What are the most important features and tools to look for in a game engine for mobile games?

2 Performance optimization

Mobile games have to run smoothly and efficiently on devices that have limited resources, such as battery, memory, and processing power. Therefore, you need a game engine that can optimize your game performance and reduce the impact on the device's battery life and temperature. A performance-optimized game engine can help you by offering features such as asset compression, texture atlasing, mesh simplification, occlusion culling, batching, and dynamic lighting. Additionally, you need a game engine that can provide you with tools and metrics to monitor and debug your game performance, such as frame rate, memory usage, CPU and GPU load, and battery consumption.

3 User interface and input

Mobile games have to provide a user interface and input system that is intuitive, responsive, and accessible for the players. Unlike PC or console games, mobile games rely on touch screen, accelerometer, gyroscope, and other sensors as input methods. Therefore, you need a game engine that can support these input methods and provide you with tools and components to create and customize your user interface. A user-friendly game engine can help you by offering features such as drag-and-drop UI elements, UI scaling and layout, gesture recognition, multi-touch support, and haptic feedback.

4 Graphics and audio

Mobile games have to deliver a high-quality graphics and audio experience that can attract and retain the players. However, mobile games also have to balance the quality and quantity of graphics and audio assets with the performance and storage limitations of the devices. Therefore, you need a game engine that can provide you with tools and features to create and manage your graphics and audio assets, such as shaders, materials, particle systems, animations, sprites, sound effects, and music. A graphics- and audio-rich game engine can help you by offering features such as 2D and 3D support, lighting and shadow effects, post-processing effects, spatial audio, and audio mixing.

5 Monetization and analytics

Mobile games have to generate revenue and profit from the players, either by selling the game itself or by offering in-app purchases, subscriptions, ads, or other monetization methods. Therefore, you need a game engine that can integrate with various monetization platforms and services, such as Google Play, App Store, Unity Ads, AdMob, In-App Purchasing, Firebase, or GameAnalytics. A monetization- and analytics-ready game engine can help you by offering features such as billing and payment systems, ad networks and mediation, user authentication and data storage, analytics and reporting, and push notifications.

6 Documentation and community

Mobile game development is a complex and dynamic process that requires constant learning and problem-solving. Therefore, you need a game engine that can provide you with comprehensive and updated documentation and tutorials, as well as a large and active community of developers and users who can share their knowledge and experience, answer your questions, and give you feedback. A well-documented and well-supported game engine can help you by offering features such as online manuals, video courses, forums, blogs, podcasts, webinars, and events.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?