asian vs. western games: successful gameplay and design elements that makes no sense | ohad barzilay
TRANSCRIPT
Asian vs Western GamesDesign Elements that Make No
Sense
West and East
Setting Expectations
• Technical Game Design Talk (with some cultural refs)
• Not a Localization session• I will generalize (for time saving)
Who Am I
• Founded and headed 3 game studios so far• Previously GM / COO & CCO at Mytopia • Worked with Dreamworks, Endemol,
Showtime, Lionsgate, 888, bwin.party, Rovio
• Teaching in Game Dev programs for 8 years
Pet Monsters
Pet Monsters
Ongoing Rise of Asia
Ongoing Rise of Asia
Ongoing Rise of Asia
3 Approaches
1. Localizing Games 2. Copying Systems / Design Elements 3. Creating Western ver of an Asian game (or
reverse)
3 Approaches - Localizing Games
3 Approaches – Copy Systems
3 Approaches - Creating Western / Asian version
Game Elements
Western Players• Play for FUN• Seek Rules Clarity• Focus on Progress• Will accept some
grinding but will stop playing if game doesn’t progress fast enough
Gameplay Behavior
Asian Players• Play to WIN• Expect Rules Complexity• Focus on Efficiency • Will spend hours
calculating and optimizing gameplay in the same game region (grinding)
Gameplay Behavior
https://www.reddit.com/r/bravefrontier/comments/2quqq1/mechanics_analysis_damage/
Gameplay Behavior - Luck
Western Players• Everyone is equal• Luck is evenly
distributed
Asian Players• Luck is personal• Some people will always
be more lucky than others
• Fine with artificial influence on luck
Character Progression
Western Methodology – Experience PointsPerform actions (fight, train, cast spells)
Gain Experience (XP)
Level Up
(Repeat until Max Level)
Asian Methodology – FusionObtain Units
Fuse Units to character (XP)
Level Up
(Repeat until Max Level)
Character Progression
Spirits (Kami)
• Japanese’s Shinto, Chinese’s Dao are Animist religions
• There are thousands of spirits, many are local
• Every element in the world has a spirit – trees, rocks, stars, air, buildings, skills, abstracts, dead people
• Spirits can animate living and non-living things. They cannot really ‘die’, so can move one body to another
Spirits (Kami)
• Japanese’s Shinto, Chinese’s Dao are Animist religions
• There are thousands of spirits, many are local
• Every element in the world has a spirit – trees, rocks, stars, air, buildings, skills, abstracts, dead people
• Spirits can animate living and non-living things. They cannot really ‘die’, so can move one body to another
Character Progression
Asian Methodology – Evolution• Second Degree of Progression• Usually req Max Level + Evo Materials• Always provide visual change• Evo stage marked with Stars
Gacha
Gacha
• Toy Vending Machine giving out a Toy Randomly
• Very popular in Japan for getting Anime Characters
• Somewhat similar to Cards Packs• Often perceived as a slot machine in the
west
Gacha
Slots• Getting a Big Win is the
goal• Having small winnings
prevent a player from leaving the game
• Most rounds end with no gain at all
Gacha• Getting rarest unit is the
goal• The best unit is able to
give the user long-lasting benefit
• Even winning a lousy unit is beneficial to the system
Gacha Done Right
• Diversity is critical • Require big amount of units in cycle• Can be same power unit but different look
Gacha Done Right
• Price points Gacha with rising risk/reward• Guaranteed better minimum rewards
Types of Gacha explained - http://rittlethrone.com/index.php/2015/09/05/top-gacha-design/
Gacha Done Right
• Price points Gacha with rising risk/reward• Guaranteed better minimum rewards
Gacha Done Right
• Design: Required different type of level balancing
• Dynamically increase difficulty based on unit power
• Refresh Machines Periodically – highlight new units
• Tie Gacha to specific events, raids, holidays, levels
• Try Variations of Gacha • Boxed Gacha – specific number of rewards,
each use removes one until box empty• Friend Gacha – Send gacha use to a friend
Should you do Gacha?
There are 3 factors that affect progress in a game:• Player Skill: Better control skill = Better
outcome• Unit Skill: Better unit = Better outcome• Luck: How Random is the outcome
Player Skill
Unit Power
Luck
Player Skill
Unit Power
Luck
Player SkillUnit Power
Luck
Player Skill
Unit Power
Luck
Auto Play (Auto Battle, Auto Path)
Pay 2 Win
• Asia: Buying units in the game / paying to win a level is publicly acceptable
• West: Players are hostile to the concept - “cheating”
• Paying players in the west need to be able to pretend they earned everything without paying
• Asians expect excellent Customer Service if they pay, Westerns expect it even if they are not
Events
• Time-limited Quests• Happen on a clear schedule • Have clear reward type
• For Evo Materials• For Rare Units
• Main source of new content daily• Critical for monetization
Multiplayer
Western Players• Culture encourage
competition, individualism => Multiplayer is PvP
• Social Structure more loose, flexible, “everyone is equal” => Social in games includes chat, realtime play, meaningful contact
Asian Players• Culture encourage unity,
cooperation => Multiplayer is more PvE, Co-op
• Japan social structure is very strict, hierarch => Social in games mostly flat and not intimidating
Multiplayer
Visuals
- Too much detail
- Too Anime- Too Bright
- Too simple
- Too realistic
- Too dark
UI
What stands out for a western player:• Cluttered UI and HUD• Many Numbers• Art with too many details• Still images, only simple anim• Flashing bright colors• Signals overload
UI – Quick Examples
UI – Quick Examples
UI: Linguistic Differences
Characters Comfort• Logographic-based languages can convey
a lot of meaning in few characters
Lacking Emphasis• Japanese doesn’t have italics or capital
letters, get around by adding decorations, colors
UI: Cultural Differences
Risk Avoidance• Asian cultures does not encourage risk
taking or standing out from the crowd. Once a precedent has been set everybody follows it
Consumer Behaviour• People require a high degree of assurance
by means of lengthy descriptions before making a purchasing decision
UI: Technical Differences
Mobile Legacy• Japan had web, games on phones years
before the west. Screens were small and information was crammed which influence today’s visual look
Fonts• Lack of fonts for non-latin languages
(Chinese, Japanese). Each font requires thousands of characters to be individually designed = expensive, time consuming, bigger to download
Take-aways
• There is a big cultural and gameplay difference.
• Asian influence in mobile games is high, rising rapidly
• It changes the players (even western players) – whether we want it or not
• We need to adapt through understanding, not through copying blindly
• There are many things that can be adapted to fit each culture, if taken as a system and not as single elements
Thanks
@civaxo
3 Approaches - Localizing Games
Visuals
Storyline & Narrative
• Asian players likes complexity and many details in game mechanics, but more linear, simple plot
• Western players – the complete opposite• Both prefer stories tied to their own
history, mythology, cities, scenery. Martial Arts instead of guns etc.
Gacha
• Probability-based Unit Drop• Somewhat similar to Gambling games in
the west.• Player motivated by expectation to win
best reward.• Even when losing money, the expectation
prevents players from giving up