If you are building a game in 2021 it has to be dynamic and here is why.
First, Let me explain what I mean by dynamic. When I use the word or phrase "dynamic" or "dynamic game". I am referring to a video game (more specifically a mobile game) whose components, such as; levels, the cost of in-game items, and other settings can be remotely updated without the need to rebuild and upload the game to storefronts. So, why build your game to be more dynamic?
Doing this will allow you to take advantage of trends and analytical data as well as make quick fixes without the need to upload a new build each time. From my perspective, It's vital. Let's use my most recent game as an example. Blocks: Word Crunch. This is a word game where players must unscramble words to complete levels.
But wait, Oops, I misspelled a few words for a level. Now, no one can complete that level. Okay, No worries I'll just open unity, fix the issue then recompile and upload the updated version to each store the game is available on. Not only is this a lot of work, but it may take up to 24hrs for the update to become live on all the stores, and sometimes even longer. Also, many players may not even install the update. So I'm left with thousands of players who cannot pass a level and possibly a lot of 1-star reviews.
In the case of a more dynamic design, I could separate the levels from the actual build of the game. When the game launches it would then download the required levels. If this were the case then I could simply correct the misspelled words and update the file's version code. Now, when the app is launched it will connect to my server and check for files with newer versions. Afterward, it will download and cache the new files accordingly, thus saving me a lot of time.
It also means that you could add new levels at any time. You could release your game with only 100 levels but then gradually add more. Here are a few things you could change or even add with a more dynamic game: Character Animation, User Interface, Sound effects, and The value of in-game items.
How do I get started making my game more dynamic? If you are using Unity for your game development then you can have a look at asset-bundles and addressables. You can also use JSON files to store C# objects; Which can be uploaded to a server and fetched by your application during runtime.
I am working on a tutorial pack of at least 5 videos that will show you step by step how to make your mobile game more dynamic. Subscribe to be notified when it's released
Here is a quick tutorial demonstrating the use of a JSON file to update the values in a class: