Indie Game Design, Development and Donut holes

As many of you know Microsoft has announced the new XNA 4.0, Silverlight 4.0, Visual Studio 2010 and maybe some of the largest news since XNA’s initial announcement 3 years ago, the launch of Windows Phone 7 Series.

I know that I am a lot late in blogging about these new technologies but this is no reason to be any less enthusiastic. To developers this could be some of the biggest news in the industry. Think about it developers, a new emerging Microsoft technology poised to take on the Windows, Xbox 360, Zune/ZuneHD and Windows Phone 7 Series cellular platform devices.

If you have been living under a rock and haven’t heard about the new XNA, Silverlight and Visual Studio 2010 announcements you can check them out at the following address

Download: http://creators.xna.com/en-US/downloads
Videos: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/mix/videoGallery.aspx
Support: http://forums.xna.com/forums/

Personally I have already done some XNA porting from 2.0 to 3.1 and then to 4.0 and the whole curve was rather smooth. Those already familiar with XNA or Silverlight will be making Windows Phone 7 Series applications faster than ever.

Over the last month I have been researching/playing a number of games through the Facebook social network. I have learned a number of things over this time and would like to share some of the the things I have found important behind the overwhelming success of these games.

At first I was fully against the games through the Facebook site for a number of reasons ranging through security to an assumption that these games would be very simple flash, and turn based web games. Eventually I noticed a number of colleagues playing then started to notice a number of close friends and family were also playing these games. It was at this point I started to wonder just what the “big deal” was all about.

I decided to take the plunge and my first game to try was “Mafia Wars” by Zynga. This was however one of the turn based web games I mentioned previously with a bit of a twist as well had a huge fan following.

What was this game doing right that so many games weren’t?

The first thing I noticed was the almost viral sense this game had not only in its theme but also in the overall story line. This game was not shy to push itself down your throat by any means possible to get players, playing.

The next thing I noticed was how social the game forced me to be. Normally a game like this I would play by myself with a “get in and get out” game mentality however I found myself needing my friends to support different actions in the game which eventually led me be more social on a whole. (Again for those I annoyed with my notification spam I apologize.) This was a good step forward and one of the things missing in most games these days in my opinion.

The next thing I noticed about the game was how time limited it was and how it created a demand for real money transactions to help lengthen the limitations. I have been tempted a number of times with this game to accept an offer or buy coins with real money. While this isn’t totally good for the consumer this does help generate earnings which is great for the independent game developer.

The last thing I noticed about the game was how often updates were made. Each update would include new never before seen items that were not only available in game as quest rewards but also only available to those using real money as a pre-own base before the rest of the game population had access. This is another important aspect of what helps make this game popular I feel. The constant updates, extended story lines and new never before seen items that help players get more experience and further in the game.

There really quite a number of other aspects that these games offer players but these were the ones I felt were the core reason behind why these games are so popular with just about anyone and everyone. As a game designer and developer playing this game helped open my eyes to the some important aspects of game development that I seemed to be missing this whole time. Keep it fun, keep it quick and involve as many friends and family as possible in a positive enjoyable experience.

Let me recap in point form the important base elements I took away from playing the “Mafia Wars by Zynga” game:

1) Be viral and shove your game down as many targeted mail slots as possible. This isn’t a nice aspect of the business however this might be the one reason that great indie games fail to capture enough market share to turn a profit. No one knows your game even exists. So find a means that gets the word out about your game and best fits your moral judgment and work with it. This is a careful balance as we all hate spam so at least be responsible and tactful in your viral campaign.

2) Carefully plan to involve other people in the pursuit of in-game happiness. What I mean by that is make sure that you have enough “good stuff” that a player needs someone else to obtain. Not only will this reinforce the players experience but also a number of other players as well. Now do not make everything dependent upon friendly help as there might not always be friends standing by to help so ensure there is a good amount of single player obtainable “good stuff.” It was always nice to be able to “gift” a needed item to a friend or lend a hand taking out a boss. And this is a good part of what keeps players coming back in my personal opinion.

3) It is important to create rare but needed items that players may want or in some cases need to fulfill an in-game requirement. If there is no need for an item than there is no real value in that item. However what I found was that if an item is important to progression but also very rare to find in-game then players may be more apt to buy the item with real money. I know I have been tempted a number of times.

4) Update often with usable content. This is one of the most important reasons that these games have gained the popularity they have. Every few days there is something being added that will help me as a player get further in my race into mob rule or that I can gift/give to other friends to help them also take control of their mob family. Keep in mind when updating content to add value to your game. Value comes in many forms and might be considered as a new quest, better armor or even a new race or reward item that will make a player stronger.

I will further break down some of these into direct game play references in subsequent blog posts as well as break down my experiences with a number of other popular games found on the Facebook social media web portal.