Idea with a chance of success: six rules
Vitaly Romanov, our CEO, formulated six basic rules that must be followed when “inventing” the game. They will help novice developers to determine the concept to make a truly successful project.
Any game begins with an idea, with the sacramental phrase “let's do it.” Next is usually followed by a burning project description and a frantic search for a publisher who would give a budget for this idea. Unfortunately, most of these stories end sadly, but in the end everything is bad, both to developers and publishers. At the same time, mutual misunderstanding at the level of ideas could be resolved if the developers could teach a little more seriously.
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By “serious” is meant not a detailed description of the mechanics (although it would also be nice to have one) and not a colorful description of graphics, which is not yet available. Since the publisher’s task is to sell the game, the first thing that interests is who exactly will be able to sell the game. Any idea or concept must begin with the audience, with those to whom the game will be intended.
It was from this that Vitaly repelled himself, formulating the rules.
First rule
The target audience must be chosen when you are just deciding on the idea.
Of course, this is not always easy. On the one hand, the audience should not be too wide (there are no “games for everyone”). On the other hand, it should be broad enough - niche products often cannot even pay back their development, therefore they are of little interest.
In order to roughly describe your target audience, you can take some successful, already existing, project that you like, and think about who it is for. However, it should be remembered that in the future this will not be enough, but at the very beginning it can greatly help.
Rule two
Understand your audience and love it.
When the boom of social games began, many developers of “hardcore” projects came to the new market only to earn money. They regarded their audience with contempt, they simply did not understand what and why they needed. And despite the fact that on the general wave, they still managed to break their bankruptcy, it soon became clear that their projects were not able to compete with the games whose developers lovingly approached the matter.
So, if an audience initially dislikes you - you shouldn’t start playing a game for it.
Rule Three
When creating a concept, think about how the game will spread and how it will earn.
With the death of gaming retail, which we are seeing at the moment, and the actualization of micropayments, the developer falls part of the responsibility for the monetization of his project. It’s necessary to think about what players will pay for right from the start. Again, it would not be superfluous to look at successful games, for example, from Top Grossing of the American App Store: those projects that fall into this top bring the greatest income, which means, for one reason or another, people willingly give up their honestly earned money.
If the developer has no idea how this issue will be resolved in his game, the project should not even begin.
Fourth rule
Do not create clones of popular games.
Before embarking on development, it is necessary to conduct a market research for the presence of similar products. If there are many competitive products, and the conceived game does not have any unique features, then it is unlikely to be taken for development.
If you still decide to make such a game, then it should be much better. To break the bank on someone else's popularity can only the project, which compares favorably with others. And all - the best graphics, the best management, music, history, attention to detail.
Fifth Rule
Formulate the main "chips" of your game.
When positioning the project, they will need to be promoted, they will need to focus on the target audience. Therefore, it is extremely important that the audience liked these "chips".
For example, you should not focus on the diversity of the arsenal, if you focus on housewives - better focus on the appearance of the main character and the love line.
Sixth rule
Play the same games that your audience plays.
This is the key to understanding what she needs. True, there is one small but very important point: you should be interested in playing, you should at least impersonate yourself a little with the target audience. If you do not succeed at all, it is better not to start working on the project: the key to the player's heart, which you do not understand, cannot be picked up by chance.
According to the materials of the portal App2Top.ru
Any game begins with an idea, with the sacramental phrase “let's do it.” Next is usually followed by a burning project description and a frantic search for a publisher who would give a budget for this idea. Unfortunately, most of these stories end sadly, but in the end everything is bad, both to developers and publishers. At the same time, mutual misunderstanding at the level of ideas could be resolved if the developers could teach a little more seriously.
')
By “serious” is meant not a detailed description of the mechanics (although it would also be nice to have one) and not a colorful description of graphics, which is not yet available. Since the publisher’s task is to sell the game, the first thing that interests is who exactly will be able to sell the game. Any idea or concept must begin with the audience, with those to whom the game will be intended.
It was from this that Vitaly repelled himself, formulating the rules.
First rule
The target audience must be chosen when you are just deciding on the idea.
Of course, this is not always easy. On the one hand, the audience should not be too wide (there are no “games for everyone”). On the other hand, it should be broad enough - niche products often cannot even pay back their development, therefore they are of little interest.
In order to roughly describe your target audience, you can take some successful, already existing, project that you like, and think about who it is for. However, it should be remembered that in the future this will not be enough, but at the very beginning it can greatly help.
Rule two
Understand your audience and love it.
When the boom of social games began, many developers of “hardcore” projects came to the new market only to earn money. They regarded their audience with contempt, they simply did not understand what and why they needed. And despite the fact that on the general wave, they still managed to break their bankruptcy, it soon became clear that their projects were not able to compete with the games whose developers lovingly approached the matter.
So, if an audience initially dislikes you - you shouldn’t start playing a game for it.
Rule Three
When creating a concept, think about how the game will spread and how it will earn.
With the death of gaming retail, which we are seeing at the moment, and the actualization of micropayments, the developer falls part of the responsibility for the monetization of his project. It’s necessary to think about what players will pay for right from the start. Again, it would not be superfluous to look at successful games, for example, from Top Grossing of the American App Store: those projects that fall into this top bring the greatest income, which means, for one reason or another, people willingly give up their honestly earned money.
If the developer has no idea how this issue will be resolved in his game, the project should not even begin.
Fourth rule
Do not create clones of popular games.
Before embarking on development, it is necessary to conduct a market research for the presence of similar products. If there are many competitive products, and the conceived game does not have any unique features, then it is unlikely to be taken for development.
If you still decide to make such a game, then it should be much better. To break the bank on someone else's popularity can only the project, which compares favorably with others. And all - the best graphics, the best management, music, history, attention to detail.
Fifth Rule
Formulate the main "chips" of your game.
When positioning the project, they will need to be promoted, they will need to focus on the target audience. Therefore, it is extremely important that the audience liked these "chips".
For example, you should not focus on the diversity of the arsenal, if you focus on housewives - better focus on the appearance of the main character and the love line.
Sixth rule
Play the same games that your audience plays.
This is the key to understanding what she needs. True, there is one small but very important point: you should be interested in playing, you should at least impersonate yourself a little with the target audience. If you do not succeed at all, it is better not to start working on the project: the key to the player's heart, which you do not understand, cannot be picked up by chance.
According to the materials of the portal App2Top.ru
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/138278/
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