8 Indie Mobile Gaming Blogs to Bookmark Now

Fellow mobile game developer?s blogs are an invaluable resource for indie devs: The most candid posts will teach you exactly how other indie developers strategize, attack, and take advantage of the broadening opportunities in the burgeoning indie gaming scene.What?s more, grounding yourself in other game?s successes ? and failures ? will help you keep a healthy perspective on your own efforts.Here, eight?must-read new and classic posts from indie mobile game devs who?ve bravely bared it all:The Post:Organ Trail: Director?s Cut One Year SalesThe Developer:Ryan Wiemeyer, The Men Who Wear Many HatsThe Game: Organ Trail: Director?s CutWhy it?s a Must-Read: The post offers a ton of insight into how to create and expand your indie game into a multi-platform powerhouse.Takeaway tip: Make a game that your players can use to tell their own story, and they?ll gladly become your marketers, which also helps when you?re releasing your game on multiple platforms with varied pricing strategies.The Post:Gentlemen! Or, how our most successful game is also our least profitableThe Developer:Yann Seznec, Lucky FrameThe Game: Gentlemen!Why it?s a Must-Read: Funding an esoteric, iPad- and multiplayer-only mobile game led to a small amount of sales, but Lucky Frame?s alternative funding source allowed them to feel good about the less than 2,000 iOS copies sold.Takeaway tip: Not everything has to sell well to be a success.[caption id="attachment_7130" align="aligncenter" width="900"]

Image via Gamasutra[/caption]The Post:ORBB Postmortem: Why making a paid game was a bad decisionThe Developer: MochiBitsThe Game: ORBBWhy it?s a Must-Read: A heartfelt deconstruction of what it?s like to make a premium game in today?s market.Takeaway tip: Don?t jump into development without asking yourself the hard business questions first.The Post:Statistics and ShitThe Developer:OrangePixel GamesThe Game: GunSlugsWhy it?s a Must-Read: This is a tale on how the developer connected with folks at Apple, Google and Blackberry to try and get featured on each respective app store.Takeaway Tip: ?Getting featured requires contacts, luck, and possibly a good game.?The Post:Spirits by the NumbersThe Developer:Andreas Zercher, Spaces of PlayThe Game: SpiritsWhy it?s a must-read: The Spirits devs share specific numbers across gaming platforms like iOS that they hope will help other indie mobile game developers decide which platforms are most worthwhile for their specific game.Takeaway tip: There?s an audience and money to be made on both platforms.[caption id="attachment_7127" align="aligncenter" width="900"]

Image via Spaces of Play[/caption]The Post:Money and the App Store: A Few Figures That Might Help an Indie DeveloperThe Developer:?Emeric Thoa,?The Game BakersThe Game: SQUIDSWhy it?s a must-read: This debunking of App Store myths (such as ?making an iPhone game is fast and cheap?) includes links to post-mortems and sales figures for more independent mobile games.Takeaway tip: ?The more games you make, the more money you?ll earn from one game.?The Post:Making a Living (Barely) On The iPhone App Store (aka The Numbers Post)The Developer:Noel Llopis, Games from WithinThe Game: Flower GardenWhy it?s a must-read: A lesson in persistence and dedication from a long-time game developer on iOS.Takeaway tip: Be willing to add new features as they appear, even long after your game?s release.[caption id="attachment_7124" align="aligncenter" width="900"]

Image via appSafari[/caption]The Post:We Spied a #SWORCERY InfographicThe Developer:Kris Piotrowski, Nathan Vella and Anthony Chan, Capybara GamesThe Game: Superbrothers Sword & SworceryWhy it?s a must-read: The three film students-turned-developers share their numbers story via an easy-to-understand infographic with insight on how they moved from iOS to Android to PC.Takeaway tip: Solidly designed visuals can tell a great story across platforms, increasing monetization opportunities.