What analytics tool would you advise for a simple single player mobile game?

I am not exactly sure how Quora does it but I would guess that they use something like Google Analytics. It looks at what percentage of your visitors come back each day, every other day, each week, etc. It's a good metric system that is crucial for building a meaningful web product, and it's almost always positive. If someone comes back to your site regularly each week, or even better each day, it means you're becoming a regular and important part of their life. The problem with any other single metric system is they can be the result of positive or negatives changes to your product. You need to have a near-wholistic picture and Google Analytics can help with that. Tools like Klout and Hubspot are good with the measurement of engagement on a brands different channels (website, facebook, twitter, gplus...) too. Let's chat some more and get down to the heart of this problem. Hopefully I can help you resolve any internal discomfort around the matter.

I guess the best answer is, it depends. What kind of mobile game are you marketing? Who are you targeting? For what platform? (iOS, Android?) Different ad networks work better than others depending on the type of game. A good place to start would be MoPub, MDotM, Manage, and Insight.

You mention, that you can code and maintain yourself, and at the same time it sounds like your data can be dispersed across multiple sources. And you want to minimise license cost. In my business we use R a lot for both analysis and reporting. It is free (open source), but you will have to build programs. But it will read any format, and also create output to any destination you want. So you could start off with a mix of R, Excel and pdf, just to get things going. However, it could make sense for you to build a database already so you familiarise yourself with data warehouse thinking, since you want to expand with marketing automation. At that point you will need a database for monitoring response, sales etc. So it is important to build the right foundation as ealy as possible. If you don't want to code, but want point-and-click, there is boatloads of software for that, but probably more license cost (unless you can find open source for that). So If I were you, I would start off with something smaller. After all, you want to focus on the value you create for the business and your colleagues, and the time you save, rather than a smooth IT-infrastructure for this. I have lots of experience building reporting and analysis in the areas you mention, so if you want to discuss further, feel free to set up a call. Good look with your development. Best regards Kenneth Wolstrup

I would suggest you self-publish. Let me break down the mobile game landscape for you in a single statement: *You can only grow a game if your LTV (Lifetime Value) is greater then your CPI (Cost Per Install).* I assure you, that once you have that formula successful, finding money to support continued growth of your game at extremely favorable terms to yourself is not going to be a problem. If you don't have success with the above formula, then it doesn't matter if you have a publisher, your game's not going to be able to grow and make money with them either. There are only 2 conditions which you should consider a game publisher: 1) You need money to complete the game. (ie, no way will the game exist unless you get the money.) 2) For specific geo locations, such as China where there are people who can properly localize and market the game. That's it. I believe there is no grey area here and I've had experience on both sides of the table, including being the first 3rd party publisher signed by Zynga. The latest game I built is currently in the top 100 grossing chart (Cookie Jam) and it's there because we have successfully cracked the formula above. Its quite simple, but really difficult to achieve. Good luck! -Michael.

I'd start with messaging the admins of the various Facebook groups dedicated to mobile game development and asking if they'd be willing to 1) enable you to put up a post about the SDK, and 2) pin the post for a week so that you get a bit more visibility within those communities. You can also find the appropriate thread on the various mobile gaming forums and chime in there. I would recommend trying to be helpful 9 times before you ask for something once. You'll notice a much better response if you've become an active contributor to each community before you start selling your stuff, no matter how soft the sell and no matter how valuable the stuff. Hope this helps, Austin