For its users and patrons, the iPhone is much more than just a phone, it’s a portable multimedia device. For the game developers, the high-tech mobile phone is a gold mine.

Steve Demeter, 29, a former software designer that worked for a large bank developing ATM software earned big time from developing a puzzle game for the iPhone. The puzzle game named “Trism” is pretty much like the game “Bejeweled”. To gain points, the players are supposed to maneuver a grid of triangles in order to form rows of like-colored triangles.

Unlike the usual puzzle game however, the triangles rearrange themselves according to the way the player rotates the mobile phone. The game has proved to attract the attention and interest of many people as Demeter already earned $250,000 in just two months after it was launched.

Demeter submitted his iPod game to Apple and the company offered the game it its App Store just this July. The App store serves as the official online provider of all applications – from games to songs – for Apple iPods and iPhones. The store priced Trism at $5 per download. In just a couple of months, Demeter has already reaped more than ten times his regular earnings.

An easy venture

While it may take several game developers and lots of cash to develop a game for the popular Xbox and Playstation, a one-man team can create a game for the iPhone and gain huge profits in just a short matter of time. Undeniably, Apple has made the field of game development a lucrative field for any software developer with passion, talent, and creativity.

According to Scott Steinberg, publisher of Digital Trends.com, a single hobbyist can dedicate his off hours to iPod game development and earn a lot in just a week’s time. Such was the case of Demeter who proudly confesses that he developed the game all by himself.

After attending the iPhone conference that was held last year, Demeter spent some time thinking of an original game for mobile phone. Grabbing some noteworthy ideas from his friends such as the name “Trism”, he then started working on the codes and software construction fro the game. After four months of coding during nights and weekends, he has successfully completed his thousand-dollar brainchild. He narrates that the game was not that hard to develop but it was a challenge since he was working on his own. Fortunately, his hard work paid off.

Anyone can hit a homerun

Any avid game developer can take his chance at the App Store. Demeter notes that as long as you can come up with a fun and relevant game, you can submit it to Apple and have it approved for sale. Once approved, the game developers get 70% of the sales while the App store earns 30%.

Anybody can be the next Demeter who, thanks to the iPhone, has already quit his bank job and already runs his very own company. Demeter’s group, the “Demiforce” is now aimed at creating more fun electronic games. The team already has two games that will be released by the end of this year, one of which is the “Trism” offshoot – Trismology.