Giving Character to a game

Bob the Frog, the game i am currently developing is taking shape pretty well, though i have other distractions I need to work on at the moment. Such as the Android and iOS versions of my book 'Five Golden Coins'. While i am working on this new title i am spending more time considering options and challenges facing Bob the Frog.

What options do i have besides gamplay? Well that's the thing. I know the game itself will play well. I already tested and am happy with the core gameplay mechanics and how the game feels. So what do I do? Come up with level layouts and more elements to fill in the game with, such as exploding platforms or something? Well i could come up with more gameplay options such as these it is true. However one thing dawned on me (maybe it has been a growing feeling), and that is the Frog.. Bob.

When people pick up my game the one thing that they have ALL remarked on was Bob the Frog. Now this is as it is supposed to be. Though now i realize that the expectations of the game were in some ways smaller than they were for the Frog. I got asked questions about the Frog, but virtually none about the levels. Intriguing eh!

I already have some ideas to expand Bob and make him more interesting and basically flushing out his character. He needs a voice and a direction and then needs some cute movements to get people interested in helping him. all these things are in my design already. But there is so much room for improvement in this area. So now i am pondering the best and cheapest/quickest ways to expand.

I think it is time to really focus on the development of Bob the Frog as a Character. Usually i write most if not nearly all of the game before asking an artist to step in and add in cool graphics. This time the character of Bob needs to happen as early in this development process as possible. An interesting change for me. I hope the interaction with my artists goes smoothly, or this could be a major delay.

I also think showing off my game with so many test graphics is a mistake if i want to get interest in it from Facebook users etc.

Wish me luck,
Da Voodoochief