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More About This Title Game Design Secrets
English
This invaluable resource shows how to put into action the proven design and marketing techniques from the industry's best game designers, who all started on a small scale. The book walks novice and experienced game designers through the step-by-step process of conceptualizing, designing, launching, and managing a winning game on platforms including Facebook, iOS, and the Web. The book is filled with examples that highlight key design features, explain how to market your game, and illustrate how to turn your design into a money-making venture.
Provides an overview of the most popular game platforms and shows how to design games for each Contains the basic principles of game design that will help promote growth and potential to generate revenue Includes interviews with top independent game developers who reveal their success secrets Offers an analysis of future trends that can open (or close) opportunities for game designersGame Design Secrets provides aspiring game designers a process for planning, designing, marketing, and ultimately making money from new games.
English
Wagner James Au is an author, consultant, and game designer, and was lead writer/mission designer for City of Eternals, a Facebook-based MMO acquired by Electronic Arts. He's written on the subject of gaming for Inside Social Games, Kotaku, and Wired. His blog New World Notes (nwn.blogs.com) covers gaming, 3D technology, and virtual culture.
English
Part I Overview 1
Chapter 1 Market Overview: iOS, Facebook, and the Web 3
Understanding Why to Choose These Platforms
over Others 4
Surveying the iOS Market 6
Surveying the Facebook Game Market 7
Surveying the Web Game Market 9
Summary 10
Chapter 2 iOS versus Facebook versus the Web: What’s the
Right Platform? 11
Reviewing What Works and What Doesn’t on iOS 12
What Works Best on iOS 13
What Doesn’t Work on iOS 15
Reviewing What Works and What Doesn’t in
Facebook Games 16
What Works Best on Facebook 16
What Doesn’t Work on Facebook 17
Reviewing What Works and What Doesn’t in Web Games 18
What Works Best in Web Games 19
What Doesn’t Work in Web Games 21
Summary 22
Part II Facebook 23
Chapter Facebook Games: The Users, the Money, and the Major Players 25
Understanding Who Plays Facebook Games and Who
Pays for Them 26
Identifying Facebook’s Big Three in Games and Three of Its Rising Stars 26
Getting to Know the Playing Field: The Genres Likely to Go Big, Do Well, or Stay Small 30
Understanding the Anatomy of a Successful
Facebook Game 33
Finding Out Where the Money’s Made in Facebook Games 34
Pitching Publishers: Who Buys/Publishes Indie
Games and Why 36
Summary 40
Chapter 43 Facebook Game Design: Basic Principles for Growth and Revenue 41
Gaining and Keeping Users 42
Earning and Growing Revenue 47
Chatting with Justin Smith of Inside Virtual Goods and AppData about Game Revenue 53
Summary 57
Chapter 5 Facebook Design Lessons from KIXEYE and 5th Planet Games 59
Designing Facebook Strategy Games the KIXEYE Way 60
Designing Story-Rich Facebook RPGs the 5th
Planet Way 68
Summary 73
Chapter 6 Future Trends and Opportunities for Facebook Games 75
Forecasting Future (Likely) Facebook Gaming Trends 76
Forecasting Unlikely Facebook Gaming Trends 78
Summary 81
Part III The Web 83
Chapter 7 Deep Dive into Web Gaming: Who Plays, Who Pays 85
Starting Out: An Overview of the Web Gaming Market 86
Monetization Advice for Indie Developers 92
Pitching Publishers: Who Buys/Publishes Indie Games, Why They Do, and What You Can Expect to Earn 93
Getting Your Game on Jay Is Games, the Web Game
Kingmaker 96
Summary 100
Chapter 8 Web Game Design: Basic Principles for Growth and Revenue 101
Conceiving and Branding Your Game 102
Distributing, Promoting, and Licensing Your Game 105
Optimizing Your Game’s Web Presence 107
Earning Revenue from Your Game 110
Summary 112
Chapter 9 Web Game Developer Profiles: Kingdom of Loathing, Nitrome, and Desktop Tower Defense 115
Learning from Kingdom of Loathing, the Indie Cult RPG 116
Learning from Desktop Tower Defense—and What Its
Developer Learned the Hard Way 119
Turning Hit Web Games into a Hit Web Game Factory, the Nitrome Way 121
Summary 125
Chapter 10 Future Trends and Opportunities for Web Gaming 127
Advertising-Based Payments and Secondary Markets 128
As HTML5 Rises, Does Flash Have a Future? 128
The Rise of Hard-Core on the Web 132
Twitter: A Blue Ocean of Opportunity on the Web 132
Google+ and Chrome: A Secondary Market Worth
Watching, Especially in South America 133
Asynchronous Multimedia Sharing Integrated
into Games 134
The Continued Growth of Web-Based App Stores 134
The Rise of Indie Development Funds 136
Summary 136
Part IV iOS 139
Chapter 11 Quick Survey of the iOS Game Market. 141
Surveying the iOS Market: What Players Spend,
What Developers Earn 142
Purchasing Revenue from In-App Payments 146
Purchasing Advertising and the Negligible Benefit
of Offer-Based Acquisitions 146
Pitching to and Working with Publishers 147
Summary 151
Chapter 12 iOS Game Design: Basic Principles for Growth and Revenue 153
Getting Started: Some Basic Concepts 154
Monetizing Freemium Games: Design Considerations 162
Closing Thoughts and Advice for Starting Out 164
Summary 167
Chapter 1 iOS Game Developer Profile: Tiger Style and Hatch 169
Learning from the Style of Tiger Style 170
Preparing to Hatch: Lessons Learned from Designing a Virtual Life iOS Game 178
Summary 184
Chapter 14 Future Trends and Opportunities for iOS Gaming 185
Surveying Upcoming iOS Trends: Experts Weigh In 186
Understanding the Future of iOS Games in China:
Overview and Advice from Yodo1’s Henry Fong 191
Summary 197
Part V Funding Your Game 199
Chapter 15 Is Your Game Ready to Get VC or Crowdfunding? 201
Weighing the Promises and Perils of Financing Your Game through VCs or Crowdfunding 202
Understanding How to Sell VCs on Your Game, Part I: Nabeel Hyatt, Spark Capital 202
Understanding How to Sell VCs on Your Game, Part II: Jeremy Liew, Lightspeed Venture Partners 205
Understanding Best Practices of Crowdfunded Games, Part I: Overview and General Advice 207
Understanding Best Practices of Crowdfunded Games, Part II: Advice from Adrian Hon, Developer of ZOMBIES RUN! 209
Summary 211
Part VI Game Design Docum ents and Fin al Thoug hts 213
Chapter 16 Game Design Documents: Tiger Style’s Spider and Waking Mars 215
Excerpts from Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor 216
Excerpts from the Waking Mars Design Documents 227
Summary 249
Chapter 17 Concluding Thoughts Before You Start Designing 251
Learning from Leading Designers—Lessons You’ll Need When You’re Ready to Design 252
Summary 257
Part VII Appendixes 259
Appendix A Resources for Designers 261
Where to Go Next: My Blog and Contact Info 262
How to Contact the Venture Capitalists Interviewed in This Book 262
Game Industry Analysts and Other Online Resources 263
Remote Game Developer Resources 263
Facebook Game Resources: Analytics 264
Facebook Game Resources: Publishers 265
Web Game Resources: Publishers 265
Web Game Resources: Monetization 269
iOS Game Resources: Analytics 270
iOS Resources: Publishers 271
iOS Game Resources: Chinese Distribution 271
Using Prototype Sketches, Storyboards, and Art as Design References 272
Appendix B 3 Design Principles 279
Best Reasons to Develop Low-Budget/Indie Games for iOS, Facebook, and the Web 280
Games That Do Best on iOS 280
Games That Do Best on Facebook 280
Games That Do Best on the Web 280
Facebook: Games That Will Do Well in the Near Future 281
Facebook: How to Determine a New Game Is Probably Successful 281
Facebook: How Many Paying Players Can You Expect? 281
Facebook: How to Find an Audience and Grow Your Game 282
Facebook Game Design Principles 282
Facebook Monetization Principles 282
Facebook Game Design Lessons from KIXEYE’s Paul Preece 283
Facebook Game Design Lessons from 5th Planet’s Robert Winkler 283
Features You Should Consider in Future Facebook Games 284
Web Games: Who Will Pay to Play Your Game? 284
Web Games: How Low-Budget/Indie Developers Can Make More Money 284
Web Game Design Advice from the Jay Is Games Editorial Staff 285
Web Game Design Principles to Attract an Audience 285
Web Game Deployment Principles to Maintain an Audience—and Encourage Them to Pay 285
Web Game Design Lessons from Developers with KIXEYE, Nitrome, and Kingdom of Loathing 286
Future Trends Web Game Designers Should Watch for and Take Advantage Of 287
iOS Games: How Large the Market Is and How Much You Can Expect to Make from It 287
iOS Games: How to Find Players and Get Them to Pay 287
iOS Games: Design Principles for the Platform 288
iOS Games: Design Principles Through Analytics 288
iOS Games: Design Principles for Monetizing Goods 288
iOS Game Design Lessons from Tiger Style’s Randy Smith and Impending’s Phill Ryu 289
Future iOS Trends Game Designers Should Watch For 289
What Venture Capitalists Nabeel Hyatt and Jeremy Liew Look for in a Game Project 290
How to Pitch Your Game Project on Kickstarter 290
Appendix C Glossary of Terms and Acronyms 291
Index 297
Part VI Game Design Docum ents and Fin al Thoug hts 213
Chapter 16 Game Design Documents: Tiger Style’s Spider and Waking Mars 215
Excerpts from Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor 216
Excerpts from the Waking Mars Design Documents 227
Summary 249
Chapter 17 Concluding Thoughts Before You Start Designing 251
Learning from Leading Designers—Lessons You’ll Need When You’re Ready to Design 252
Summary 257
Part VII Appendixes 259
Appendix A Resources for Designers 261
Where to Go Next: My Blog and Contact Info 262
How to Contact the Venture Capitalists Interviewed in This Book 262
Game Industry Analysts and Other Online Resources 263
Remote Game Developer Resources 263
Facebook Game Resources: Analytics 264
Facebook Game Resources: Publishers 265
Web Game Resources: Publishers 265
Web Game Resources: Monetization 269
iOS Game Resources: Analytics 270
iOS Resources: Publishers 271
iOS Game Resources: Chinese Distribution 271
Using Prototype Sketches, Storyboards, and Art as Design References 272
Appendix B 3 Design Principles 279
Best Reasons to Develop Low-Budget/Indie Games for iOS, Facebook, and the Web 280
Games That Do Best on iOS 280
Games That Do Best on Facebook 280
Games That Do Best on the Web 280
Facebook: Games That Will Do Well in the Near Future 281
Facebook: How to Determine a New Game Is Probably Successful 281
Facebook: How Many Paying Players Can You Expect? 281
Facebook: How to Find an Audience and Grow Your Game 282
Facebook Game Design Principles 282
Facebook Monetization Principles 282
Facebook Game Design Lessons from KIXEYE’s Paul Preece 283
Facebook Game Design Lessons from 5th Planet’s Robert Winkler 283
Features You Should Consider in Future Facebook Games 284
Web Games: Who Will Pay to Play Your Game? 284
Web Games: How Low-Budget/Indie Developers Can Make More Money 284
Web Game Design Advice from the Jay Is Games Editorial Staff 285
Web Game Design Principles to Attract an Audience 285
Web Game Deployment Principles to Maintain an Audience—and Encourage Them to Pay 285
Web Game Design Lessons from Developers with KIXEYE, Nitrome, and Kingdom of Loathing 286
Future Trends Web Game Designers Should Watch for and Take Advantage Of 287
iOS Games: How Large the Market Is and How Much You Can Expect to Make from It 287
iOS Games: How to Find Players and Get Them to Pay 287
iOS Games: Design Principles for the Platform 288
iOS Games: Design Principles Through Analytics 288
iOS Games: Design Principles for Monetizing Goods 288
iOS Game Design Lessons from Tiger Style’s Randy Smith and Impending’s Phill Ryu 289
Future iOS Trends Game Designers Should Watch For 289
What Venture Capitalists Nabeel Hyatt and Jeremy Liew Look for in a Game Project 290
How to Pitch Your Game Project on Kickstarter 290
Appendix C Glossary of Terms and Acronyms 291
Index 297
