are you making the right game?

Derek Elliott Executive Producer

These are the games we like to play

This would make an awesome game

Nostalgia from childhood

Inherently limited audience

No clue on sales potential

No community/marketing plan

Haven’t done competitive analysis

Not using Lean Startup methods to validate

Metrics & Data Analysis

A/B Testing

Break things on purpose

Commercial

Intent

Creative

Impact

Sellouts Independent

Entrepreneurs

Just Plain Lost Starving Artists

But can’t I have both?

Passion Market

RPG – Witcher, Skyrim, Fallout, Banner Saga

Builders/Sandbox – Minecraft, Terratech, BeSiege, Scrap Mechanic

Roguelikes & Crafting - Don't Starve, The Long Dark, Moonhunters

Pixel bit games – PewDiePie, Punch Club, Undertale, Binding of Isaac

Clickers – Adventure Capitalist, Tap Titans, Cookie Clicker

Strategy – Darkest Dungeon, XCom, Homeworld: Kharak

Simulators – Kerbal, Cities Skylines, Farming Simulator

Competitive – World of Tanks, League of Legends, Dota

Shooters – Call of Duty, CS: GO

Multiplayer

FPS

MOBA

MMO

Skillset $ Saturated

Multiplayer

FPS

Open World

MMO

Platform

Walking Sim…

Roguelike…

Builder/Sim…

Niche

Sports

Racing

Fighting

Builders/Sandbox

Crafting

Simulators

Resource Management

Roguelike…but…

Sci-Fi…but…

Bit Graphics…but…

Innovative & Risky

180k Units in 3 months

99% User Rating

Untapped Market?

Or

No Market?

Category Analysis (Platform Sales/Rev/% etc)

Team/Project Overview

SWOT

Feature Comparisons

Analytics Comparisons

Positioning Chart

Community

Survivorship Bias

Game in Early Access -> Wants help/$ to get to full release

$500k so far -> Needs $250k to finish in 5 Months ($50k MM)

8 Full time + 2 part time

Asking for $75k (10% of budget)

Comparables – 150k, 750k, 900k

Mediocre 75k sales, Decent 150k, Hit 250k+

Started discussions - 12k units ($110k) in EA

MSRP - $21.99 – Average net $9.24

Recoup @ 81k units ($9.24 * 10% = $0.924/unit)

3x = 240k Units ($225k on $75k investment)

$50k so far -> Have $200k in bank , needs $750k to finish

$1MM total budget

Comparables – 50k, 150k, 200k

Mediocre 75k sales, Decent 125k, Hit 250k+

MSRP - $19.99 – Average net $8.40

Breakeven @ 119k units….Good idea?....

Publisher/Investor @ $750k (75/25 split) = $6.30 per unit

2x @ 240k units!!! 3x @ 360 units!

If your projections for “expected” are 125k units…

Increase Sales Price

Reduce Scope/Cost

Cancel Project

Revisit & Retool style/genre/USP/breakthrough etc…

Concept is “great” but not hitting the right mark

What decisions to reshape the game?

USP – a real breakthrough, standout

Style – art, tone, vision

Genre – FPS, Platformer…Roguelike…

Trends – Builders, Resource Management, Strategy

Risks

Vision – Main Umbrella that Defines the Game

Blueprint – Major Elements of the Game

Design – The Details

The Vision is High Level Intent

The Vision is the Framework for the Blueprint of the game

Questions that your “Vision” answers

Why are we making this game?

Who are we making it for?

What is this game?

What is/isn't the game

Brand/Game/Experience Pillars

What is the singular goal/message etc

Core mechanic

Gameplay loop

Core Player Fantasy

Gameplay Rhythm

How to Build Immersion

Delivering Emotion & Intensity

Key Words

What you judge/define your game

against

Defined vision for the look of the game

How do the visuals support the theme

Player archetype

How is the game identifiable in pop

culture

Addressing the context of the game to the

player

Quality Benchmanrk

Realization plans/expectations

What is your story and how is it realized in

the game

What are your unique/one off

gameplay/level design elements

Progression/rewards for the player – what

is the “crack”

Builder?

Crafting?

Strategy RPG Dungeon Crawler?

DING!

Player Fantasy – Dragon? Ninja? Ninja Dragon!

Core Mechanic

Core Gameplay Loop

Biblical Warning – I am NOT a Creative Director

Nor do I play one on TV…

Re-evaluate Competitive Analysis

+ =

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3

???

Step 4

PROFIT!

Takes the Game’s Vision and translates it to quantifiable elements

Enables the team to think through the game visually

Defines the major criteria of the game

Defines the scope of the game

A clear and concise overview the team can get behind

Tension Mechanics

Key gameplay experiences

Tempo/Intensity Curve

Difficulty curve

Unique locations

Ability outlay

Progression

RLD

Achievements/Trophies

Target Audience

Competitor Analysis/Takedown

Inspiration/Reference

The pillars of the game

Story

Beat breakdown/Timeline

Characters

Key features

Gameplay loop

Compulsion loop

Player core fantasy

Unique one-off levels/events

Wow moments

@ExecutionLabs ExecutionLabs.com

Derek@ExecutionLabs.com /ExecutionLabs