{"id":1378,"date":"2011-04-06T08:07:22","date_gmt":"2011-04-06T07:07:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/?p=1378"},"modified":"2019-11-06T17:45:00","modified_gmt":"2019-11-06T16:45:00","slug":"how-to-make-an-addictive-social-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2011\/04\/06\/how-to-make-an-addictive-social-game\/","title":{"rendered":"How to make an addictive social game"},"content":{"rendered":"

Unlike some \u2018triple A\u2019 game developers, web-based social game designers quickly recognised how important usability and user experience are to their success. With customers being able to easily access their content for free, without making a commitment to paying for their gaming experience up-front, it\u2019s extremely important to attract and retain players in the first few minutes.<\/p>\n

Today I\u2019ll be looking at the first 5 minutes of a successful social game, and highlighting which elements have made this game successful. In the future we\u2019ll look at some games which have missed the point, and hence lost a large proportion of their customer base. From this, we can learn how to make an addictive social game.<\/p>\n

The Game<\/strong><\/p>\n

The game we were originally going to study was intended to be Farmville, since Farmville is famously the \u2018poster-child\u2019 of social gaming success. However it wanted me to connect with my facebook account, and wouldn\u2019t let me play without doing so. Game over! \u00a0(Presumably this is just an annoyance to me however, and hasn\u2019t stopped the game\u2019s success)<\/p>\n

Instead, I looked at the \u2018Top Grossing\u2019 iPhone apps, and found \u2018Smurf\u2019s Village\u2019. Like farmville, it’s a landforming game, where the player has to create a new village for the Smurfs, and look after their crops. Most importantly, it\u2019s free, yet still a top-grossing app \u2013 clearly a sign of it\u2019s continued success. (or was it all the work of this kid<\/a> charging $1400 to their parents credit card) So, what happens in the first 5 minutes of Smurf\u2019s Village?<\/p>\n

The Experience<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first thing that happens when running the game is that it asks if I want to hook it up to facebook. This is a key business goal for the app developer, since it increases awareness of the game and is a key element to how social games work. Importantly for the user experience however, it is optional (unlike Farmville). I declined at this time:<\/p>\n

\n
\"Smurfs

Linking with facebook<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

After a very short introductory story, explaining why the Smurfs are moving, the game drops you straight into making a new village. With clear directions, the game tells me to click on the sign and lay a plot of land:<\/p>\n

\n
\"Smurf

Planting a field<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

And with that, I get an immediate positive reaction \u201cQuest complete\u201d, and reinforcement of the lesson I just learnt:<\/p>\n

\n
\"Smurf

Quest Complete<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Now the same happens again with \u2018growing blueberrys\u2019, where an arrow clearly indicates what I need to do, and I\u2019m given positive reinforcement having completed this task:<\/p>\n

\n
\"Smurf

Planting berries...<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

And with that, a level up is gained:<\/p>\n

\n
\"Smurf

Level up!<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The game goes on, with the next level teaching you how to build a house, and crucially linking speeded up progress with using smurfberrys. Since smurfberries are the games in-app-purchase, and hence the primary method the developer makes money, this is an important link to make early on:<\/p>\n

\n
\"Smurf

In app purchases<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

This earns me another level up. The game then goes on to repeat this to teach me how to build grass, before letting me play a mini-game to break up the monotony. If I were to continue playing beyond the first few minutes, the game would go on to \u2018set me free\u2019 and let me use the lesson\u2019s I\u2019ve learnt to continue to build the village unguided.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Rules<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, what magic rules did we find that led to a successful first 5 minutes with this game?<\/p>\n

1. Explain actions one at a time, let the player do them<\/p>\n

    \n
  • The game takes care to only show the player one action at a time, and first describes the task, before guiding them through performing the task themselves, to ensure that players know how to do it. The game then confirms the correct action has taken place after it has been completed, and tells the player what they did.<\/li>\n
  • By repeating the action numerous times, the game hence reinforces to the player how the action is achieved.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    2. Reward the player for performing an action correctly<\/p>\n

      \n
    • When an action has been performed, there are multiple layers of success shown. Not only are there visible indications that the task has taken place, and the player is rewarded with both experience points and a \u2018quest complete\u2019 dialog, but the game also levels up the player\u2019s village.<\/li>\n
    • Hence there is positive reinforcement that the correct action has taken place, causing the player to want to perform it again, much like Peggle’s Ode to Joy<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      3. Show the player the potential of what they can achieve<\/p>\n

        \n
      • By setting the game after the destruction of the original village, and allowing them to build a new one from the ground-up, this game highlights what can be done by the player if they were to continue playing.<\/li>\n
      • This message would potentially be reinforced by introducing the social element of the game, for it will be possible to see other player\u2019s complete villages.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        4. Let them take control<\/p>\n

          \n
        • After the tutorial period (admittedly longer than the 5 minutes I played for today), the game will hand over the reins to the player, having shown them what\u2019s possible, and give the ability to create solutions in a manner of their own choosing.<\/li>\n
        • Although there will be continued goals to achieve, the method to achieve these goals becomes more free-form after the tutorial allowing the player to introduce creativity into their gameplay.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          All these factors have been an important part of the continued success of this social game. Soon I will look at an alternative, unsuccessful, social game, and note what factors lead to its failure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          Unlike some \u2018triple A\u2019 game developers, web-based social game designers quickly recognised how important usability and user experience are to their success. With customers being able to easily access their content for free, without making a commitment to paying for their gaming experience up-front, it\u2019s extremely important to attract and retain players in the first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[117],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-games-user-research","grve-entry-item","grve-blog-item"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to make an addictive social game - Steve Bromley - User Research<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stevebromley.com\/blog\/2011\/04\/06\/how-to-make-an-addictive-social-game\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to make an addictive social game - Steve Bromley - User Research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Unlike some \u2018triple A\u2019 game developers, web-based social game designers quickly recognised how important usability and user experience are to their success. 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