Chroma Coders — Fun Game Dev Club :)

At GDC in San Francisco, I saw a fair amount of “indie”/experimental games”…all trying to provide an interesting experience to potential players.

What struck me about many of these games is that they took place in some unrecognizable world or land…or abstract theme…and had some unidentifiable monsters or some other non-mainstream theme.

I could see the potential in some of these games, but then realized that they may not get much play…because they are not suitable for a player’s FQ…

What is FQ…FQ stands for Fantasy Quotient…Most people in this world have a low fantasy quotient…they do not care about high fantasy themes like Orcs, etc…this past year, the rise in social games has shown that most players have a very low Fantasy Quotient…many players do not care about orcs and elves, etc. They are drawn to more realistic themes like Restaurants, Aquariums, and Farms. Something aspirational they can relate to in their everyday life.

As you develop your game, I think it is a good idea to make sure that your gameplay is wrapped around a theme/story that resonates with a potential player’s Fantasy Quotient (FQ). Using hidden lands and magical fantasies may work, but having a more relate-able and attainable theme…a theme that resonates with a player’s FQ…will help your game be more accessible to a wider audience.

So…what game are your working on…and what is its Fantasy Quotient?

Hey,

We made a list and took some notes on the more interesting sessions at GDC that may be relevant to smaller game developers looking to get players…here are some write-ups with more info on them…
Social Games in Japan:
http://www.slideshare.net/d3ntaku/jp-soc-games-v03 (these are the slides on the Japanese mobile social networks…the mafia game is called Kaitou Royale…and is reportedly making several million dollars each month)

Sporadic Play:
http://www.raphkoster.com/2010/03/10/gdc10-sporadic-play/
http://kotaku.com/5493252/call-of-duty-for-the-rest-of-them (this explains a potential implementation of Sporadic play)

Scaling Farmville:
http://www.raphkoster.com/2010/03/12/gdc10-scaling-social-games-robert-zubek/

Designing for Parents + Kids:
http://www.slideshare.net/jesseschell/designing-for-kids-and-parents-playing-together-3388050

Five Ways Games Can Make You Cry:
http://gamesnewsinfo.blogspot.com/2010/03/amiga-five-ways-games-can-make-you-cry.html

Interesting Stats from Facebook Talk:
400 million users on FB, just getting started as there are 1.7 billion folks on the Internet
does not include mobile

Over 3 billion photos uploaded every month on FB

FlashForward demo shows the power of social data to make a compelling experience

Incorporating real events into online play….
People are getting real-world flowers via online gameplay (Pet Society did this during Valentines)

Sharing is a popular social activity

Indie Social Game Development Talk by Loud Crowd CEO:
Discussed their latest game, Music Pets
Talked about how they went from 0 users to about 60,000 daily users

First they came up with 5 solid ideas they would love to develop. Put up ads on Facebook to see which one attracted the most users. The one with the highest click-through was “Music Pets”

When people clicked on the ad, they were taken to the app. If they installed, they saw a page that said “Coming Soon”

They developed the game and released it…and kept iterating and improving it. It is now an entirely different game thatn it was 7 weeks ago…but players still here…because involves in helping to build the game

Players like choice…make sure you allow a lot of ways to customize things in the game…like lots of items in the store, etc.

Paperback Writer: The Emergence of Interactive Story …
Stories in games helps to create irrational loyalty

Lessons Learned for Effective Stories In Games…
a) Super important to ease them into the experience
b) Remind player what they should be doing at all times
c) Keep the story light and fun
d) Provide plenty of instructions and hints
e) Show progress

Hey folks,

Here’s a video from last year’s GDC…some of the student developers from University of Southern California discuss the development of their IGF 2009 Student Finalist Game…Kid The World Saver

Hey folks,

Here’s a video from last year’s GDC…some of the student developers from University of Southern California discuss the development of their IGF 2009 Student Finalist Game…Kid The World Saver

Here is a game preview they put together…