8 elements to a successful game android 4.2 - App Developer ...

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E for the key elements to a successful
game
1. The game must be
engaging.
2. The game must be
entertaining.
3. The game must be
enjoyable.
4. The game must be elastic.
5. The game must be
expandable.
6. You must game must
expose the user to other
players.
7. A game starts in an
endemic area.
8. A game, once it reaches
mass appeal, it becomes
an epidemic. It is viral and
at this point unstoppable.
While it is difficult to articulate
everything in detail, I will do my
best to see if I can make sense for
each of the elements I mentioned
for a successful game.
A game must be engaging!
Think of having an engaging conversation
— the conversation can
be enjoyable or entertaining. Not
all conversations are enjoyable, nor
all conversations are entertaining.
But if it has one or the other, you
at least have three items from the
list: engaging, entertaining, and
enjoyable.
Now, think of a movie that is
entertaining — not all the movies
that you consider to be entertainment
may be enjoyable, but they
could be engaging. The movie can
have a plausible story that makes it
entertaining, but may not be
engaging. But certainly a movie
that is enjoyable can be quite
entertaining and engaging at the
same time. Think of it this way:
Entertaining = mass appeal.
Simple.!
Now onto the rest! A game
must also be expandable, some-
thing that you can keep growing.
In the case of the Angry Birds franchise,
there is Angry Birds
Seasons, Angry Birds St. Patrick’s,
Angry Birds Valentine’s Day…
Again, using a movie metaphor,
think of a movie sequel. Although
not always as good as the original,
you can still continue the franchise.
Lastly, the game must be elastic.
You have to take the gameplay
to the breaking point. For me, this
is the one of the top elements here
(the key ingredient!). One has to
pick up a game and be able to
grasp it in matter of seconds. You
must “fool” the player into thinking
that it is easy, and have them go to
the next level, continuing as the
game gets progressively harder.
That’s the elasticity of a game:
stretch it is as far as you can while
letting the player think that it’s still
as easy as the first level.
If the game is elastic, it is also
entertaining, enjoyable, and/or
engaging. At this point, the player
will want to share the game with
other game players — then, you
have successfully created an
endemic game and the goal is to
make it an epidemic!
And how do you expose your
game to the masses? Create a
Facebook Fan Page and a Twitter
account for your company or
game. Create a video demo of your
game. If you can afford it, try to
get someone to write a press
release for you and get the word
out. Partner with a company that
can get you the exposure.
And remember: all apps and
games — no matter how
successful — are ephemeral.
Don’t fall into the mental trap that
your game will be on top of the
charts for months on end, or a year
or two. Today, we live in an ADD
world and today’s headline is
tomorrow’s old news. Your job is
to always keep your game fresh,
introduce new levels, build trust
with your players, award them with
coupon codes, etc. Making a game
is not just about making pretty pixels
move around the screen, it is a
business. And part of that business
is also the ability to market (evangelize!)
your game.
A little disclaimer: the stock
inclusion of all the elements I men-
And remember:
all apps and games
— no matter how
successful — are
ephemeral.
tion is no elixir. It doesn’t guarantee
your game to become a 40 million
download juggernaut.
Nevertheless, having some of
these key elements in your game
will make your game that much
more enjoyable, entertaining,
and/or engaging to play — and if
you get to that, you will automatically
get more exposure.
After that, you could become
endemic, and turn out to be the
next big gaming “epidemic!”
Carlos Izaca has been shipping industry standard software since 1991 shipped software titles
such as Adobe Illustrator, Flash Authoring, Mobile Flash-Lite, Deneba Canvas and a others. He
started a mobile framework company in 2007 called Ansca, Inc. and games/apps created with
the Corona SDK have been played by over 55 million users. Currently he is a technical advisor to
several startups.
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