Just ran a 5-hour session on how to design monetization systems. So many studios miss the beautiful reality of games: designers are alchemists. If you know what you’re doing, your designs can increase the value of your game’s goals and rewards. If something feels like it’s worth $5, then you have a lot of trouble […]
The first few mintues of your game make a crazy amount of difference. Getting Over It worked because people knew what they were getting into. In the opening dev explains the point of the game and what’s about to happen. He tells you that this is a game about the frustration of starting over. You’re […]
“Modder’s Law – The more meticulously hand-crafted the game, world, and lore, the more fun it is to make an absolute mess of it.” Replacing Skyrim’s dragons with Thomas the Tank Engine is fun because it’s ridiculous. Players like the feeling of getting away with something, doing things in ways other than the devs expected. […]
Let’s talk about “Net Fun” in PvP games. If your game is only fun when you win, you have a big problem. Matchmaking can’t fix this. Given a 50% win rate, Humans still feel the impact of losses more intensely than we feel the benefit of gains (thanks “loss aversion”). I think about it like […]
Here’s how we solved a huge problem that led to players feeling dumb, frustrated, and mad at themselves… When they should have been mad at us. Faeria is a unique strategy cardgame where players build the board they play on each match. Most of your focus is on the cards you’re playing, but you also […]
Want to know why games like Clash Royale offer 4 choices at a time, when 3 appears to be a standard? Last time I talked about why Slay the Spire, Hades, and many more games offer only 3 options at a time and got a great response, so I’m back for more. I explained how […]
Dan Felder 