Playliner: what are the daily tasks in mobile games

About the most popular types of daily tasks, their features and goals, as well as how top developers make them, – App2Top.ru told the research company Playliner.

I) Introduction

Daily Tasks (Daily Missions/Quests or “dailies” in game slang) is one of the most popular game mechanics today. It is embedded in 30% of the applications of the cash gaming Top 300 in the USA (this applies to both the App Store and Google Play).

The essence of the mechanics is a daily offer to the player to complete several tasks for a reward (as a rule, from five or more). Tasks can be completely different: collect resources, erect buildings, fight a certain monster or launch one or another game mechanics.

The purpose of daily tasks is to develop the user’s habit of returning to the game every day. In other words, the role of daily tasks in game projects is to increase retention.

Daily tasks in the game Summoners War: Sky Arena

Tasks are rarely difficult to do, and the rewards for them are substantial. Due to this, “dailies” are often perceived by users as encouragement for returning to the game.

The most common daily tasks are found in strategies and battlers. This is due to the additional role of daily tasks in games of these genres. Both strategies and battlers differ in a very wide game functionality. As a rule, it is not possible to explain it within the framework of the tutorial (more precisely, it is possible, but the quality of training suffers from this).

For this reason, daily tasks in these genres often act as educational mechanics that demonstrate the functionality of the game and teach the user (through setting a number of tasks) the game cycle.

II) Types of daily tasks

Daily tasks should be based on game functionality, economics and content. In a casual three-in-a-row with one currency, most likely, it makes no sense to include “dailies” with the distribution of currency for visiting the game, and this has long been the standard for strategies.

In the course of the study, we identified 23 types of daily tasks. We have segmented them by the functions they perform. In particular, “game mechanics” perform educational, ”story promotion“ encourages the user to progress, and ”reinforcement“ is aimed at getting the player to start working on the development of his army or hero.

• Game mechanics

1. Fight in the arena
2. Pass the test
3. Pass the dungeon
4. Fight the boss
5. Use the call

• Promotion of the plot

6. Pass the game level
7. Complete the game level on a difficult level

• Player Reinforcement

8. Level up your character
9. Improve the character’s skill
10. Improve equipment
11. Improve the technology
12. Improve the building
13. Create an item

• Excellence

14. Destroy the building
15. Protect the base from attack

• Resource consumption

16. Use a spell
17. Use energy
18. Make a donation to the clan treasury
19. Make a purchase in the store

• Social

20. Send energy to a friend
21. Fight with a friend

• Daily mechanic tasks

22. Temporary tasks
23. Timer tasks

Of the types described, only two are separate mechanics – “temporary tasks” and “timer tasks” – the rest are simple text queries (“kill so-and-so”, “earn a star”, “build a building” and so on).

Each request, as a rule, has a bar or a fraction showing the progress in execution, as well as the conditions of execution.

More often, the player is forced to interact with the main game mechanics (fight 5 times in the arena, complete 10 game levels, complete 3 dungeons), less often focus on additional functionality (raise the level of the character once, improve the skill once).

The reward for completing the task is given immediately. Tasks disappear after completion (or a “completed” mark appears in front of them) until the next day from the list of “dailies”. Whether there will be the same task the next day or the game will offer something new depends on the project.

We suggest carefully considering the types of daily tasks that are separate mechanics.

a. Daily tasks are temporary

As you can guess from the name, temporary tasks are active only for a limited time (a few minutes or hours). Moreover, they occur daily at certain hours. And if daily tasks in general are aimed at stimulating daily visits, then temporary daily tasks try to develop the habit of users coming to the game at a certain time.

The best time to set these tasks is from 6 to 8 pm, after the end of the working day. In many games, they put several temporary “dailies” at once, trying to capture lunch time as well.

The most common reward in this type of task is energy. Thus, these projects strive to maximize the length of traditional sessions.

Daily tasks in the game Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes. Bonus energy is available in several ranges: (12:00-14:00), (18:00-20:00), (21:00-23:00).

Daily tasks in the game Star Trek Timelines. Bonus energy is available from 12:00-14:00.

Daily tasks in the game Heroes Tactics: Strategy PvP. Bonus energy is available in several ranges: (12:00-14:00), (18:00-20:00), (21:00-23:00).

Daily tasks in the game Girls X Battle. Bonus energy is available from 18:00-20:00.

Daily tasks in the Dragon Soul game. Bonus energy is available from 18:00-20:00.

b. Daily tasks – timers

Mobile strategies often come across tasks that are not related to interaction with other mechanics within the game. Just click on the task itself to start the countdown, and then come into the game to take the reward.

We called this type of tasks timers. They serve as an additional motivator to return to the game and duplicate (or – depending on the project – introduce) “farm” mechanics into the project. In other words, the player does not plant a carrot and waits for it to ripen, but presses the button and waits for the prize.

Daily tasks in Mobile Strike and Game of War – Fire Age games.

III) Properties of daily tasks

In addition to the types of tasks, they may differ from each other in their properties. We have identified three:

• Rare
• Quantity
• Type of remuneration

a. The rarity of tasks (happens only for timer tasks)

There are games in which tasks are divided by rarity, similar to cards from boosters in KKI. The more unique the task, the better the reward the player will receive, but also the longer it will have to wait.

The rarity of daily tasks in the games Game of War – Fire Age and Mobile Strike.

The rarity of daily tasks in the games Invasion: Modern Empire and Vikings: War of Clans.

The rarity of daily tasks in the game Lords Mobile.

b. Number of tasks

The number of “dailies” may vary. Usually there are at least five of them. It happens much more. But note that few prefer to encourage retention with a large number of daily tasks. Only in 19% of the games that we investigated, you can encounter 10 or more tasks per day.

Chart of the prevalence of the number of daily tasks.

Daily tasks in the game Walking Dead: Road to Survival. 6 tasks.

Daily tasks in the Dragon Soul game. 6 tasks.

Daily tasks in the game Star Trek Timelines. 5 tasks.

c. Rewards

The type of reward often depends on the genre.

For example, three-in-a-row are power-up or game currency. In slots, you can only reward the player with game chips, other rewards will not interest the player much. In more complex genres (battles, strategies, RPG), the player receives resources, premium or free game currency, character fragments, powerups, game experience, equipment or items for crafting.

Table with popular genres and types of awards:

A note on rewards:

One of the most necessary and popular gaming resources is the premium currency of the game (or “hard currency”, it is usually purchased for real money). However, for completing daily tasks, the player is not in a hurry to be rewarded with the paid currency of the game. Only 28% of games provide such a reward. As a rule, we are talking about buttlers. Strategies and RPGs try to give it out as rarely as possible, and in three-in-a-row and slots, there is no opportunity to get premium currency at all.

By the way, rewards can both go directly “to the account” of the player, and to the inventory, where it must be activated. However, this type of encouragement is resorted to only in 19% of projects.

It should also be noted that for greater attractiveness, developers very often introduce a reward for completing all daily tasks. As a reward, the player receives a little more items, currency, experience, etc., but still a significant amount. This spurs the player to complete all daily tasks, going through the game cycle that was originally conceived by the developers.

Daily tasks in the game MARVEL Future Fight. For completing all tasks, the player receives premium currency.

Daily tasks in the game Scatter Slots: Fun FREE Casino. For completing all tasks, the player receives a large amount of free game currency, premium currency and powerup.

Daily tasks in the game Seven Knights. For completing all tasks, the player receives a card for summoning a character.

In the games Game of War – Fire Age and Mobile Strike, after the player reaches VIP level 7, the Daily Streak bonus is activated. By completing VIP tasks daily, the player will receive additional rewards.

In addition to receiving awards for each completed task or awards for all completed tasks, there are projects where the player is awarded only when the percentage of completed tasks for the day is reached.

Wartune: Hall of Heroes. Here the player has 17 daily tasks and a total of 4 rewards. The player gets points for completing tasks. After reaching a certain number of points, the player can pick up the reward. The progress indicator at the top shows the player’s success in completing daily tasks. There are not many awards, but in large numbers.

The same principle applies in the game Magic Rush: Heroes. Having scored a certain number of points, the player can open the chest, which is located inside. There are many awards in the chest at once.

IV. The functionality of daily tasks

In this chapter, we will cover in detail the functionality of daily tasks that we encountered in the framework of the study.

MONETIZATION FUNCTIONALITY

In some games, getting daily tasks is monetized.

a. Acceleration of task execution (happens only for timer tasks)

For example, in Empire Z, the “dailies” have an acceleration button. Clicking on it opens an interface where the player can speed up the task with the help of certain speed boosters. These boosters are already built into the game mode and allow you to speed up almost everything in strategies.

Accelerate the daily task in the game Empire Z with the help of game boosters.

Accelerate the daily task in Mobile Strike and Vikings: War of Clans games with the help of game boosters.

b. Instant execution of tasks (happens only for timer tasks)

Instant completion of daily tasks is available only in games where the VIP level is implemented. Upon reaching a certain VIP level, the player gets access to instant daily tasks so that he does not waste time.

Implementation of instant task completion in the game Stormfall: Rise of Balur. VIP 7 gives you access to instant completion of regular tasks. VIP 8 gives you access to instant execution of clan tasks.

In the game War of Warship: Pacific War, although there is a VIP interface, but it does not affect the instant execution of tasks in any way. The developers give the player the opportunity to instantly complete daily tasks using the game’s premium currency.

Instant completion of a daily task in the game War of Warship: Pacific War.

c. Updating the task list

Another gaming feature that monetizes daily tasks. By the way, it is also usually used in strategies. We are talking about updating the list of game tasks. Why wait for the next day if you can do a few more tasks? After completing all the game tasks, the player can update the list with a special booster or powerup.

Daily tasks in Mobile Strike and Game of War – Fire Age games. Tasks can be changed by clicking the Chance button at the bottom. Changing tasks will give you the opportunity to get more unique tasks with better rewards.

Boosters for updating daily tasks in Mobile Strike and Game of War – Fire Age games.

But, of course, strategies are not limited here. In Mortal Combat X, the player has the opportunity to change the task once a day for free. Similar shifts exist in the games Fallout Shelter, Hearthstone.

Mortal Combat X

In the game Fallout Shelter, every day the player has the opportunity to change one of the daily tasks. A new task appears immediately, that is, the player has 3 tasks constantly active. These tasks are saved for the next day if the player has not completed them.

Hearthstone also offers the player 3 tasks per day with the possibility of replacing one of them. If all 3 tasks are completed, the player will have to wait for the next day to receive a new one. The player gets only one task per day. The other two slots will be empty if the player performs tasks daily. Tasks are saved for the next day if the player has not completed them. Receiving new tasks stops if all 3 slots of daily tasks are occupied.

INFORMATION FUNCTIONALITY

Of course, everything is not limited to monetization tools. Daily tasks have a number of equally important tools, the role of which is to notify users about the status of “daily”.

a. Progress display

Almost half of the games (48%) have a graphical indicator for each task, which displays the player’s progress in completing the daily task. Thanks to this, the player understands the scale of the task and can predict how much more time he will need to complete it.

Daily tasks in the game MARVEL Future Fight. Progress Bar.

Displaying the player’s progress in the FINAL FANTASY BRAVE EXVIUS and Brave Frontier games.

In strategies, the progress of completing game tasks is displayed on the main screen of the game. The progress window can be located at the top or bottom of the screen. Using a special button, the player can expand or collapse it. Knowing the number of his accelerators, it is convenient for the player to calculate the time to accelerate this or that task. The acceleration button should also be present in this interface. But at the same time, the screen itself is very overloaded.

Displaying the overall progress of the player and separately for each task in the game Seven Knights.

b. Timer

The presence of a timer before the appearance of new daily tasks allows the player to calculate his playing time. It is important for some players to know when they can get new bonuses offered for completing tasks in order to plan their development in the game. This statement is valid only for games with a lot of internal game mechanics and if the rewards for daily tasks are really significant.

Timer at the top of the interface of daily tasks in the Slots Huuge Casino game.

Timer at the top of the interface of daily tasks in the game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Legends.

c. Help

Also, sometimes developers place a help button where the player can get all the information he needs about daily tasks or information about the subject that the player can get.

In the game Lords Mobile, there is a button with at the top right.

d. Additional information about tasks

Gives information about what awaits the player after completing the task.

Descriptions for daily tasks are located right on the button. The Seven Knights game.

When you click on a task, a description for it appears on the right. Castle Clash game.

In the Age of Kings game, not all daily tasks are available to the player to complete. To unlock new daily tasks, the player must reach a certain level.

V. Rare mechanics of daily tasks

There are techniques that developers rarely use when creating daily tasks. In this chapter we have focused on two similar techniques.

a. Changing the task depending on the day of the week

In the games below, the tasks depend on the day of the week.

This technique is often found in battlers, in which the player is informed on what day of the week a certain dungeon will be available to him, in which he will be able to get the desired item.

Marvel Contest of Champions has only 8 tasks. One task is active daily.

Daily tasks in the game Mortal Combat X. There are only 3 daily tasks available to the player every day. The goal changes every day.

Daily tasks in the Mahjong Treasure Quest game. There are only 3 daily tasks available to the player every day. The goal changes every day.

b. Access to daily tasks

Some projects restrict access to some of the daily tasks if the player has not scored a certain level. These can be called one of the ways to stimulate the player.

For example, there are only 8 tasks in the Marvel Contest of Champions already mentioned above. One task is active daily, 1 task is active immediately, and 2 tasks become available from level 7.

Daily tasks in the game Walking Dead: Road to Survival are available to the player from level 6.

Daily tasks in the game Bubble Witch 2 Saga are available to the player from level 30.

VI. Examples of daily tasks

As we have noted more than once a little above, in different games and different genres, daily tasks are used in different ways. Just below you can find examples of daily tasks from games of different genres.

Daily tasks in the game Bubble Witch 2 Saga. Every day a player can complete one task and get a reward for it. In this case, a potion.

Daily tasks in the Legion of Heroes game. The player must simply upgrade the game store a certain number of times to receive rewards.

A daily task in the game Clash for Dawn: Guild War. The player receives a reward for the daily repost of the game page on Facebook.

Daily tasks in the game Kritika: The White Knights. The player receives rewards for completing each of the tasks. Also, for completing all daily tasks, the player receives a premium game currency as a reward.

Daily tasks in the game Scatter Slots: Fun FREE Casino. For completing all tasks, the player receives a large amount of free game currency, premium currency and powerup.

Daily tasks in the game in the Slots Huuge Casino game. The player receives chips as a reward for completing them.

Daily tasks in the game in the game Angry Birds 2. The player receives 3 tasks daily. The reward for completing tasks is the premium currency of the game.

Daily tasks in the game in the game Injustice: Gods Among Us. Every day the player receives 3 tasks, one of which can be changed. The reward is the free currency of the game.

Daily tasks in the games Dragons of Atlantis and Empire Four Kingdoms. The game Empire Four Kingdoms has a list of daily tasks, completing which the player will receive an additional reward. The list is updated daily, as is the player’s progress in completing tasks. There are 12 tasks in total. The player receives rewards for completing 3, 6, 9, and 12 tasks. The awards are listed on the right. As a reward, the player receives coins, resources, items to protect the castle from attacks, warriors and paid currency. Tasks can be completed in any order. For each task individually, the player also receives a reward.

Daily tasks in the Deck Heroes game. For completing each task, the player receives experience and a fragment of a coupon for summoning. After completing all the daily tasks, the player collects a coupon for summoning and can use it in a special interface to get a new game character.

Daily tasks in the game Dragon Blaze: Chapter 2. Rewards for completing daily tasks can be completely different — gold, paid currency, reward chests.

VII. Conclusion

We have reviewed the types, properties and functionality of daily tasks in the material.

We hope that this has allowed those who are just starting to work with daily tasks to take a fresh look at the topic.

Again, their primary role is to retain users, as well as, if we are talking about a large and complex project, to train players to work with numerous project mechanics.

We emphasize that the game cycle can always be improved by daily tasks. Properly implemented mechanics will improve retention rates, give players a reason to return to the game. With the help of daily tasks, you can control the submission of new game content and improve the player’s understanding of the game itself.

Other studies and the source are here.