[Android Apps and Games] KidCarter93:
First off, I'd like to say that I'll be following this thread closely throughout because of 2 reasons really.

1) I'm a really avid gamer and have always had a big interest in games. Whether it be seeing how a game progresses through it's development, playing the final product or getting to know how the logistics of game development works, I'm a huge fan.

And 2) Ever since I was back in primary school, I've always wanted to be a game developer. Obviously at that point I had no idea as to how much work has to go into creating it but it still always fascinated me.

I've never got around to learning much about this kinda thing but hopefully from following this thread and giving ideas/suggestions to you along the way, it will actually help me learn more about it all aswell :)

Now, onto the ideas section...

To be honest, I totally agree with everything that polobunny said and had I got here first, my response would've been along those lines. So forgive me if I reiterate some of those points that he made.

Keep It Simple

As already mentioned, it's a lot about opinions but one of the main things which a lot of games have in common is the fact that they aren't over-complicated.

Let's take some popular titles as examples : Angry Birds, Temple Run, Mario, Sonic, Pokémon, Cut The Rope etc.

While some of that list are more complex than others, they still all retain the one basic feature - A simple idea.

With Angry Birds you simply flick birds at pigs, Temple Run/Sonic you run around collecting coins/rings, Pokémon you beat other monsters to make your own stronger...

They all have simple ideas and they've all had great success.

While some games are a lot more complicated but still had success, they've came from a company with lots of people all working on the game.

Art

While art doesn't seem like it would be a major factor in the game, it's one of the first thing the player will notice and will continue to notice. If the art complements the game well, you won't have a problem. Bad art, however, is a big problem. You'd literally be better off having one generic coloured background throughout with no change, than have badly designed background art.

The idea GermainZ had about having the games universe as your drawing paper is a great idea. One great example of that being used in a popular game is Little Big Planet. All of the background, and a lot of the game itself, are simply drawings on cardboard cut-outs which are then placed into the game.

It's the perfect workaround for those who are good at drawing but couldn't reproduce it on a computer.

The Next Step

The fact you know that you want to make a platform is a good start because at least it can give you the basis for everything else.

All that really needs to happen now, for this project to take a major step in the right direction, is to think what kind of game it will be. SK whether it will be more of a collecting items game, or defeating bosses and getting stronger or anything else in between.

Once you've got to that point, ideas of what the game can actually include will become much easier to think about and discuss.

Anyway, I wish you the best of luck with this project mate :)

EDIT - I don't know if this will be useful to you or not, but I just came across this thread - Android Game Development Tutorial! - and figured it may help.

"Never hit a man with glasses. Use a rock, it'll hurt more."