Terms Page

Android Game Development – Key Terms

Android game development involves a wide range of technical and creative concepts. Below is an extensive list of the most important Android Game Development Terms, explained in-depth and suitable for beginners and professionals.

🧩 1. Android Studio

The official Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for building Android apps and games. Though most games use engines like Unity, Android Studio is still needed for:

  • APK builds

  • Using Java/Kotlin

  • Accessing Android-specific features (sensors, permissions, services)

💻 2. Java / Kotlin

Primary languages used in native Android app development.

  • Java is older and widely supported.

  • Kotlin is modern, concise, and now preferred by Google.
    Used to write game logic, integrate SDKs, and manage platform-specific features.

🎮 3. Game Engine

A powerful software framework for building games.
Popular engines for Android:

  • Unity (C#)

  • Unreal Engine (C++/Blueprints)

  • Godot (GDScript, C#)

  • Cocos2d-x (C++)

A game engine provides:

  • Rendering (2D/3D graphics)

  • Physics simulation

  • Animation tools

  • Audio systems

  • Scene/level management

🖼️ 4. Sprite

A 2D image or animation used in 2D games.
Sprites represent:

  • Characters

  • Enemies

  • Objects

  • UI elements

Often organized in a sprite sheet for performance.

🎞️ 5. Animation Frames / Sprite Sheet

A sprite sheet contains multiple animation frames in a single image file.
Reduces:

  • Memory usage

  • Rendering overhead
    Increases performance on mobile devices.

🎨 6. Texture

A graphic applied to a 2D or 3D object.
In 3D games, textures include:

  • Color maps

  • Normal maps (surface detail)

  • Roughness/metallic maps (light control)
    Textures must be optimized for mobile (compressed formats like ETC2).

🧱 7. Mesh

A 3D object’s structure made of vertices, edges, and faces.
Mobile games use low-poly meshes to save performance.

🌐 8. Rendering Engine

The system responsible for drawing graphics on the screen.
Handles:

  • Shaders

  • Lighting

  • Shadows

  • Post-processing effects

  • Texture sampling

Android devices use GPU rendering through OpenGL ES or Vulkan.

🎚️ 9. Shader

A small program that runs on the GPU.
Types include:

  • Vertex Shaders

  • Fragment (Pixel) Shaders

  • Compute Shaders

Used for:

  • Lighting

  • Water effects

  • Shadows

  • Special effects

🚀 10. OpenGL ES / Vulkan

Graphics APIs used for rendering:

  • OpenGL ES – widely supported, great for 2D and light 3D

  • Vulkan – high-performance, low-level API for high-end 3D games

🧱 11. Physics Engine

Simulates real-world physics:

  • Collisions

  • Gravity

  • Rigidbody motion
    Engines like Unity use Box2D, PhysX, or Bullet Physics.

🕹️ 12. Game Loop

A core cycle that runs repeatedly during gameplay:

  1. Process input

  2. Update game state

  3. Render frame

Runs at 30–60 FPS (or more).

🧠 13. AI (Artificial Intelligence)

Controls non-player characters (NPCs) using:

  • Pathfinding (A*)

  • State machines

  • Behavior trees

  • Navigation meshes

🔊 14. Audio Engine

Handles:

  • Background music

  • Sound effects (SFX)

  • 3D positional audio
    Android supports OpenSL ES, while engines have their own audio systems.

🧮 15. Frame Rate (FPS)

Frames per second.
Common targets for Android:

  • 30 FPS (mid-tier devices)

  • 60 FPS (recommended)

  • 90/120 FPS (high-end devices)

Higher FPS = smoother gameplay but more battery usage.

🔄 16. Optimization

Critical for Android due to device variety.
Includes:

  • Memory optimization

  • Texture compression

  • Reducing draw calls

  • Efficient shaders

  • CPU/GPU balancing

⚙️ 17. Build System

Process of compiling game code into an APK or AAB file.
In Unity or Unreal, this involves:

  • Gradle

  • Android SDK

  • NDK (for native C++ code)

📦 18. APK / AAB

Android package formats:

  • APK – installable application file

  • AAB (Android App Bundle) – recommended for Play Store; reduces app size

🧩 19. SDK (Software Development Kit)

Provides tools and libraries for Android development:

  • Debugging tools

  • APIs

  • Emulator

Used to integrate features like ads, analytics, and multiplayer.

🔧 20. NDK (Native Development Kit)

Allows writing parts of a game in C/C++ for maximum performance.
Essential for:

  • Custom physics

  • High-end 3D rendering

  • Performance-critical modules

🎯 21. Input System

Handles user input:

  • Touch

  • Multi-touch

  • Gyroscope

  • Accelerometer

  • Gamepad

Touch gestures include:

  • Tap

  • Swipe

  • Pinch

  • Long press

📍 22. Sensors

Android devices include:

  • Gyroscope

  • Accelerometer

  • Magnetometer

  • GPS

Used in AR games or movement-based gameplay.

🗺️ 23. Scene / Level

A game world or section containing:

  • Environments

  • Characters

  • Scripts

  • Lighting

  • UI

Engines allow switching scenes smoothly.

📊 24. UI/UX (User Interface / User Experience)

Graphical interface of a game:

  • Buttons

  • Menus

  • Health bars

  • Scoreboards

Needs to be optimized for many screen sizes.

🎁 25. Asset

Any game resource:

  • Models

  • Textures

  • Sprites

  • Audio files

  • Prefabs (Unity)

  • Scripts

Proper management = smaller build size & better performance.