Killer Game Loops, Case: Magic Land
Henric Suuronen (Head of Studio at wooga - #3 in DAU and MAU worldwide) provides insight on how to create engaging social games. His session will include examples from titles he worked on before and focus on the new wooga game: Magic Land (released in August 2011). The session will discuss how to build and iterate the design and game loop for a mass-market social game. The session will also walk through the process of creating and validation the game loop of Magic Land and discuss in-depth what has been done after the launch of the game.
10. BUY PLOT BUY & PLACE ITEM WAIT INCOME COLLECT INCOME
11. Common loop mistakes Object disappears at the end User does not get in-game money from the Core loop -> focus else Too complex/imaginary Slow animations -> not responsive Several Game Loops Too simple
12. Good Game Loop? Real-life simulation Fun 1 time – Fun 1000 times Few steps (4-6 max) Requests tied to it Smart-Depth Good Closure
13. Smart-Depth An extra layer ON the core game loop that adds strategy and more ‘game’
19. Game Closure “I will define closure as the ability to leave the game with a feeling of certainty that one has done all one can do and that things will be okay until one returns[..]” (Brenda Brathwaite)
31. CITY GAME ADVENTURE GAME OPTIMALPLACING PLACE &BUILDHOUSE WHACK NPC/OBJECT MORE SPACE/ITEMS BUY HOUSE BUY MAP UN-FOG COLLECT INCOME WAIT INCOME OPTIMAL
Tower Bloxx fist with frirnedshighscore listTime when scrabalous, Fight Club and Jetman were tehe biggest games on facebook
Overview of what we will talk about todayWhat is wooga, how we are different and where we are going
Focusing on casual mass-market games, you can have more complex and different loops than discussed and make tons of money (Kabam, Kixeye) but also your retention and aboslute DAU will suffer -> smaller x-promo network as a result
Some people call it the Primary GrindTalking about item economy games – Not arcade games such as Bejeweled and Bubble IslandSoft currency = in-game currency
Example: Fishvillecause of its simplicityFascinated about it whne creating Millionaire CityGame failed due to game loop probelsm taken look at later in the presentation
- Added later fish fighting etc that just de-focused the game but still good example of simple understandable gameloop
Next Example of game loop? MC!!!
While Millionaire City was a successful title Fishville was not that much? What went wrong?Objects disappear in: Fishville, Happy Hospital, Safari KingdomNo money: un-released wooga production / MMA pro fighter Too complex -> Hotel CitySlow animations -> Happy Hospital, Pirates AhoySeveral Loops -> MMA Pro Fighter, Pirates AhoyYou can and should have s simple game loop but then you must add smart-depth on it
Things we do in real-life is easy to understand: Shopping, Restaurants, Real Estate, Norturing (babies, animals)Avoid too long animations that take too much time, will make the game loop lose it fun in the long-run(items/staffing/time speed up)Smart-depth and Closure are some of the key things in a killer game loops so I will go into depth of thsoe next.
Origanally posted on insidesocialgames guest blog-post
- One of the key reasons why MC beat all city builders on the market when launched (social city, my empire, hello city)- Cityville copying the boosters & magazine rolling towards the screen
Youtube videos usually a first sign that you have nailed smart-depth!Hundreds of videos on Café World, Farmville clicking, Millionaire City
Wooga’s Monster World includes Smart-Depth via a Time system that smart players use to plan production maximize profitRoberta is also a smart-depth feature
- Also a very important point to game loops
You run out of energy, supply goods to all businesses and you FEEL YOU ARE DONE!Coming back you know:- Energy FilledBusiness, houses, farms waiting with rewardsFriends actions waitingVery limited spoiling in framing but user knows the rules of that
bExcellent game by my old collegues in helsinki studio of DCNot really a fair example since it is more a HC titleBut shows an example where:No rewards waitingAll is gone and user did not have any clue of what would be waiting-> bad retention: below 14% DAU/MAU-> can monetize well though
Millionaire City with amazing closure – you can control the game state exactly like you want too much work for casual playerClear tooltips with possible punishment rules (grace time)User must come back to same state where he left – (wooga prototype)Okay so can you change the loop after launch?
MMA Pro Fighter – New LoopsHappy Hospital – Contracts -> BoostingNightclub City – Energy MechanicRollercoaster Kingdom – Appointment gaming
Okay so it seems we have managed to include all aspects I talked about today in magic LandWe tested it and verified in closed beta etc.BUT THIS IS NOT HOW YOU MAKE GAMES!we are lauching Magic Land today. You never know how markets repsond globallyGood to keep in mind when designing, iterating but passion, testing all FUN, LAUGHTER is not visible in checkboxes!
Okay so it seems we have managed to include all aspects I talked about today in magic LandWe tested it and verified in closed beta etc.BUT THIS IS NOT HOW YOU MAKE GAMES!we are lauching Magic Land today. You never know how markets repsond globallyGood to keep in mind when designing, iterating but passion, testing all FUN, LAUGHTER is not visible in checkboxes!
Industry around for 4 years, EARLY CHILDHOODNokia had 42% market share, first iphone came “Niche market product”Same can happen to zynga: GDC example
Extremely proud Production started in November 201015 person team – me as team lead11 different nationalities
After first ideas of the game construct board prootypye, exmaple from Magic LandMore for concepting but can test game loop too! When explaining the game to other people
- Core Game Loop is tied to extended game loop (adventure game) via item/space dependency
Check tile sizeShow to users for feedback for grapchical styleDoes it look fun?When showing it to people do they start asking questions?Should be visible of how you play the gameHelp programmers/team members to know what is in your head
Game Master with rule sets& stop watchUsers playing the loop – asking master if action allowedCash generation, shop etcIs it fun? Do people wanna play?Does not help detect long-term problems though!
After roughly 2 months a 1st prototype/ 1stplayble to verify core city building part of the gameOne of the most important steps -> push for early!Minimal set of housesBecause too tiresome to collect many houses -> moved from variable contracts to fixed. If you lpayed MC on high levels you know the feelimg
One of core competences at woogaInside company / outside company20e / free movie ticketsObesrve don’t pressureTutorial and first 30min / over and over gaian
Launch in a small areaClose viral channelsMeasure engagement and user commentsMeasure KPIs
Find yourself in a magical world, where there are trolls, dragons, beanstalks and unicornsRuled by a beloved king King Artie
One of core competences at woogaInside company / outside company20e / free movie ticketsObesrve don’t pressureTutorial and first 30min / over and over gaian
- Why did people not complete the tree whacking goal?
Before movin to questions I wanna thank you for your time and hope you found my session interestingIf you wanna know more you can follow my blog or send me an email through my websiteOF COURSE if you wanna learn the most check out wooga’s available job openings, after all we are #2 in the world and only getting warmed up