Gram Games | GDG DevFest 15 "Killing Game Ideas at Hyperspeed"
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Killing game ideas at hyperspeed
1
ABOUT ME
GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015
● Game Designer for 8 years
● Working @Gram Games
● Experience in board games and f2p.
● 2 published boardgames
● 3 midcore, 2 casual f2p titles for masses
2
5 SHADES OF DRAMA
GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015
● Drama 1: do nothing
● Drama 2: do everything
● Drama 3: sit & wait
● Drama 4: pay blindly for UA
● Drama 5: evaluate with revenue
or downloads
3
PLAYING DICE
GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015
● Each game is a die
● We need to roll 10
● Thousand of apps each day
● Hard to get visibility and installs.
● Even harder to make a game that
resonates
4
COMPLEX vs. COMPLICATED
GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015
● Clear cause and effect
● Plannable functionality
● No emergent behaviour
● Can be solved with enough computing
power
5
HOW TO BEHAVE
GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015
● Trial and Error
● No long-term plans
● Iterations
● Data driven
● Constant Learning
● Fail fast
6
ANALYTICS
GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015
● Marketing Analytics
● Game Analytics
○ Tutorial Funnel
○ Level funnel
○ Durations & Counts
7
HOW TO ROLL 10
GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015
Dice Ideas Dice Production Dice Results
8
KNOWING THE RESULTS
GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015
● Realizing when you have the result.
● Which metric?
○ Installs?
○ Revenue?
○ DAU?
9
MINDSET CHANGE #1
GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015
● Make fun games instead of trying
to to get profit.
○ Save a lot of work
○ Do more relevant work
○ Fun games always win
10
FUN
GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015
FUN?
11
HOW TO TRACK FUN
GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015
● Fun game should retain it's players.
● They should come back for more!
● Magic number: Retention!
● What is it?
● Short term/long term
12
WHICH RETENTION
GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015
● Goal: leave instincts and see metrics asap.
● Target metric: day 1 retention!
● Not the exact number but closest one.
● Works for most puzzle, arcade, one-tap
games.
● Doesn't show clear success but shows clear
failure.
13
MVP
GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015
● What is it?
● Our definition
● Must/would/could
● Suggested Timebox: 3 days
14
MINDSET CHANGE #2
GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015
● Look for what you can remove
instead of what you can add.
● That last skin or sound you add
won't affect retention much.
15
WHY THE TIMEBOX?
GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015
● We chose to throw more dice, not
better dice
● Each idea has the same chance
● Makes you choose small games
● Reusable code whenever possible
16
GAME LAYERS
GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015
● Core Mechanic
● Main Loop
● Retention Layer
● Monetization Layer
● Superfan game
17
MVP FEATURES
GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015
● Core Mechanic
● Main Loop
● Onboarding
● Polish
● Retention Layer
● Monetization Layer
● Superfan game
18
MINDSET CHANGE #3
GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015
● Let others play it whenever it’s
playable, not when it’s perfect
● We are interactive artists and
have the fear of imperfection
● We have to deal with it.
19
USERTESTING
GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015
● Let people play when core mechanic is ready● And don't ever stop● Developers are always good● But also keep casual players in the loop
○ Do NOT answer○ Do NOT interfere○ Observe○ Take notes
● Best for: UI-UX problems, Initial difficulty problems, tutorial problems
20
INTRODUCING FAKE-LAUNCH
GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015
● Not soft launch, not global launch● Analytics Implementation required● Get 1k+ players in a week● Preferably 200+ players/day● Target d1 retention: ~40%● Observe other KPI’s (you can spot problems
or accidental unicorns)● Check onboarding, progress, level funnel● Check game / session durations and counts● Interpreting the result
21
WANT TO CONTINUE?
GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015
● Investor or financial partner?
● It will be much easier because of
metrics
22
MINDSET CHANGE #4
GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015
● F2P Games do not just grow
organically all by themselves.
● Most likely, you’ll have to do paid
acquisition
23
NEXT STEPS
GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015
Production● Full retention Layer● Monetization Layer● Plan/do superfan game● Full polish
Soft Launch● Get ~1k users each day● Choose some countries● Improve long term retentions● Improve monetization● A/B tests● Constant Iterations● Totally metric driven● CPI < LTV
Global Launch● Get rich
24
THE BUMP!
GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015
● 1000 users for fake launch?
○ Requires marketing experience
25
2TONS
GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015
● MVP planning
● Usertesting
● UA for fake launch
● No requirements
● No commitments
26
HOW GRAM GAMES DOES IT
GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015
● Best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas
● Friday Prototyping days!● Assign workforce for each game idea● Playable game with challenge at the end of
the first friday● Submission for fake launch to the store at the
end of second friday● 35% d1 retention target for first submission● 45% d1 retention target for next submission● Timebox of the best idea: 1 month.
27
CONCLUSION
GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015
● Try to make fun games instead of profitable games. Fun sells.
● Create minimum product, look for what you can remove instead of what you can add
● Implement analytics and try to reach the target metric
28GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015
THANK YOU!
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