Important Phrases to Understand in Mobile Game Development
Published: Oct 24, 2022
Below is a sampling of some of the commonly used terms and their meanings within the App Development world. This list is not designed to be all inclusive - but rather provide a quick high level at the terms commonly used in the industry.
Term Explanations
Fast Follow. The process of modeling out an app based upon the proven strategies of another app. You are able to use current market success of that apps proven capabilities to estimate market impact, required advertising spend and resulting revenue.
DAU / Daily Active Users. The total number of users who access your app in a single 24 hour period.
WAU / Weekly Active Users. The total number of users who access your app in a single 7 day period.
MAU / Monthly Active Users. The total number of users who access you app in a single month timeframe.
ARPDAU / Average Revenue Per Daily Active User. This is a value that represents an average value for each of your apps users. Divide the total revenue by the total number of users who access your app in a single 24 hour period. Read more: What is ARPDAU and Why is it important
Buildables. A game mechanic that allows users to combine multiple lower valued items into one item of a higher value. Read more: How does the Buildable Mechanic work in Games
Collectables. A game mechanic that enables the user to collect similar items into a defined collection. Generally only 1 of each defined item is allowed in the collection. Often games will add on to the collectable mechanic by allowing their users to exchange a finished collection for some sort of reward or status.
Consumable. A game mechanic that represents the ability for a user to trade in an item in exchange for some aspect of game play. For example, to access a new level a user might first have to obtain a key to unlock that level. When the level is unlocked the key becomes used and cannot be used again.
Game Mechanic. An in game flow that the user goes through. Common game mechanics are designed to improve a critical aspect of the games value, such as improve monetization, increase virality or add more depth to a games progression.
Achievements. A game mechanic that tracks user progression towards a defined goal. "perform x action y amount of times". Once the goal is reached a unique award is presented to the user.
Quest. A game mechanic that gives the user a specific tasks to accomplish. "go get x item from the store". There may be additional steps that are needed in order to perform the quest. Often multiple quests will play off of each other, in some sort of sequence providing a story line.
Harvest. A game mechanic that requires you to do an action, then come back in a certain amount of time to reap the benefits of that action. For example, place a building and in x amount of time the building will be completed and can be used. In some games, a timeframe will be enforced, meaning the rewards can be collected after x time, but have to be collected before y time, otherwise the reward will expire.
Segmentation. A processes by which your user base is divided up into various groups and different versions of your game are presented to the different groups. In game analytics are then compared against the different versions of the app experience to see which version is more powerful.
Building out your Game Idea (11 lessons)
1.
Important Phrases to Understand in Mobile Game Development
