  User friendly tools have lowered the requirements of high-quality game design
to the point where researchers without development experience can release their
own games. However, there is no established best-practice as few games have
been produced for research purposes. Having developed a mobile game without the
guidance of similar projects, we realised the need to share our experience so
future researchers have a path to follow. Research into game balancing and
system simulation required an experimental case study, which inspired the
creation of "RPGLite", a multiplayer mobile game. In creating RPGLitewith no
development expertise we learned a series of lessons about effective amateur
game development for research purposes. In this paper we reflect on the entire
development process and present these lessons.
