What is the average team size for mobile games like these?

Question

I know that it is maybe too broad question but please give me at least some guidance. What is the average team size for mobile games like in https://play.google.com/store/apps/category/BRAIN?feature=category-nav

There are quite different by size and complexity games but I just need examples like: Game X was developed by N programmers for M months (or at least "It seems to me that game X will need N programmers for 5 months to be completed").

By "Team size" I mean mostly programmers (but I will really appreciate more info about other specialists that are needed for such project).

To put some context: I am freelance Android and PHP developer working mainly on intranet and b2b systems that are consisted by both android app(s) and server back end. Although I really like this area sometimes it is hard to find new projects. At the same time, every now and then, I receive inquires like "Can you create clone of game X and how long will it take" or "I have this idea for a board/puzzle game, how long it will take?". So far I stay away from such projects but I am really tempted to start/join such project and I will appreciate any helpful information.

Answer 1

First of all, don't discount the other people you need. Some games require mostly artists and some require mostly programmers. A game which requires you to move blocks around a dynamic world probably needs more programmers, but a game where you travel the world playing cards probably needs more artists.

The other thing to consider is the other aspects of these kinds of projects. The project needs to be managed, it needs to be thoroughly tested, it needs someone to do quality control, you need people who can market the game, someone to do the finances .... There's a lot of these things. For a mobile game not all of these require full time dedication and so maybe a few can be done by the same person, but they're also important and if you're having your programmers or artists take on these kinds of roles as well, then you may need a couple more artists and programmers.

So basically I believe it's all based on circumstance. Personally I work in a team of 5 main people; me as programmer, 1 marketing guy, 1 artist, 1 animator, and one general lawyer/game design/management/just kinda useful to have guy. But on top of that we have been lucky to get help with other things, like someone helping us with marketing and another helping with QC, without them really being a part of the team.

So I think it's a question that can never really be answered definitively. There are plenty games made by one person that do well, and others which had 20 on a team. The truth of the matter is you should maybe just feel it out on a project by project basis. Once you've done some requirements analysis you should be able to make a good guess at how many people you'll need and how long, just like any other programming project.

Answer 2

NimbleBit makes various successful iPhone games (Pocket Frogs, Tiny Tower, Sky Burger, Textropolis, Dizzypad, Scoops, etc.) and has just 3 people. 3 very talented people mind you, but 3 people. They also have games that are very simple at a core level of gameplay and art; they don't require a massive amount of developer generated content, which is time consuming and expensive to create.

Another thing to look at along with team size is development duration and production cycles. Small teams can be light and agile, big teams not (always) so much. 3 people and 3 months to develop a game seems like a good model, especially given the volatility of the app market. A year invested in an app that doesn't "stick" and create revenue is a year wasted. Compare with being able to put out 3-4 apps in that same year, and if any one of them "sticks", spend more time on it and expand on it. If it fails and just doesn't click with the market, abandon it and move on.

Answer 3

there are 2 competing ideas in projects for number of "workers", and they both have applications to programming/development

"many hands make light work"

the more works the faster things go (if everyone has a specialty, and can do their job well), and

"to many chefs spoil the soup"

if person X is working on section Y of the project, and person A is also working on it then both peoples modifications have to be taken into considerations, and in many cases their work needs to be manually merged.

then comes the question of time, and this directly relates to the number of people, but not always. there is a "fallacy" in computer science that I have seen multiple ways called the "1 man month", it basically means that one person cannot create a fully featured solution to a computer science project in one month. though this has also been the site of some debate, and statements of "I can do that", but the thought is that it takes more then one person (sometimes it takes people with specific talents) to get things accomplished.

then questions like this can very easily be used to ask how "many other people do I need to do, or something like project X?" when the truth of the matter is this is not a question for others, but an honest self-reflective question for yourself. then have you done a SWAT analysis (especially S, and W) of yourself, and your possible team?

yes it is possible to find how many people made these games, but that doesn't "explicitly" mean that you will be able to do it with the same number of people.

Answer 4

World of Goo was made by two people.

For a casual\puzzle game on ios you need a single programmer and one or two artists\musician, more people will usually only slow down development or be of very little help.

Two people (plus outsourced music) is usually the best number as ios titles doesn't really do that much of an income in the average situation (read: the market is nowhere near the goldmine everybody imagine)

Answer 5

"1. Angry Birds was made by a team of four people and took eight months to finish because it was such a low priority for the company. "

According to: http://www.iphonedevsdk.com/forum/off-topic/61675-angry-birds-10-things-you-probably-didnt-know.html