Introducing Gaming Delights – My Side Quest Into Mobile Game Making

May 25, 2025

I’ve Been Working on Something Different

I started my own mobile game studio: Gaming Delights.

This year, I gave myself permission to chase an old dream. Not writing-related, not publishing-related.

I decided to make a mobile game.

Not just any game, though. A hyper-casual arcade-style game built from scratch.

It’s just me in my free time, working on ideas, writing code, making art, testing, fixing, and doing it all over again. No big team. No office. Just passion, caffeine, and a love for games.

Why I Wanted to Make a Game

My love for games started early. When my dad brought home the NES and later the SNES, I was instantly hooked. From Super Mario Bros. to Street Fighter II, I spent so many hours glued to the screen, completely immersed. But even back then, something inside me wanted more than just to play. I wanted to create.

Fast forward to the smartphone era, and I got pulled into a whole new world of games. Candy Crush. Flappy Bird. Fruit Ninja. Simple, addictive, perfect for killing time. And that’s exactly what they did especially on my daily subway rides across NYC.

At one point, I even started learning how to code. I picked up Python and explored Unity. I wanted to make something, but I didn’t know what that “something” was yet. Eventually, I paused. The idea went on the shelf.

Later, while playing Mario Party on the Nintendo DS, I fell into one of those mini-game loops. “Just one more round,” I said ten times. That’s when it hit me: I didn’t need to reinvent gaming. I just needed to capture that feeling. Simple, challenging, and strangely addictive.

Another couple of years later, I discovered Godot game engine.

Godot was lightweight, clean, and easy to learn. Suddenly, that shelved dream didn’t feel so far away anymore. I ended up building everything using the Godot game engine. It’s lightweight, intuitive, and perfect for solo developers like me.

Why I Chose Hyper-Casual

Most of my subway rides are filled with games like FreeCell, 2048, or random color-matching games like Color Switch. These are quick games you can play between stops or when you’ve got ten minutes to spare. So I started creating games for subway commuters.

There’s also a personal side to it.

My dad taught me how to play FreeCell when I was young. We had this little challenge: pick a random numbered game out of the million available and race to see who could finish it first. That stuck with me. It was fun, and we connected more.

Hyper-casual games give you that. They’re light, stress-free, and they don’t ask for hours of your time. That’s exactly the kind of experience I wanted to create.

So, What’s Ballz n’ Binz?

Ballz n’ Binz is a color-sorting arcade game designed for quick, satisfying gameplay. You drop balls into bins that match their colors. It’s a hyper-casual game with an arcade twist you can play on the go, perfect for killing time without thinking too hard.

But once you get going, the speed picks up, your reflexes are tested, and chaos sneaks in.

Ballz n’ Binz is designed like an old-school arcade-style mobile game, but with a modern twist and fresh visuals. I pulled inspiration from Mario Party mini-games, the arcade simplicity of Flappy Bird, and the combo-chasing feel of Candy Crush. The game is meant to feel easy at first, but like most hyper-casual games, it slowly reveals its bite.

My Favorite Features So Far

There are three mechanics and mobile game features I’m most proud of:

Combo Scoring System

If you drop the same color balls in a row, your score multiplies. It rewards consistency and focus. I love the feeling of watching your score pop off just because you hit a clean streak.

Achievements and Milestones

I’ve always loved achievements and milestones in mobile games. I’m the kind of player who lives for progress. That moment when a game tells you “You unlocked something” just hits right. So I added a full milestone system that tracks everything from perfect runs to power-up usage. It keeps you coming back.

Manhole and Death-Head Ball Mechanic

Also: the manhole obstacle. I threw that in to add pressure. Sometimes a good challenge makes everything more fun. And to increase the challenge, there’s also a moving death-head ball that can negatively impact your score if you’re not careful.

What It’s Like Making a Game as a Solo Dev

This was no easy task.

Being a solo game developer means wearing every hat. From designer to programmer, then from tester to even bug hunter.

I had to relearn how to code. Godot uses its own scripting language called GDScript. Thankfully, it felt familiar (similar to Python), and once I got into the flow, things started clicking. Creating mobile games with Godot felt surprisingly intuitive. It gave me the tools I needed without being overwhelming.

I watched a ton of tutorials, especially from GDQuest. And yes, I used ChatGPT a lot to help write and fix code. It’s been a huge part of my dev workflow. If something didn’t make sense, I could break it down, learn why it worked, and adjust it.

I also leaned on Canva for the visuals. I already had some design experience from running my blog and publishing my books, so I used that to build clean, vibrant assets that felt playful but polished.

The hardest part wasn’t learning the tools, it was learning how to think like a developer. Testing, tweaking, breaking things and fixing them over and over again. It’s humbling, but incredibly satisfying.

What Surprised Me About Solo Game Development

How much I loved the grind.

Making a mobile game from scratch taught me more than I expected, not just technically, but creatively too.

I genuinely didn’t expect to enjoy the day-to-day of making a game. But watching something come together, even if it’s just a simple ball dropping into a bin, felt magical.

I started this project in January 2025, and as of May 2025, I’ve got a fully working mobile game prototype. That still blows my mind.

For me, this isn’t just about making a game. It’s about proving to myself that I could bring something fun into the world. Most importantly and actually finish it.

Why I Named the Studio Gaming Delights

I’m not gonna lie, naming the game studio was harder than making the game. Every name I liked was either taken, trademarked, or already had a domain. I went through so many ideas, and nothing felt right.

Then I sat down with my mom. We brainstormed for hours, looked up every single name we could think of, and finally… she came up with Gaming Delights.

It clicked. It sounded fun. Like bite-sized treats for your phone. It felt right.

What’s Next for Ballz n’ Binz?

This game is just getting started. Right now, the base version is done, but I plan to build on it. I want to add new game modes, difficulty settings, power-ups, leaderboard systems, and maybe even weekly challenges. I also have plans to make Ballz n’ Binz: Color Blind Version, a color-blind-friendly mobile game that way everyone has a chance to have the same kind of fun.

There’s also a longer-term goal: more games under the Gaming Delights label. Other arcade-style games I’ve been sketching out, all meant to be played in short bursts with replayability.

Ballz n’ Binz planned release date is December 2025.