Gram Games | GDG DevFest 15 "Killing Game Ideas at Hyperspeed"

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Killing game ideas at hyperspeed

Transcript of Gram Games | GDG DevFest 15 "Killing Game Ideas at Hyperspeed"

Page 1: Gram Games | GDG DevFest 15 "Killing Game Ideas at Hyperspeed"

Killing game ideas at hyperspeed

Page 2: Gram Games | GDG DevFest 15 "Killing Game Ideas at Hyperspeed"

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ABOUT ME

GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015

● Game Designer for 8 years

● Working @Gram Games

● Experience in board games and f2p.

● 2 published boardgames

● 3 midcore, 2 casual f2p titles for masses

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5 SHADES OF DRAMA

GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015

● Drama 1: do nothing

● Drama 2: do everything

● Drama 3: sit & wait

● Drama 4: pay blindly for UA

● Drama 5: evaluate with revenue

or downloads

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PLAYING DICE

GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015

● Each game is a die

● We need to roll 10

● Thousand of apps each day

● Hard to get visibility and installs.

● Even harder to make a game that

resonates

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COMPLEX vs. COMPLICATED

GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015

● Clear cause and effect

● Plannable functionality

● No emergent behaviour

● Can be solved with enough computing

power

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HOW TO BEHAVE

GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015

● Trial and Error

● No long-term plans

● Iterations

● Data driven

● Constant Learning

● Fail fast

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ANALYTICS

GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015

● Marketing Analytics

● Game Analytics

○ Tutorial Funnel

○ Level funnel

○ Durations & Counts

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HOW TO ROLL 10

GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015

Dice Ideas Dice Production Dice Results

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KNOWING THE RESULTS

GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015

● Realizing when you have the result.

● Which metric?

○ Installs?

○ Revenue?

○ DAU?

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MINDSET CHANGE #1

GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015

● Make fun games instead of trying

to to get profit.

○ Save a lot of work

○ Do more relevant work

○ Fun games always win

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FUN

GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015

FUN?

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HOW TO TRACK FUN

GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015

● Fun game should retain it's players.

● They should come back for more!

● Magic number: Retention!

● What is it?

● Short term/long term

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WHICH RETENTION

GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015

● Goal: leave instincts and see metrics asap.

● Target metric: day 1 retention!

● Not the exact number but closest one.

● Works for most puzzle, arcade, one-tap

games.

● Doesn't show clear success but shows clear

failure.

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MVP

GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015

● What is it?

● Our definition

● Must/would/could

● Suggested Timebox: 3 days

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MINDSET CHANGE #2

GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015

● Look for what you can remove

instead of what you can add.

● That last skin or sound you add

won't affect retention much.

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WHY THE TIMEBOX?

GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015

● We chose to throw more dice, not

better dice

● Each idea has the same chance

● Makes you choose small games

● Reusable code whenever possible

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GAME LAYERS

GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015

● Core Mechanic

● Main Loop

● Retention Layer

● Monetization Layer

● Superfan game

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MVP FEATURES

GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015

● Core Mechanic

● Main Loop

● Onboarding

● Polish

● Retention Layer

● Monetization Layer

● Superfan game

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MINDSET CHANGE #3

GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015

● Let others play it whenever it’s

playable, not when it’s perfect

● We are interactive artists and

have the fear of imperfection

● We have to deal with it.

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USERTESTING

GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015

● Let people play when core mechanic is ready● And don't ever stop● Developers are always good● But also keep casual players in the loop

○ Do NOT answer○ Do NOT interfere○ Observe○ Take notes

● Best for: UI-UX problems, Initial difficulty problems, tutorial problems

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INTRODUCING FAKE-LAUNCH

GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015

● Not soft launch, not global launch● Analytics Implementation required● Get 1k+ players in a week● Preferably 200+ players/day● Target d1 retention: ~40%● Observe other KPI’s (you can spot problems

or accidental unicorns)● Check onboarding, progress, level funnel● Check game / session durations and counts● Interpreting the result

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WANT TO CONTINUE?

GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015

● Investor or financial partner?

● It will be much easier because of

metrics

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MINDSET CHANGE #4

GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015

● F2P Games do not just grow

organically all by themselves.

● Most likely, you’ll have to do paid

acquisition

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NEXT STEPS

GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015

Production● Full retention Layer● Monetization Layer● Plan/do superfan game● Full polish

Soft Launch● Get ~1k users each day● Choose some countries● Improve long term retentions● Improve monetization● A/B tests● Constant Iterations● Totally metric driven● CPI < LTV

Global Launch● Get rich

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THE BUMP!

GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015

● 1000 users for fake launch?

○ Requires marketing experience

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2TONS

GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015

● MVP planning

● Usertesting

● UA for fake launch

● No requirements

● No commitments

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HOW GRAM GAMES DOES IT

GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015

● Best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas

● Friday Prototyping days!● Assign workforce for each game idea● Playable game with challenge at the end of

the first friday● Submission for fake launch to the store at the

end of second friday● 35% d1 retention target for first submission● 45% d1 retention target for next submission● Timebox of the best idea: 1 month.

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CONCLUSION

GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015

● Try to make fun games instead of profitable games. Fun sells.

● Create minimum product, look for what you can remove instead of what you can add

● Implement analytics and try to reach the target metric

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28GDC DevFest 2015 Istanbul, November 2015

THANK YOU!