All the most important thing for the next "killer of Angry Birds"
I have a hobby - I develop mobile casual games. Therefore, I often have to analyze the hits from the tops of Google Play and the AppStore, clone successful solutions and prevent other people's mistakes. As a result, I found in all the most hit games some similarities in the gameplay and management. In this post, I will set out my observations about what exactly makes the game popular, and how best to implement it.
The main similarities of the gameplay of such hits of the mobile gaming market as Angry Birds, Ninja Jump, FruitNinja, Rope'n'Fly, Doodle Jump - simplicity and monotony. Minimum of actions and their constant repetition.
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All the most popular games are extremely easy to play or actually in the process of the game. This is one of the main reasons for their frantic success. Most of the owners of phones and tablets are ordinary people, they don’t find Mario or Battletoads to be interesting five times a weekend. Also remember the reasons why people play mobile games. The reasons are boredom and fatigue. People sit at work, in boring lectures, go to the subway, and quite logically they have a desire to play. Therefore, in no case should you make great difficulties in games - the bored will not get fun (the motto of Dwarf Fortress “Losing is fun” will not work here), and tired of difficulties at work will not invest a lot of energy in some kind of toy.
You did not notice that most of the games for phones are extremely monotonous, and any appearance of a new gameplay element in the middle of the game is out of date?
The user repeats the same actions over and over again, but the game is not torn off. Why so?
And the roots grow as always from our animal nature. We feel everything new in the gameplay as a change in the world around us, and the natural instincts developed during evolution include our unpleasant feelings, forcing us to adapt to change as soon as possible. And when the gameplay is monotonous, we, once adapted, then we feel "like a fish in water." So think up an interesting gameplay and do not enter anything extra.
Also in every successful game there is a kind of imaginary aspiration upwards. A player can buy new, more expensive things for himself, but still see in front some “carrot”, a distant target (for example, a super-expensive twenty-barreled machine gun). And as you progress along the path to the cherished dream, it accelerates more and more. That is, if at the beginning of the game the user collected 100 coins per minute, then in the middle he already collects 500 coins per minute. This gives the player a feeling (often false), which is still quite a bit, still quite a bit and he will reach the end. In games where there is nothing to buy, another motivation mechanism is created. As the player advances, new enemies, new bonuses, etc. start to appear further and further. For example, this method is used by the creators of NinjaJump .
In most hit casual games the user makes only one movement (touch) on the screen:
This is done in order to simplify the gameplay as much as possible and to make it possible to play on small phones, on which it is not particularly convenient to poke at several small buttons. That is, in fact, such management reduces the gameplay to sometimes poking or not poking around the screen and getting some feedback.
This item could be located both here and in the section on gameplay, but I decided to include it here, because it follows exactly from the previous item on management.
The essence of the rule of rare intervention is that the user does not always act, but only at certain moments. In other moments, the player simply watches the situation. For example, in Angry Birds you are dragging off a slingshot, while at other times you watch birds smashing enemies, in Ninja Jump you watch a ninja run somewhere upwards, sometimes jumping from one wall to another. In Jetpack Joyride, watch how your character flies, sometimes including a jet pack. And create feedback. I clicked correctly or on time — I won, I didn’t click, or I clicked wrong — I lost. Interestingly, this is all reminiscent of the experiments of Ivan Petrovich Pavlov over a poor little dog.
This is partly an offtopic point, explaining the popularity of only some genres, but still I will write it. Why are casual games so successful on phones and tablets and not very popular other genres? It's all about management. The interface for managing games for mobile platforms in the course of its evolution has been greatly simplified, reducing recently to one touch, which I wrote about above. And for non-casual genres such as shooters and strategies, such simple management is unacceptable. For example, in a shooter you need to constantly control two aspects - the movement of the character and aiming, and the inconstant shooting and other actions (throwing a grenade, for example). And a person has only two hands and on the touch screen you cannot immediately control 3-4 aspects. This is not to mention the small size of the phone screens. So if you decide to make 3D-supermegagames about special forces, think carefully whether you need it. Although I met one game of serious genre with almost perfect control. These were the Drift Mania 2 races. In them, the gas is controlled by touching the screen, and turns are controlled by accelerometers. But still play terribly uncomfortable.
Something, and the graphics should be perfect beyond all doubt. If you remain in the game user makes the gameplay, then to make the game just at least downloaded, you need to attract a person with beautiful panache. Good graphics play the role of a certain threshold of entry separating the full treshak from more or less normal games.
Drawn graphics for casual mobile games necessarily in a cartoon style, in any case not realistic. The models used minimalist techniques - a couple of lines and contours, a little bit of color and ready.
Another important condition for success is the "high cost of graphics." This intuitive indicator can be understood only by example. Look at the first two games from one developer from Google Play:
In the first case, the graphics are not bad drawn, but it looks very "cheap." In the second, it looks at a very "expensive" level. Although, perhaps this is a very subjective question.
The tempo soundtrack should absolutely match the pace of the gameplay and should not stand out much. Let him play in the background, create an atmosphere, but no more than that ... When I chose the soundtrack for my last game, one of the options was Gioacchino Rossini's “Forty Thieves”. The composition was so breathtaking that at some points my heart jumped out of my chest, and I wanted to throw boxes across the whole box-2d box instead of building a neat turret of them into the sky.
Another important point in the sound of the game is a bunch of lose-sound / win-sound.
When losing it is worth making a bad sound, so that the user in the brain has a clear association between the loss and discomfort from this sound. The horror of lose-sound does not consist in the repetitive grunting of the speakers, but simply this sound should stand out sharply from the main leitmotif of the game's soundtrack.
When you win (well, or collect any bonus) the game needs to publish a pleasantly melodious melodious tinkling. Thus, the player is brought up the desire to win and the fear of losing.
A good example of lose-sound is the heart-rending cry of a falling ninja from NinjaJump , and a perfect example of a win-sound is the collection of coins in MegaJump (each coin is collected on a note higher than the previous one; as in a game, coins are collected in long sequences, then It turns out very nice hearing melody).
There are also several non-player aspects of the game’s success. They are obvious, but I will describe them anyway.
The article was written under the impression of the posts of habrauzer ishledo : “Retention” , “Retention. Continuation .
I hope this topic will help you if you decide to create a new “killer of Angry Birds”.
1. Gameplay
The main similarities of the gameplay of such hits of the mobile gaming market as Angry Birds, Ninja Jump, FruitNinja, Rope'n'Fly, Doodle Jump - simplicity and monotony. Minimum of actions and their constant repetition.
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a) Ease of passage
All the most popular games are extremely easy to play or actually in the process of the game. This is one of the main reasons for their frantic success. Most of the owners of phones and tablets are ordinary people, they don’t find Mario or Battletoads to be interesting five times a weekend. Also remember the reasons why people play mobile games. The reasons are boredom and fatigue. People sit at work, in boring lectures, go to the subway, and quite logically they have a desire to play. Therefore, in no case should you make great difficulties in games - the bored will not get fun (the motto of Dwarf Fortress “Losing is fun” will not work here), and tired of difficulties at work will not invest a lot of energy in some kind of toy.
b) monotony
You did not notice that most of the games for phones are extremely monotonous, and any appearance of a new gameplay element in the middle of the game is out of date?
The user repeats the same actions over and over again, but the game is not torn off. Why so?
And the roots grow as always from our animal nature. We feel everything new in the gameplay as a change in the world around us, and the natural instincts developed during evolution include our unpleasant feelings, forcing us to adapt to change as soon as possible. And when the gameplay is monotonous, we, once adapted, then we feel "like a fish in water." So think up an interesting gameplay and do not enter anything extra.
c) Striving up
Also in every successful game there is a kind of imaginary aspiration upwards. A player can buy new, more expensive things for himself, but still see in front some “carrot”, a distant target (for example, a super-expensive twenty-barreled machine gun). And as you progress along the path to the cherished dream, it accelerates more and more. That is, if at the beginning of the game the user collected 100 coins per minute, then in the middle he already collects 500 coins per minute. This gives the player a feeling (often false), which is still quite a bit, still quite a bit and he will reach the end. In games where there is nothing to buy, another motivation mechanism is created. As the player advances, new enemies, new bonuses, etc. start to appear further and further. For example, this method is used by the creators of NinjaJump .
2. Management
a) Rule of one movement
In most hit casual games the user makes only one movement (touch) on the screen:
- sometimes it’s a simple tap (instant touch) anywhere on the screen. Examples: NinjaJump, Rope'n'Fly
- sometimes it's a long tap anywhere on the screen. Examples: Jetpack Joyride
- sometimes it's slide (slide your finger across the screen) Examples: Angry Birds, FruitNinja, Cut the Rope
- sometimes it is the rotation of accelerometers. Examples: DoodleJump, MegaJump
This is done in order to simplify the gameplay as much as possible and to make it possible to play on small phones, on which it is not particularly convenient to poke at several small buttons. That is, in fact, such management reduces the gameplay to sometimes poking or not poking around the screen and getting some feedback.
b) Rare intervention rule
This item could be located both here and in the section on gameplay, but I decided to include it here, because it follows exactly from the previous item on management.
The essence of the rule of rare intervention is that the user does not always act, but only at certain moments. In other moments, the player simply watches the situation. For example, in Angry Birds you are dragging off a slingshot, while at other times you watch birds smashing enemies, in Ninja Jump you watch a ninja run somewhere upwards, sometimes jumping from one wall to another. In Jetpack Joyride, watch how your character flies, sometimes including a jet pack. And create feedback. I clicked correctly or on time — I won, I didn’t click, or I clicked wrong — I lost. Interestingly, this is all reminiscent of the experiments of Ivan Petrovich Pavlov over a poor little dog.
c) Management by genre
This is partly an offtopic point, explaining the popularity of only some genres, but still I will write it. Why are casual games so successful on phones and tablets and not very popular other genres? It's all about management. The interface for managing games for mobile platforms in the course of its evolution has been greatly simplified, reducing recently to one touch, which I wrote about above. And for non-casual genres such as shooters and strategies, such simple management is unacceptable. For example, in a shooter you need to constantly control two aspects - the movement of the character and aiming, and the inconstant shooting and other actions (throwing a grenade, for example). And a person has only two hands and on the touch screen you cannot immediately control 3-4 aspects. This is not to mention the small size of the phone screens. So if you decide to make 3D-supermegagames about special forces, think carefully whether you need it. Although I met one game of serious genre with almost perfect control. These were the Drift Mania 2 races. In them, the gas is controlled by touching the screen, and turns are controlled by accelerometers. But still play terribly uncomfortable.
3. Graphics
Something, and the graphics should be perfect beyond all doubt. If you remain in the game user makes the gameplay, then to make the game just at least downloaded, you need to attract a person with beautiful panache. Good graphics play the role of a certain threshold of entry separating the full treshak from more or less normal games.
Drawn graphics for casual mobile games necessarily in a cartoon style, in any case not realistic. The models used minimalist techniques - a couple of lines and contours, a little bit of color and ready.
Another important condition for success is the "high cost of graphics." This intuitive indicator can be understood only by example. Look at the first two games from one developer from Google Play:
In the first case, the graphics are not bad drawn, but it looks very "cheap." In the second, it looks at a very "expensive" level. Although, perhaps this is a very subjective question.
4. Sound
The tempo soundtrack should absolutely match the pace of the gameplay and should not stand out much. Let him play in the background, create an atmosphere, but no more than that ... When I chose the soundtrack for my last game, one of the options was Gioacchino Rossini's “Forty Thieves”. The composition was so breathtaking that at some points my heart jumped out of my chest, and I wanted to throw boxes across the whole box-2d box instead of building a neat turret of them into the sky.
Another important point in the sound of the game is a bunch of lose-sound / win-sound.
When losing it is worth making a bad sound, so that the user in the brain has a clear association between the loss and discomfort from this sound. The horror of lose-sound does not consist in the repetitive grunting of the speakers, but simply this sound should stand out sharply from the main leitmotif of the game's soundtrack.
When you win (well, or collect any bonus) the game needs to publish a pleasantly melodious melodious tinkling. Thus, the player is brought up the desire to win and the fear of losing.
A good example of lose-sound is the heart-rending cry of a falling ninja from NinjaJump , and a perfect example of a win-sound is the collection of coins in MegaJump (each coin is collected on a note higher than the previous one; as in a game, coins are collected in long sequences, then It turns out very nice hearing melody).
5. Out-of-game moments
There are also several non-player aspects of the game’s success. They are obvious, but I will describe them anyway.
- short catchy name in two words
- in the title and in the game the words only “elementary English” are used
- beautiful catchy icon with a minimum drawn on it
- convenient interface
- live tech support
6. Conclusion
The article was written under the impression of the posts of habrauzer ishledo : “Retention” , “Retention. Continuation .
I hope this topic will help you if you decide to create a new “killer of Angry Birds”.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/165347/
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