Tap, Move, Shake

Chapter 3. Graphics

Graphics are extremely important to any game, which is why I have created a whole chapter on how to create and use them in your game. If one of your goals is to have your game featured in iTunes (and it should be) then you need to make sure your game makes the iPhone or iPad look visually stunning. Apple features apps that make their hardware look great. Do you think Angry Birds would be one of the most popular games of all time if they didn’t have cute birds and pigs? What if they decided to save time and money by using white rectangles? No, that obviously wouldn’t have worked. When it comes to getting graphics for your game, you have a few options available to you:

• Do it yourself: Create the graphics on your own—and this chapter is here to help! I usually always try to create my own graphics before trying anything else. If it is more complicated than my skill level, I’ll pick one of the below options. The more you try to do your own graphics, the better you will get at it.

• Buy it: You can purchase stock photos and illustrations from websites like www.istockphoto.com or www.shutterstock.com. This option won’t cost as much as paying someone to create the graphics from scratch and you may be able to find something close to what you need. I’ve used this approach on numerous occasions and will typically do a few tweaks to make the artwork more unique. And by that I mean adjust the shape and colors where possible or combine it with other pieces of artwork. There are ...