I recently had the chance to put a few questions to André Rabold, the developer of novel puzzler, Puzzle Blox and wi-fi tool, WiFi Buddy.  Here’s what he had to say-

Which Android devices do you use yourself?
I got myself a T-Mobile G1 beginning of this year. That time it was the only Android device available so it was an easy choice

What inspired you to create Puzzle Blox?
First I just wanted to try something new and challenging. The Android platform promised to be both so I just downloaded the SDK and started to play around with the Lunar Lander sample. I wanted to do a small game just as a learning exercise. As I loved to play Tetris on my old Nintendo Gameboy it was obvious that the first game would feature small colorful bricks falling down the screen. That time I didn’t even know how the game should work in the end.

How long did it take to create Puzzle Blox and what was the biggest hurdle you had to overcome during it’s development?
The first prototype was ready after a few weekends of work back in February already. My wife needed to test dozens of versions to find out what works and what doesn’t. Android is such an easy yet powerful platform and I was impressed how rapidly you can implement your ideas. But as this was my first project ever for embedded systems I ran into all typical issues with out of memory errors, performance issues, etc. and had to rewrite parts of the game over and over again. So it took me a lot of spare time and sleepless nights to get things done right. But as you know the first version was finally released to the Google Android market in June 2009.

Which is your favourite Android app (other than your own of course)?
That’s easy: Google Skymap. Do I need to tell more?

How much potential do you personally feel the Google Android platform has?
A lot of manufacturers are announcing Android phones, tablets and other devices lately. I think what we see today is just the tip of the ice berg and Android will surely become one of the major players in the smart phone segment the next years.

What’s on your personal wish-list regarding Android apps or features?  Is there something you feel the platform is sorely missing?
Even Android 1.6 “Donut” is still in its infancy. It’s far from being a polished ecosystem like the iPhone already is today. Just think of the lack of a good built-in media player application or how long we needed to wait for a half-decent market place application. But hey, that’s what makes Android so interesting to me actually.

What drew you to developing in Android, and do you feel it is a powerful enough platform for developers?
I have played around with XNA , the Microsoft framework for Xbox 360 development before. But once Android showed up I was so impressed by its openness and flexibility that I simply had to put my hands on it.

What’s next for you – updates to Puzzle Blox or something entirely new?
Indeed there will be an update to Puzzle Blox later this month. It features two brand new game modes, new graphics, colorful themes and a lot more exciting stuff. I just felt that there’s so much more I wanted to see in this game that I needed to do this update. After the release I will get back to the next major version of WiFi Buddy, my simple wireless network tool, and maybe start another little game project I have in mind.

Any advice for aspiring Android devs?
If you’re a hobby developer then try to do a simple app first. Ask friends to help with graphics, sound effects, etc. Gathering a small team is the best chance that you will actually finish your project. If you’re solo, new to programming, Java and the Android platform then don’t try to do a MMORPG

A new version of Puzzle Blox, Puzzle Blox Arcade has just entered the final beta stage.  You can find out more about André’s work at his blog.