Dori Adar presents:

How to Make People Love Your Game

In 90 seconds (or less)

5 min

read!

A High Quality Deck!

Whether you’re going steady, friends for the weekend,

or just making out in the bathroom...

We all have relationships with our games.

But we only have so much time and patience for new friendships.

So no matter how profound, beautiful or fun your game is

Only 20% of games make it past the first play session.

Hi. My name is Dori Adar. I make games for living.

doriadar@gmail.com @ Dori Adar

And I wanna get your game ready for the most important event of its life.

The First Date

Part 1

First Impression

Be Casual

The player launches your game for the first time.Put on your best smile. Your 1st date begins.

You have less than 3 minutes to get the user hooked or at least interested.

The player must go through your 1st game loop to completion in the first session.

Here’s how some games do it:

Splash screen

Loading screen

Intro clip Map TutorialBooster pop up Gameplay RewardCover

page

Here’s how some games do it:

Too long!

Appears too late!

Splash screen

Loading screen

Intro clip Map TutorialBooster pop up Gameplay RewardCover

page

The trick is to skip unnecessary steps.

Spider Man Unlimited (Gameloft)

Splash screen

Loading screen

TutorialCover page

Gameplay Reward

Straight into the action with minimum

explanations.

Epic reward- killing a boss in the

first gameplay.

Tutorial Gameplay RewardSplash screen

Loading screen

Cover page

Tutorial Gameplay Reward

Intro clip comes after the gameplay, as a part of the reward for killing the boss.

Result: Less users skip the video.

Intro clip

Core loop time: 90 seconds

Spider Man Unlimited doesn’t let the player die during the tutorial, so completing the loop is inevitable.

Good call, Spidey!

Monument Valley (US TWO)

Splash screen

Loading screen

Tutorial Gameplay

Splash + loading screens combined. No cover page!

Cover page

Reward

Splash screen

Loading screen

Tutorial Gameplay

Dive into the first puzzle.

Cover page

Reward

Splash screen

Loading screen

Tutorial Gameplay Reward

Cover page as a beautiful reward.

Cover page

Core loop time: 25 seconds

Flappy Bird (Dong nguyen)

Splash screen

Cover page

Tutorial Gameplay Reward

The surprising “game over” is the reward in Flappy bird.

Core loop time: 10 seconds

Sure, the smaller the game the less amount of time it takes to complete the first loop.

But even if your game has what it takes to be considered “marriage material”

Do not say it on your first date.Be casual.

Part 2

The Date

Know when to leave

We feel anxious when are interrupted in the middle of something.

Stop a song in the middle and you’ll be singing it in your head all day.

(I actually have the perfect song for you at the end of this deck, so you can try it!)

Stopping session “in the middle” will get the player to play the game more frequently.

This means that your game has to tell the user when to stop playing.

Candy Crush Saga, among others, uses the “Energy” method, AKA lives.

There are more elegant ways, however, to signal the player to leave the game.

Boom Beach has a very clear “end session”:No enemies on the map.

Monument Valley uses chapters for clear start and end sessions.

And in this game (Cow Evolution), after 2 mins of cow-merging there’s just nothing to do until the next money batch.

To sum it up: keep the date short and leave the player wanting more.

Part 3

The Pursuit

Be Classy!

You should call after the first date.Just don’t beg.

The key here is to push the right trigger at the right time.

This depends on when your player is accustomed to playing and what he considers a reward.

Push notifications will work better when personalized.

Using the player name, level, or current mission can do wonders to players’ retention.

Better yet, be funny. Be seductive.

I never got a booty notification from a game, but I’d sure love to!

Ahmm..

Whatever you do, be sure to track these campaigns.Push notifications are not to be dismissed.

How to Make It Through Your First Date

First ImpressionThe gamer must go through the first loop to completion!

Sessions should be designed to leave the gamer hungry for more.The Dates

The right time + the right trigger + personalization. Monitor your campaigns.

The Pursuit

Excuse me….

Did you find this deck useful?Care to share it with your friends?

Email doriadar@gmail.com if you have any questions.I’d love to hear from you!

Dude! I have a question!

Why must I be seductive, manipulative, and play all those...games??

Yes, Game. What do you want???

Why can’t I just be….ME?

Because you give yourself away for FREE,that’s why.

(Wanna hear your song? It’s on the next slide)

* Thank you Sarah Keyes and Meital Harel for helping me out with this deck!