Designing mobile games for success

Using Constraints

Designing on a blank sheet is hard

Perfection is boring

Limitations help focus your creativity

Start from success constraints

Researching the App stores

Reveals patterns over time

Critical to success

Recurring patterns are like pop music chords, use em!

Top paid vs Grossing

Top Grossing

Business model

F2P Micro-transactions

Genres

City building/timers

Casino

Collectibles

Hidden Object

This is for bigger companies

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

Business modelsDon't be a starving artist

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

Micro-transactions

Cheap, consumable

Repeatable

Relate to gates like lives, energy refills

Or random elements like booster packs, slot machines

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

GenresThey work for a reason

Action/Arcade

Instant fun

Easy to understand

Quick diversion

Good feedback

Puzzle

Starts simple and builds complexity

Quick to play a puzzle

Levels provide variety

Physics and Match-3 dominate

Learning is fun

Tower Defense

Engaging complexity

Not as quick to play

Balance of strategy and accessibility

Appeals to more mid-core

Endless

High accessibility

Simple controls

Infinite replayability

One more time play

Variable excitement

Elements of successBreaking down the hits

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.

Controls

Keep it simple

Use single taps or simple swipes, don't mix

Virtual and tilt controls suck

Make tap targets big and spaced

Duration

Where do people play?

Toilet

Lines

Car rides

Can you accomplish something in 1 minute?

Can you keep going when hooked?

Engaging systems

Psychology matters

Intrinsic motivation

Autonomy

Mastery

Purpose

Autonomy

Play how you want, when you want

Quick easy to start, hard to stop

Fast restart

Almost wins and one more times

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

Purpose

Persistent elements give purpose

Levels, XP, achievements, high scores, currency, vanity items, unlocks, power ups

Make every play matter

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

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

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

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?

Platforms

Keep in mind smaller growing mobile and console platforms where competition is smaller

Ouya, Windows 8, Tizen, Web portals

Html5 and Unity!

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!

devin@devinbecker.com

Thanks!