page.
Perhaps the following questions could help you come up with a better design:
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What is it youâre selling? What is the main focus of your game? Is it an open-world style action game with story and side missions, or does the game focus heavily on the story aspect?
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If your game focuses primarily on the story, perhaps show off one of the main characters in the story that the player will be interacting with, in a scene that makes your game unique. Ideally, youâd design a logo that makes the player want to help that character.
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If your game is more open-world, the story plays a secondary role and you should make a logo that showcases the action portion of your game.
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Whoâs your target audience? Are you trying to appeal to a younger or a more mature audience? Are you looking for would-be heroes, or troublemakers, or something else entirely? All of this plays into how you pose the characters, what colors you pick, and so on.
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Whatâs the tone of your game? Is it serious and trying to be dramatic, or is your game silly, joyful and filled with jokes? Your current logo already tells me youâre very likely going for something dramatic, but itâs best to clear this up.
Hopefully this is more helpful. 
Not quite sure I would click it. It doesnât explain much, as an icon. No name or anything?
If I saw this Icon Iâd definitely check out the game. Itâs not too dark or too bright and it looks really cool!