designing mobile games for success
DESCRIPTION
A brief talk I gave at a recent mobile game development meetup on analyzing the mobile app stores to find repeatable patterns of success. Includes analysis of Charts, Genres, Themes, Control schemes, play duration, engagement, intrinsic motivation, and more.TRANSCRIPT
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Designing mobile games for success
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Using Constraints
Designing on a blank sheet is hard
Perfection is boring
Limitations help focus your creativity
Start from success constraints
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Researching the App stores
Reveals patterns over time
Critical to success
Recurring patterns are like pop music chords, use em!
Top paid vs Grossing
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Top Grossing
Business model
F2P Micro-transactions
Genres
City building/timers
Casino
Collectibles
Hidden Object
This is for bigger companies
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Top PaidBusiness model
Up front pay with optional Unlocks/DLC
Not micro-transactions
Genres
Retro/Action/Arcade
Endless run/jump/fly
Puzzle
Tower Defense
Minecraft
This is better for Indies
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Business modelsDon't be a starving artist
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Up front with DLC
Works as retail or shareware model
Needs a low price, good marketing, and reviews
Needs a good core
Sales come in waves
Needs social long term
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Micro-transactions
Cheap, consumable
Repeatable
Relate to gates like lives, energy refills
Or random elements like booster packs, slot machines
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Premium currency
Works alongside a free currency
Can be used to purchase the free currency
Speeds up gaining free things or gives advantages over free players
Creates a player divide
Best for vanity or collectors
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GenresThey work for a reason
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Action/Arcade
Instant fun
Easy to understand
Quick diversion
Good feedback
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Puzzle
Starts simple and builds complexity
Quick to play a puzzle
Levels provide variety
Physics and Match-3 dominate
Learning is fun
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Tower Defense
Engaging complexity
Not as quick to play
Balance of strategy and accessibility
Appeals to more mid-core
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Endless
High accessibility
Simple controls
Infinite replayability
One more time play
Variable excitement
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Elements of successBreaking down the hits
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Choosing a theme
Some are evergreen themes for kids: Dinosaurs/Animals, Monsters, Robots, Knights/Dragons, Cars/Trains
Some are popular now: Zombies, Raptors, Cats, Lumberjacks, Bears
Use a theme people like, it makes marketing so much easier. They need to be interested BEFORE playing.
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Controls
Keep it simple
Use single taps or simple swipes, don't mix
Virtual and tilt controls suck
Make tap targets big and spaced
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Duration
Where do people play?
Toilet
Lines
Car rides
Can you accomplish something in 1 minute?
Can you keep going when hooked?
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Engaging systems
Psychology matters
Intrinsic motivation
Autonomy
Mastery
Purpose
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Autonomy
Play how you want, when you want
Quick easy to start, hard to stop
Fast restart
Almost wins and one more times
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Mastery
Purely skill based is hard to balance and maintain flow
Random elements keep it difficult to fully master
Let them plan and luck foil their plans
Our brains reward mispredictions
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Purpose
Persistent elements give purpose
Levels, XP, achievements, high scores, currency, vanity items, unlocks, power ups
Make every play matter
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Content design
Design for your content to be systemic or procedural, not consumable
Systemic means the gameplay is defined by the rules and systems like Tetris and Collectable strategy
Procedural means the levels are generated algorithmically on the fly, remixing content pieces
Algorithms and random elements keep costs low and gameplay fresh
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Social design
Keep multiplayer asynchronous or passive with leaderboards
Real time multiplayer is expensive, complex, and sucks on mobile
Use built-in social functions of game centers, social graphs, and texting
Allow playing and friending random players
Gifting/trading makes economies harder to manage
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Endgame play
Endgame is when players are done with the main content
Things to do: PvP/Coop, Clans, Events, Player content
Social stays fresh, you don't make people!
Player created content and expression are awesome
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Virality
Marketing is expensive, design your game to encourage sharing
Players share humor/topical references, exciting moments, created content, and achievements
Make it easy to share and talk about these
What would make a popular Let's Play video?
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Platforms
Keep in mind smaller growing mobile and console platforms where competition is smaller
Ouya, Windows 8, Tizen, Web portals
Html5 and Unity!
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Questions?Write them down and ask away!
There's much more detail than time, hope you learned how to look!
Available for design consulting if you liked this!
Thanks!