Game Design Secrets

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.

Read This First xxiii 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