Building Games That People Actually Enjoy

We teach practical mobile arcade game development—not theory that sits in notebooks. Our programs focus on real design patterns and player engagement mechanics that matter in 2025.

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Modern game development workspace with design tools and mobile devices

Why Mobile Arcade Games Still Work

People download games when they're bored. They keep playing when something feels rewarding within the first minute. That's the entire challenge—and it's harder than most developers expect.

Between 2023 and early 2025, we've watched dozens of students build their first playable prototypes. Some worked. Many didn't. The ones that succeeded weren't always the most complex or beautiful. They just understood pacing.

Our approach isn't about flooding you with Unity tutorials or design theory. We start with small loops—jump mechanics, scoring patterns, obstacle placement—and gradually expand from there. By October 2025, students entering our autumn program will work through those same fundamentals, but with updated examples from games that launched this year.

Student reviewing game design concepts on tablet with annotations

How Our Program Actually Functions

Three phases that take you from basic prototypes to polished gameplay—nothing more complicated than it needs to be.

01

Core Mechanics Phase

Months 1-3 focus on getting one mechanic to feel right. Jump physics, tap timing, or swipe responsiveness—whatever your game needs. You'll iterate this until it's smooth.

02

Player Retention Design

Months 4-6 shift toward keeping players engaged beyond the first session. Progression systems, difficulty curves, and reward timing. This is where most student projects either click or need redesign.

03

Polish and Deployment

Final months cover UI refinement, audio integration, and app store preparation. You'll also learn basic analytics setup to understand how real players interact with your game post-launch.

Instructor Davor reviewing game prototype with student feedback notes

Learning From Actual Development Experience

Davor spent five years working on mobile games that nobody played. Then one worked—slightly. That taught him more than any course ever did.

He's been teaching arcade game development since 2022, focusing on the Sofia market but working with remote students across Bulgaria. His approach is straightforward: show what failed, explain why, then help students avoid those mistakes.

In sessions, he'll pull up old prototypes—his own and former students'—to demonstrate what doesn't work. It's more useful than most tutorials because you see the entire context, not just the polished result.

"Most students assume good graphics will carry weak gameplay. They learn quickly that nobody sticks around if the first ten seconds feel off. That's where we start—getting those first ten seconds right."

Student Progress That Actually Happened

Real projects from recent cohorts—the kind of work students completed by their sixth month.

Month 3: First Playable Prototype

Ivaylo built a simple obstacle-avoidance game with three difficulty levels. Nothing fancy, but the jump mechanic felt responsive and players could see their improvement after a few rounds.

Early prototype showing basic gameplay loop with score tracking

Month 6: Retention Update Added

After initial testing showed players dropping off after level two, he added a simple unlock system and daily challenge. Session length increased noticeably—not dramatically, but enough to matter.

Month 9: Soft Launch and Feedback

The game went live in a limited test group. Some mechanics still needed work, but the core loop held up. Players came back for at least three sessions on average, which was the target metric.

Final game interface with player feedback dashboard and analytics

Beyond Graduation: Continued Development

Post-program, Ivaylo kept iterating based on player data. He's still updating the game periodically—not because it's wildly successful, but because he learned how to interpret feedback and adjust without starting from scratch each time.

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