Six fatal mistakes when managing a cross-platform project
Nika Entertainment company said in its blog on App2Top.ru how to escape from the main mistakes when working on social and mobile games.
At Nika Entertainment, we identify six basic problems that developers may face. This:
- update for the sake of an update;
- lack of planning;
- oversight of statistics;
- Gonzo Game Design (GGD);
- unsuccessful gifts;
- level design.
Each of them has a solution. All except one, the most important one, which stands above all of them and therefore was not included in our list.
The main and, in fact, the only problem is the aimless and ineffective waste of the team's time on unnecessary nonsense. When solving it, all other problems may disappear by themselves over time.
1. Update for the sake of update
Creative people often get carried away. They can come up with a couple hundred game features, offer to introduce cows.
At the same time, it is important to remember that any update must have a specific goal, lead to a certain result. For example, to increase useful clicks in the window, or to reduce the complexity of the location (which, accordingly, affects the passability and dumps), or to simplify the purchase procedure, or simply to correct the interface due to user complaints about non-obviousness.
How to avoid it?
Pay attention to the highest priority tasks in the product. Solve product problems consistently, calculate in advance the possible results of the release of the update.
2. Lack of planning
This problem sooner or later leads the game designer to the fact that he becomes unable to control the workflow.
The lack of careful planning leads to poor quality documentation. Because of this, the team's employment control may be lost. This affects the quality of the project, because if the team does not meet the deadline (and this happens if there is no control over the employment of the team), it begins to finalize it "in a hurry" during off-hours.
How to avoid it?
Plan every day. Each. With priorities and deadlines, commenting on all tasks on a daily basis (including reasons for postponing deadlines, reports on task completion). You report more to yourself, you report less to management.
3. Oversight of statistics
One of the main problems that all the others easily entail in the project.
Statistics are the pulse of the product, only it will show whether the new feature turned out to be successful or caused the loss of players.
The most important and, in our opinion, the key task of a game designer is to probe statistics several times a day.
Statistics are the main way to identify any problems in the product, the main source for making decisions on the next updates and priorities for subsequent tasks.
How not to get caught?
After each update, you can regularly view statistics. Ideally: watch her daily. This ensures maximum efficiency in solving the most critical problems.
4. Gonzo game design (GGD)
Most of the problems are the result of poor game design.
How can it be distinguished from productive game design?
First, productive game design leads to money and growth of metrics.
Secondly, the main platform for GGD is an unsuccessful analysis of the goals of the freshly introduced mechanics or the content of a competing product, or a lack of understanding of the goals and all the features of a competitive innovation.
Thirdly, GGD is, in fact, an update for the sake of an update problem scaled for the entire project. In other words, insufficient consideration of reliability and possible weaknesses of the introduced content /mechanics /features.
How to avoid it?
To learn the correct and competent reversal of competitors' features and an adequate assessment of their goals.
As mentioned in the first paragraph, the main point that must always be remembered is that when designing a game, it is important to adhere to clear goals in improving the product.
It is never worth giving out kilotons of currency to users under the pretext of increasing viral activity or calculating the lottery mechanism on conditions that are obviously unfavorable for the player. The player does not like difficulties and does not forgive mistakes.
In fact, every beer store is a competitor to the game designer, since the decisions that led to the GGD force the user to quit the game and invest their money in something else ... for example, in a bottle of light.
5. Unsuccessful gifts
One of the main reasons for the decline of economies is the competition of the main monetization aspects of the game with gifts that attract the player. A classic example is the issuance of premium and expensive items with a high probability through a lottery.
How to avoid it?
Calculation of the monetization balance of the introduced mechanics and/or limitation of the premium items/currency issued to players (within <0.5*LTV) is a sure way to avoid fakap and the collapse of the game's economy.
6. Level design
The financial success of three-in-a-row games directly depends on the level design.
If the designer does not understand the key aspects of level design, the majority of players will drop out before they pay off the cost of their involvement in the game.
A popular fakap is verbatim copying of game levels from hits (Candy Crush Saga, Farm Heroes Saga). Usually tracing paper is removed from the first levels. Then they do it themselves. It is clear that in this case, at further levels, such developers lose users.
The reason is the lack of information about the interests and preferences of the audience of their game, the lack of level design tests, the inability of the game designer to look at their levels with the eyes of the target audience and produce high—quality content from the point of view of the players.
How to bring the level design back to normal?
A series of A/B level tests, their constant balancing, the use of proven, obvious and successful geometries from the point of view of the players is a sure step towards obtaining cool levels.
Conclusions
Summarizing the above and maintaining a healthy lifestyle for players, we recommend creating a game wisely, managing your time and your team wisely, and who knows, maybe you will guide the audience of your game on the right path by providing it with an alternative to beer pubs — your application?
