Mastering ASO with an Industry Leading Game Developer, Frank Eno

We had the pleasure of welcoming Frank Eno, an expert from the gaming industry and the founder of Mystery Box, to one of our #ChampTalks series at Twitter Space. In this blog post, we’ll share his insights and experiences with us.

Kulsoom: Tell us a bit about yourself. What do you do? What industry would you say you represent?  

Frank: I am actually a game developer. My career started in 2013 by building a few mobile iOS app templates, and I put them on the marketplace where you can sell anything you want related to code, even HTML or WordPress themes. I  invested my time and effort in finally learning Unity and trying to get into the gaming industry. I’m a fast learner and I’ve actually learned everything I needed to build a first trilogy of games.I got the idea of my mystery box games. I built the trilogy. I’ve learned a lot getting better with Blender, Unity and I’ve also learned how to perform ASO properly, and that was actually the key. And thanks to ASO now I get something like three or $3.5 thousand a month from my game.

Kulsoom: You founded the Mystery Box series. Can you tell us a bit about that? 

Frank: I love puzzle games and escape room games, and I always wanted to do that, but I didn’t have the right time and the right money. Building games is very funny in my opinion. But it’s harder than building mobile apps, even social network apps, photography apps, whatever it is, or even web development. It’s harder because you have to deal with a lot of things like app icons, assets, design, 3D design if you build 3D games, the code, the scenes, and a lot of stuff that are involved more than web development. Once you create your page and see that it works and looks fine, that’s it.

Kulsoom: Yeah, exactly. It looks like a lot of work. So you have been doing it all by yourself?

Frank: Yeah, all by myself. I’ve got good skills with Photoshop also during the years, and in these last two years, I’ve got better in Blender and Unity. I’m a fast learner, actually. I love this job, coding and making games, and using Unity. So that comes easily for me.

Neha: Can you describe a bit what ASO is and how you help it to get a successful mobile game?

Frank: ASO, App Store Optimization, is the key to getting your game discovered. The main stores are the iOS and Google Play stores are great opportunities to get your projects. Not everybody has a  PlayStation or Xbox, but everybody in the world, almost everybody, has got a smartphone. So the chances for you to get your game discovered are higher than if you build them for even PC or consoles like PlayStation and Xbox. So here’s where the ASO App store of innovation comes in.

Neha: What do you think are the main factors mobile game developers consider when optimizing their games for different devices or operating systems?

Frank: First of all, they have to take care of the assets, which are the app icon and screenshots, because it’s a digital world, and people need to like what they see first. So besides performing a good job with keywords, if you design a captivating icon and screenshots, you have a higher chance for people to actually download your game or at least check out all the details.. Secondly,  in order for you to understand what’s best, you have to run some A-B tests. So it means that you create a page with this icon design and the screenshots, and you let two to three weeks go by to see how it performs. You can see the analytics, maybe a lot of impressions, but a few people actually did not even download your game but entered the details page, where they can actually download the game.

Kulsoom: How can social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram can help  promote a mobile game?

Frank: Social media have a big impact on marketing. In my opinion, it must be fun. Actually, if you check out what gets viral, the most trending is something that is funny. Either a meme or either a joke, stuff like that.  What you have to do is basically find a funny way to promote your game. 

Kulsoom: How can mobile game developers ensure that their game is engaging and fun for the players? 

Frank: There is no secret or not even formula for that. First of all, what I suggest to every beginner game developer is that they must build what they love. So I love puzzle games and escape room games, and I put in so much effort and came up with Mystery Box. I’ve dedicated a lot of time to building such good 3D graphics. Everything is built out of creativity, and it’s unique. 

Neha: What are some common mistakes you want others to avoid when they’re building their optimizing mobile app?

Frank: First of all, the very first mistake you should avoid is giving up. You cannot give up. Because we all started from zero. From zero followers on Twitter, from zero downloads on the App Store or whatever store  If you build PC games, we all start from zero. So if after a month or two you get basically no results, but you love your game, you love what you do, then don’t give up. Keep pushing, be patient, and wait.  Secondly, start with a simple thing,  use the simplest, easiest tool you can use. So Unity and Blender are both free and easy to learn. So if you start now, you can get great results in about a month. Watching tutorials on YouTube. 

Kulsoom:  Social Champ’s Team and I would like to thank you for your precious and valuable time and insights. I hope our audience enjoyed your session and everything. So thank you so much for this, and I wish you a nice day.

Frank: Thank you for having me, and don’t forget to play mystery box games. Give it a try.

We’d like to thank Frank for being part of the #ChampTalks. His insights have made a significant difference, and we appreciate the time and effort he took to join us. 

In case you missed it, you can tune in to the complete session below: