If you truly believe in your idea and you think it can turn out into something big and make some profit for you, then the best thing to do is to turn your idea into reality.

Now how to do that, if you know to code and how to develop a fully functional app then there is no one is better than yourself. But if you don't have a clue about coding and software development then you might need the help of a professional.

Major Consideration before app development is your Budget and Time. If you have a great idea then you can go to the investors and get a good investment and then only the sky is the limit. But If you don't get the investment then you have to bootstrap your business.

Now that you've identified the source of funding for your app development project, the next step is to determine the ideal approach for getting the development work done.

Hiring A Company:

Pros:

Expertise: Development companies often have a team of experts with diverse skills, including designers, developers, and project managers, ensuring a high level of proficiency.

Reliability: Companies have a reputation to uphold, which can make them more accountable and reliable in terms of project delivery.

Scalability: They can scale resources up or down based on project requirements.

Cons:

Cost: Generally, hiring a development company can be more expensive compared to hiring a freelancer.

Less Personalized: You may have less direct control and input into the project compared to working with an individual.

Best For: Complex projects with a larger budget where quality and reliability are top priorities.

Hiring A Freelancer:

Pros:

Cost-Effective: Freelancers are often more cost-effective than companies because they have lower overhead.

Direct Communication: You can have direct and more immediate communication with the individual doing the work.

Flexibility: Freelancers are often more flexible with project scope and timelines.

Cons:

Limited Skillset: Freelancers may have a narrower skillset, which could be a limitation for complex projects.

Reliability: Reliability can vary; some freelancers may have other commitments that could affect project timelines.

Best For: Smaller projects with a limited budget, where you want direct control and have a clear understanding of the project requirements.

Getting A Co-founder:

Pros:

Shared Vision: A co-founder can be deeply committed to the project's success and share your vision.

Complementary Skills: If your co-founder has complementary skills (e.g., technical skills if you're non-technical), it can be highly beneficial.

Cons:

Equity Sharing: You'll need to share ownership and decision-making power, which may not be suitable for everyone.

Compatibility: Finding the right co-founder can be challenging, and compatibility is crucial.

Best For: When you're looking for a long-term commitment and someone who is as invested in the project as you are, and when you lack certain skills needed for the project.

Ultimately, the choice depends on your specific project requirements, budget, and your comfort level with each approach. You can also consider hybrid approaches, such as hiring a company for the initial development and then bringing in a freelancer or co-founder for ongoing maintenance and updates. Be sure to thoroughly research and interview potential candidates or companies to ensure they align with your project's needs and goals.

Hope it would be helpful.

Best of luck for your idea.

Verify whether your idea is as brilliant as you think!

Really, I know how easy it is to get excited about a business project - about any new project, to be honest. But the worst thing you can do is get too attached to your idea.

Ideas are worthless. Even the most awful idea that actually leads to something (action, product, even research) is worth much mure than a fantastic idea that’s never built upon.

You need to make sure you want to stick with your idea to the end. That you’ll believe in it no matter what obstacles come your way. And that other people will believe in it, too.

Business Model Canvas is a tool we’ve been using and we find it extremely helpful in rejecting ideas that ARE brilliant, but would never work in the current market.

SWOT analysis is a framework that can help you find out whether you are in the right place to make the best of your idea.

Design thinking can help you find your users and plan a strategy for connecting with them and solving their problems in a meaningful way.

So, once you’ve thought long and hard about your app idea and decided you want to go through with it, what should you do?

There are two common approaches:

1. If you have a small budget (or none), look for co-founders with skills you don’t have (e.g., if you’re the business & sales person, look for someone technical and someone with experience in finance).
2. If you have a reasonable budget, go to a software house that’ll build the app for you.

You can work with freelancers, too, but remember that they don’t offer the same guarantees and support. If the freelancer falls ill or just plain disappears on you, their code might be difficult to work with for other developers. Also, they’re just one person and their availability and speed of work will depend on, well, every day life events.

This is a shameless plug, but I can recommend my company in particular, since we have experience in working with startups. We’re also happy to just chat and advise you.

I know there are other companies that specialise in helping startups get off the ground. Look for one in your area or anywhere in the world and be careful about companies offering to work for equity. They are businesses and their main goal will always be to profit, so make sure their agreement doesn’t impose any hidden costs on you.

I wish you luck with your ideas!

Number one step.

Make your self an investor. Most investors don't have clue of what they do. They don't go to courts instead they hire lawyers, They don't know how to repair cars rathsr hire and employee mechanics.

You gonna take a step and hire a developer. Junior developers are so many around the world. They can do for you work at fair and relatives low fares. If you can tap in countries like Africa You will invest a few dollars and the talent there is execuptional. Your idea will come to life. Mark Zuckuberg has done this and it's progressing. He has a program called Andela. Google it and find more, you can copy some thing from it

Write. Down. The. Requirements.

You want to start by being able to explain the game pieces, parts, and rules. Just like a when you buy a game in a box it has directions, you need that level of detail.

Making a list of stuff is not requirements. Describing details, back stories, and art are not requirements.

If you can explain and “play” your game on paper, then you’be got a good start. You can tune as needed.

Test out the concept of your game and see if you want to proceed.

Then find a developer who is motivated (by excitement, learning, cash, etc.) to work on it with you. Prototype a version, get the kinks out, and design the program based on what you've learned.

Not having enough information about what your end goal is will allow things to spiral out too broadly without focus. Just learning a language may not give you the necessary tools to complete your objective.

Have realistic ambitions about the level of ambition you're going after.

Actual options:

• Learn how to make it yourself, and then make it yourself.
• Hire others to make it for you.

Options that don't exist:

• Taking it to a publisher/developer, convincing them to make it, and getting a cut of profits for yourself.
• Getting some peeps to make it for free with promise of equity when it inevitably rakes in piles of cash because it's an amazing idea.

Ideas are worth exactly $0. Ideas with execution begin to be worth >$0 depending on execution.

Your best bet is to learn and create it yourself. You'll understand what's good about your idea and what sucks about it. It'd be foolish to pay a development team to make an idea in an industry you have no experience in.

I suppose you could also be an experienced business executive and then attempt a pivot into video game publishing. Then you could try to make your idea happen.

Given the question, you're only real option is to do it yourself. You wouldn't ask a question like this if those other options were available.

Go for it! Make a game! If that's intimidating to you, turn around and go pursue other things.

Oh and don't go into video games just for money. That's not a thing.

You do what I did.

8 months ago I had a list of ideas for apps, that I had no idea how to build, I didn’t know a thing about building apps. So I just started researching and learning shit about building apps, 1 month ago I launched the first one.

School Minder - Android Apps on Google Play

This took me 7 months because I didn’t know shit, now I could create it in like 1 month or less. In case you’re considering diving into it here are 4 little points that I either learned along the way or wish I had known:

• If you want to develop for android there are two guys with nice playlists, thenewboston and Derek Banas.
• Focus more on building than on reading, theoretical shit is nice to have but by building an idea of yours and trying stuff is the best way to truely learn and develop the "problem solving skill" (this one is major).
• You probably heard that programming is all math and shit, that's just for the machine learning, AI and complicated stuff, in android all the math you need to know is how to multiply and divide.
• Don't forget to have fun, keep an eye on the end goal btu focus on the process.

Go onto https://www.elance.com/ and post a job. Be prepared to pay someone to do the coding for you. OR, start going to iOS/App Developer Meetups in your area, network with developers, and find a partner to develop with you for an equity share. OR, teach yourself to code. There's a nanodegree in iOS development from https://www.udacity.com.

Not to be harsh, but you should be aware that "great app ideas" are a dime a dozen. Very few people actually put in the work to define and build a great app. And this really happens before you start coding: defining exactly who is using this app. Mapping out every aspect of how the app is going to function (what screens you're going to need, how a user is going to interact with it, what tasks they're going to try to complete and streamlining the app to make that process as easy as possible for your specific users, etc.). You can do this work with pencil and paper (check out some printable templates here: free printable ios wireframe stencils). Research competitive apps on the marketplace. Figure out what you can do better.

The work that you do before anyone ever starts coding is what will separate your app from the rest.

Hi there!

First off, I am a fresh indie game-developer and thinking of eventually making a game app in future just like you.

Although I do not have the experience to guide you, I can tell you how and where to begin.

You will need these:
1) Game Development Software
(I suggest Unity3D which can create both 2D or 3D games for any platform, pc, console, phone etc.)

2) Some programming knowledge (preferably C# for Unity3D)
You can learn this online, through YouTube or books!

3) Krita , Digital Painting Software
(To draw the art for your game)

4) Guidance and tutorials
You can search online on YouTube for all the necessary details to make your first game.
I recommend 'Gamesplusjames', his tutorials for 2D games are concise and ideal for beginners.

5) Planning
Yes, you need a plan and one that you stick to. The plan can consist of milestones with what you will accomplish for today, this week, this month etc.
For this I recommend checking out the 'ExtraCredits' channel on YouTube which discusses many aspects of being a game developer!

6) Patience & Perseverence
This one is the hardest. You have to set aside time daily after work or studies to follow your game-making plans. As long as you work on it daily, you will eventually be able to make the app game you dreamed of!

I hope my answer managed to give you some insights. Good luck in developing your game app! And most of all, have fun in the process!

Lester

Yes it’s possible. Coding a game like Angry Birds is quite easy if you use an existing game engine, it just takes some time.

Here’s how I would do it if I would have someone else to do art, sounds and other assets:

• Create a prototype (5 days): In the prototype I can shoot 2–3 different types of birds and they are flying into some prebuilt obstacles which have simple 2D rectangle and circle physical colliders. Properties (bird weight, shooting force, gravity, obstacle weight, etc…) are tweaked and playing is fun. The camera follows the action then it resets back to the shooting place.
• Create a level editor (5 days): it doesn’t have to be very user friendly but I need to create, load and save levels easily to save time later.
• Create birds and obstacles (5 days): I code the various birds with their unique behavior. It needs a lot of time to tweak them to feel fun to play and here there will be a lot of timers need to be set very precisely.
• Create some levels (1 day): with the level editor it’s easy to put down obstacles and set up the playable birds, different score limits to get 1–2–3 stars.
• Create the metagame (5 days): I code the logic to have a sequence of levels grouped into worlds, they can be unlocked after each other and of course I need a score system to count the player’s score and give stars as a reward.
• Create the menu structure (20–40 days): UI programming can take up a LOT of time. It’s not just about displaying texts and buttons, those buttons need different states (disabled, enabled, selected, clicked, highlighted, etc..), every menu needs an intro and outro animation, buttons need click animations and on the top of all, timers! Tons of timers to wait for the animations to finish before proceeding, and so on. I need a main menu, world selection screen, level selection screen, ingame hud, result screen, pause screen, options screen, different popup menus and so on.
• Create ingame visuals (5 days): I code the bird animations, particle effects, support for different ingame backgrounds, creating a parallax effect for the background (when the camera moves it looks like 3D)
• Write a sound manager (3 days): background music should be played, sound effects should be called on every UI interaction and ingame action.
• Create final levels (???): it takes what it takes, no idea. 4 weeks should be enough for a hundred levels.
• Others (20–30 days): there are always unforseen problems and issues and they can take up too much time. For example asking the user sometimes to rate the game or automatically detect if the user plays music on their device so I should mute the igame music, etc.
• Analytics (3 days): every decent game developer should implement analytics to have data about retention and user behavior.
• Ads and store logic (15 days): if it’s will be free to play, then I need to implement in-app purchases and at least 3 ad network SDKs. These ad networks should also be set up carefully. Also it would be good to have a leaderboard for every level. I would hate doing this that’s why it would take up 3 weeks, haha.
• QA (10 days): test, test, test! Always, between and during every step. Since I counted QA for my estimates, the final test for gameplay balance and bug hunting would take not more than 2 weeks.

That would be around 120–150 days, add an extra 30% time to be real, that’s maximum 8 months for me to code a real, polished Angry Birds.

Note: i didn’t play Angry Birds too much, it may be a bigger game than I remember now but my answer is still yes it is possible to code it alone. It just needs experience and time.

So I actually work at a company that helps write apps for clients that don't know how to program. There are a bunch of us out there, where we charge per hour. In the US, you're looking at most places starting at $100 on the cheap end.

Here's the general process that we go through with customers that have an idea for an app.

1) Meet with client, figure out what their idea is
2) Estimate how many hours it will take us to program
3) Meet with client several times to create wireframes of the app. These are basic sketches of what it will look like
4) From the wireframes, we create user stories. These are how the user interacts with the app. For instance, if the user presses this button on this screen, then this will happen. These are specific to make sure we understand what you want and the programmer gets it correct
5) A lot of times, your ideas are actually not finished. We need to help steer you in the right direction, or sometimes change your ideas of how the app functions.
6) After we get all of this, then we start designing your app. We get a person who will make the graphics for your app to make it look pretty.
7) Once this is all done, you meet with the designer and go through several iterations to make tweaks and adjustments to how the app will look
8) Now the programmer gets all this information and starts making the app
9) Meet with client occasionally to ensure project stays on track
10) Deliver app

It's not a quick process at all.

Any solution that you can drag and drop into an app will not yield the next Instagram. The visuals and functionality will simply be lacking. So it really depends on what type of app you want to make. Do you want something that's just for your normal use that you don't care about how it looks? Or is this something you want as a prototype to pitch to an investor for funding? Or to sell on the Apple store?

Depending on the app, they can take from dozens to hundreds of hours to program. And unfortunately, all good apps need time for design to get all the ideas out. If you give me more specifics on what you're trying to do, then I'd be happy to give a more specific answer to your need.

It is hard. Like: very very hard.

If you look at the story of Rovio, the company behind Angry Birds, it is known that they made almost 50 fails

In order to design a successful game, the safest way to act is:

1. Choose a market to enter in
2. Empathy: Explore player’s segments inside of that market
3. Define: a problem to solve for them
4. Ideation-Prototyping: With the insights, create as quickly as possible something to test
5. Test: Test it
6. Iterate

This process is called design thinking and still does not guarantee 100% you will design a successful mobile app. Does not guarantee you will design a scalable service such as Angry Birds. Still reduces risks a lot.

To design, as you asked, is not just a technical skills. Design means creating real values for people, so you cannot stay at your desk imagining the World outside.

I just started a blog on the website on my startup publishing articles

Footnotes

Depends on your talents and what you’re passionate about.

For me it would be really easy to program an app like Angry Birds. A simple physics simulation with forces applied to objects as well as collision. Unity and Unreal Engine already have that built in. From scratch it would be a couple weeks of work. On the flip side, I lack the graphics design skills and creativity in order to create art assets and music for the game.

Others may be more suited for creating the art, music, or sound effects.

In other words, it would be pretty hard just for one person, but if you get the right people together it starts becoming very simple.

It's not necessary to have programming skills like a pro to start making an app. I'm a non programmer and have released several Android apps. My latest app is status saver for WhatsApp and I done it and released the app without any development skills. You can develop the app in different ways.

1. Understand the Basics : Your need to have basic knowledge of programming (it's necessary), designing ability and the business side. I will explain to you why these are important.
2. Find a programming co founder : If you are lucky enough to find a good programmer who can share same passion as yourself and would love to work on your idea, and knows in and out of programming!
3. Hire a freelancer : You can post jobs in sites like Up work and freelancer to find professional freelancers who would be happy to lift any hard rock programs you throw at them.

This is how I did it. At initial years, I had no previous programming knowledge and when I had the idea of an app, I went to a local app development company and hired them. My designing skills were bad at that time. Remember that designs are the only guide you are giving to the programmer unless u have something like a working app you have to show them (like showing them an X app and asking them to make some changes and release a similar Y app).

In my case the idea was fresh. So when I gave them the designs, the results were bad. They didn't completely understand the concept and gave me the worst app. And since I don't have any basic programming knowledge, I had to take any delays or expenses they proposed to me and finally I had to drop the project. I spend almost 2 years learning some basic programming & designing and understood how they work (still I don't develop apps, but I know what I'm saying to a programmer now!). I started learning UI/UX designing and started creating screenshots like output of the apps as in my mind. That's I'm best at and i realized that is where I concentrate more in.

So all set - I design apps, I give it to a programmer and the app gets launched. Then the final problem came, the business side.. it seems that the app I worked on for many months and which got released is not much appreciated by users.. if some apps make some traction also, they are not bringing in money. So I had to learn the business part as well.

You need to know the basics only - like search keywords and see that users are looking an app like you have in mind.. see if paid promotions are afforable and see if you can stay in competition with the giants.

So my advice for you to make the app :

A. See if there is demand for your app

B. You guide your programmers well, with all designs or wireframe (I use Adobe xd) and let the programmer know how exactly you want each activity to be.

C. Make clear of the budget with developer

D. Use freelancers to do your job. You can find plenty in sites like upwork. They are cheaper!

E. Promote aggressively once launched.. more installs brings further more installs, that's the golden rule in app stores.

Hope it helps?!

If you think about the actions required of the player to play the game there is 3 main steps:
Strategize about where to fire the bird
Use skill to attempt to make the bird hit the selected target
Occasional gameplay while the bird is in the air (most birds have this)

This breaks down into:
Before Launch
The Launch
After Launch

If you take a step back and consider adding another step to the gameplay instead of more gameplay on a specific step you can add a lot of depth to the game.

Personally, I think the next layer that could be added is the ability to "deck build", which is to choose the birds you use at the start of the level. This would make the game less casual, as it will certainly be harder for the player to get 5 stars, but it adds an entirely different piece of gameplay. This works really well in a game like Plants vs. Zombies and makes the levels very repeatable, especially with the option to get a random selection of plants and just try to make do with what you have. The randomization forces new strategies to be created that the player probably would never attempt by themselves.

This would add a meta piece of gameplay outside of the current gameplay loop and would leave the really solid core intact.

It is also important to not lose that core, so I would consider why it works.

Minimal skill gives incredible results
Players do very little but they are given an awesome piece of feedback. Watching the towers crumble is very satisfying and it makes the player feel powerful.

Understanding relationships gives a sense of mastery
When players start to realize that certain birds are better at breaking certain types of materials that understanding of the relationship is rewarding. These simple relationships create a strategy for the player on a high level, which adds depth to the game.

Surprise
The player can get skilled enough to predict what will happen on the initial impact of the bird, but everything after that is a surprise. This is exciting and interesting, which engages the player.

It is interesting to see the similarities between Angry Birds and Peggle, which shares all of these characteristics. The on place where Angry Birds is better is that the story in Angry Birds is simple and inherently interesting, everyone understands why the birds would be angry and can sympathize with them.

When it comes to developing a game, there are so many various paths that you can take.

Everything depends on what motivated you to create the game and the things you're ready to put into it.

We at Orangesoft recommend you key things to think about while creating a mobile app:

• Audience.
• Genre.
• Gameplay.
• Game setting.
• Graphic style.
• Gaming platform.
• Game promotion.
• Monetization strategy.
• Finances.
• Game engine.
• Team.

When you work out a clear and detailed plan of your game using the insights mentioned above, you may start the development process.

Be sure that your game will be successful. Just don't forget to stick to your plan. 😉

Good luck!

Well, you have two choices. On one side there is the "actual" software engineering way in wich you have to learn how to program in C++ or Python or JavaScript or whatever language of your choosing, then you'll have to learn about gamedev and those kind of subjects and game design and everything else. This, I think, is the best way and the most flexible in terms that you'll have the most control over your game.

On the other side, and one wich some people don't actually think is actual gamedev ( I think these are "hardcore" programmers, or just jealous people who don't want you to succeed without the struggle they wemt through) you can make games with software that already exists and does all or most of the programming tasks for you like Game Maker, GameSalad, Unity (people will say you have to do scripting in Unity but you can actually download most if not all of the scripts you need from their online store) or Construct.

Wichever way you choose though, it will be hard. Don't ever believe anyone who says it will be easy because that statement is just full of ignorance and plain stupidity. That said you should strive to have a lot of fun with it and be happy about it.

Good luck making games!

6–8 months for the code, but if you are planning on doing the graphics yourself as well, then an additional 6–8 months, and what about level design? That might take another couple of months to play test, oops, sound, that would take a couple of months. I used to be a sole programmer on a lot of games, but I had artists, sound effects and music provided by someone else, and games testers (it’s hard to test your own game, since you tend to be pretty good at it, and also know what you should do, a tester should tell you parts that they don’t understand so you might need to make changes in addition to bug fixes).

You must take into account:

1. Goals and Target Audience
   Before developing an app, do a market research. The growing number of apps in Google Play and Apple store show that in 2018 Android users can choose among 3.8 million apps, whereas Apple users – among 2 million apps. Find out reviews about analog apps and detect possible pain points. This will help you to foresee risks, as follows, you won’t spend time, money and efforts fruitless.
2. Unique Value Proposition
   Be aware of what exactly your target audience wants. Maybe all analogs are to be paid or don’t have a trial period? Or maybe your app can run offline and nothing terrible will happen to a person when he loses connection? Or, perhaps, your app has more items in a catalog than other apps.
3. The Development Side
   When a platform for app development has been chosen, you have two solutions: to get your own hands dirty and spend time learning and acquiring necessary skills or to reach out a team of professional software engineers. For ex., doing mobile app development on your own, you can use platforms as Buildfire, GoodBarber or Firebase. These application development services have specific functions that allow you to create applications of a more or less professional level without acquiring any programming skills. BTW, In 2018 the most hyped programming languages are Java, Python and PHP.

If you reach out an app development company to realize your idea, they will evaluate technical feasibility of your app, estimate the resources needed, suggest what features and how it is better to implement in your specific app to make a user experience the most enjoyable.

Remember: when choosing a developer for your app, you are very much choosing a marketing partner.

The answer to your question depends on how long “ very little time” actually means. As I proceed to answer your question, I will assume that the sooner you can deploy your app the better. I also hope to bring a different perspective to the app development process from a semi-non-technical person’s point of view (I have done some coding, but not enough to turn my ideas into an app with code).

Currently, I work at a company that enables people who do not know code to create custom apps without writing a single line of code. I will be speaking from my own experience while working at this company that helps people like you build apps without any coding knowledge.

Prior to joining AppSheet, I thought that any no-code app building platform would not be sufficient for turning any robust app idea into a reality. At the time, I believed that there was no substitute for code when building mobile applications.

However, I quickly discovered that I held a common misconception. There are many no-code and low-code app development platforms that can turn an idea into an app in a fraction of the time it takes to develop the same app using code. Also, I used to believe that these platforms could not offer enough customization or functionality for any app ideas I had, but I have seen many examples of extremely complicated apps being build with these platforms in a few days to a few weeks.

As mentioned previously, there are two types of platforms that can enable you to develop your app much faster with minimal or no coding required: low-code and no-code. Low-code platforms still require a significant amount of time to learn because they still have their own coding languages, but their “languages” are much simpler to learn than traditional programming languages. On the other hand, no-code platforms have the shortest learning curve and usually they allow for much quicker development and iterations of your app.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: I would consider doing some research on different low-code and no-code development platforms. A website like Capterra is a good place to start.

Good luck with your app development!

It is probably not so difficult to make a game like Angry Birds using an existing game engine such as Cocos2d or Unity. However, to develop an in-house engine to make it run across numerous platforms (iOS, Android, Windows Phone, PC, Mac, Linux, MeeGo, Symbian, Blackberry, Palm WebOS, Samsung SmartTV, etc), to integrate many platform specific features such as push notification, WebView for embedding HTML pages, in-app purchase, location, etc, and to make the game still run reasonably smooth in many older (e.g. iPhone 3Gs and iPad 1) or low-end devices (millions of Android phones), you need a group of very talented people who work very very hard. Success doesn't come easy, no matter how easy it may seem.

It depends on what you want to do. Some things can be accomplished without coding or art skills others cannot. For example you could probably make a visual novel using only a pre existing engine and stock assets. If you are trying to make a new game with entirely new mechanics you will need to use code. Some systems will allow you to code with logic bricks or something similar which may be easier than code for a beginner (although it's still basically code). If you need complex mechanics than it really ought not to be your first project. That would be like trying to write a trilogy of 1000 page epic novels before having ever written a short story. Unless of course you have lots of money and can afford to pay an experienced programer to make it for you.

I would take a look at this brief series of videos. It's a great intro to how to realistically start your first game project.

Yes.

Using a game engine, is simpler than you think. Most of the work is already done in the majority of the game engines.

Making the game logic is not that hard, you will implement the game mechanics and physics. From there you will test and tweak them until you think that they are good enough.

But for menu (hardest part to code on a mobile game, in my opinion), art and level design (each level in a game is made by hand, the position of every object in every level is planned and tested) it would take much longer.

When thinking about Game Development, think about the whole thing, not just the code itself.

Try the same path I took!

I began studying the Swift programming language in the evenings and on weekends and I was able to release my first free iOS app in the first year (Supernatural Slayer on the App Store). Within the first couple weeks it was downloaded over 200 times and played over 600 times. Please note that learning how to develop an app had zero cost, but actually releasing it required an apple developer account which is $100/yr.

I had started studying Swift by using free courses such as Hacking with Swift, the iTunesU course from Stanford, Coding with Chris, Ray Wenderlich, Smashing Games and a few others. After 4 or 5 months once I thought I had a pretty good handle on the basics I started to program my app, as the best way to learn to code is by designing an app that you enjoy. Another ~4 months later Supernatural Slayer was released to the app store :)

I also just released Mermaid Maths to the app store a few months ago :)

Check out Ansca Corona - http://www.anscamobile.com/corona/

They have an "Angry Birds" sample called "Ghosts vs. Monsters", supposedly created in 36 hours. It is quite slick looking and works well.

Corona runs on iOS and Android, with dev environments on Windows and MacOS. It has a simulator that makes development easier. The dev language is Lua. It is purely a 2D engine, there is no support for 3D. The physics package is Box2D.

A drawback is that the platform is not open to plugins or extensions, so you'll be limited to engine/platform features provided by them, but they do have quite an extensive list of things. The licensing fee is per-year, which is somewhat of a drawback.

I have used it for a small game I developed from scratch on iOS (all art, coding, and submitting to the app store took 10 days) - The Recycler - http://itunes.apple.com/app/the-recycler/id477613534?mt=8

Please do not take this post as an endorsement. It is just one of the many solutions available on the market.

First - make sure it doesn’t exist already.

Do a search of the app store and the play store to make sure no one has written an app like it. Or - if they have - make sure what you want to do is different enough that your app can stand out. Otherwise you are just going to be wasting your time and effort creating a clone of something that already exists.

Second - if you can’t write it yourself (which by the tone of your question I am guessing you can’t?) then find someone you trust to work with.

You have to find someone you trust for two reasons :-

Reason 1 : if you are going to be working as an analyst (so to speak) then there will be a lot of give and take during the software development process. And there will be a lot of arguing, shouting, yelling and wanting to kill each other. There will also be a point where you want to say “FUCK IT” and storm off and never talk to the software developer again, and you have to know that if you do that, they will be there when you come back.

Reason 2 : you have to tell them EVERYTHING about your idea, and risk them stealing it and running off with it. So if you don’t rust them enough to do that, don’t get into bed with them. (Metaphorically speaking).

My advice - by the way - is do NOT do this with someone you really care about. Because there is every chance you will have a lot of arguments and disagreements and - as I said - want to kill each other. And this is not conducive to having a good relationship. (It’s the same reason you shouldn’t teach a loved one to drive. But that’s a whole other topic).

Third - if you are really serious, get a lawyer or solicitor to write a contract so that you know who has what duties, how the money will be split and what will happen if you actually sell it.

NOTE : I work for a software development company. I’ve never worked on a private project with one or two other people. So all of this is just general advice, not personal experience. So - you can take it or leave it :)