作者：David Barnes

很多人思考过如何开发成功的社交游戏。经大量调查后，David Barnes将在本文中列举出游戏设计准则，确保你的社交游戏能够获得成功。采用以下10个准则，游戏可以获得大量玩家关注，盈利也随之而来。

如果你已有某种游戏创意，请参考这10项准则然后思考以下两个问题：你的想法是否具有每个准则？你能否优化游戏使之更好地实现这些准则，这么做会让游戏变好还是变差？

以下即是成功社交游戏的十项设计准则：

farmtown

1、将探索从目的变成行为。在多数电脑游戏中，你管理掌控资源的目标是为了继续探索游戏内容。比如，你保护角色数目、生命值和弹药（游戏邦注：这便是前述的“探索”）是为了免遭杀害而继续进展下去，击杀更多敌人最终打败BOSS。在社交游戏中，探索只是获得资源的方式，你可以在游戏世界中使用这些资源。就像《赶尽杀绝》所呈现的那样，积累弹药、生命值和角色数目是主要目的，杀死敌人只是实现此目的的方法。这看起来才像是社交游戏。如果你正在设计的是社交游戏，那就应该把探索从目的变成行为。

2、单人游戏机制，社交动态。最成功的社交游戏本质上是个简单的单人游戏，然后在这个核心游戏机制周围构建社交动态，可以是像高分榜这么简单的形式，但通常这种社交性会设计得更为精巧。如果你正在设计的是社交游戏，首先应该将单人游戏作为其核心，然后寻找可以将社交动态融入这个单人游戏的方法。

3、与陌生人竞争，与好友合作。社交游戏通常都有显示所有玩家的高分榜，多数社交游戏玩家专注于在总分榜单上获得提升，而不是打败自己的朋友。同时，朋友们喜欢在社交游戏中相互协作，游戏中“帮助朋友”选项是将人们带入游戏中的绝佳方法。寻找让朋友们在游戏中互相协助的方法，让非游戏玩家向玩游戏的好友提供礼品和支持。

4、鼓励玩家的自我表现。除了从朋友处获得帮助外，社交游戏玩家也想要向他们的朋友展示自己的成就。让玩家以他们可以向在线朋友炫耀的方式来布置和展示自己的游戏世界。应将某些漂亮或有趣的东西作为奖励，让玩家将其展示在自己的状态页面或与朋友共享。

5、游戏永无止尽。社交游戏应该永没有终点。玩家应该能够不断参与到游戏中，不断增加他们的得分，不断积累和花费新资源。将游戏设计成没有最终结局。如果你能给玩家的行为设定某种目标和让游戏含有故事性就更好了，但这二者不是必需品。

6、学习简单，进展简单。玩家可以在数分钟或更短时间内上手是游戏应该遵循的基本机制。无论玩家首次玩得有多糟糕，都应该向他们提供参与到游戏中的奖励。别让玩家感觉他们停滞不前，设计某些在每次玩游戏中都能够有所增加的事物。

7、支持所有玩家休验游戏。社交游戏无需高端硬件设备或最新的操作系统。只要他们愿意，任何拥有PC的人都可以玩你的社交游戏。要设计既可在200美元的10寸屏幕上网本上运行，也能在2000美元的苹果笔记本上体验的游戏。

8、虚拟货币和虚拟交易。多数社交游戏都有两种货币，一种玩家可以在游戏中赚取，另一种只能通过金钱购买。开发商让玩家养成用虚拟货币购买东西的习惯，然后让他们明白在游戏中花费金钱的简易性和有效性。取得平衡的设计技巧在于选择合适的只能用金钱购买的虚拟道具，玩家不使用这些道具也可让游戏继续进行下去，但仍然会在恰当的时候产生购买这些道具的强烈冲动。选择一系列虚拟产品，提供三种不同的获得方法：游戏虚拟货币，金钱购买和朋友赠送。

9、登录奖励。成功的社交游戏会时常鼓励玩家参与到游戏中。无论玩家在游戏中的表现是好还是孬，任何参与行为对开发商来说都颇有价值。因而，社交游戏通常会刺激玩家每天回到游戏中。真正残酷的游戏（游戏邦注：有些也往往是最成功的游戏）甚至会惩罚那些没有定期返回游戏中的玩家，让他们失去本应获得的金钱或资源。寻找鼓励玩家频繁回到游戏中的方法，但是对那些没这么做的玩家，惩罚措施不宜过于严厉。

10、轻松有趣。重点在于，多数Facebook游戏不是特别现实、暴力或有深度内涵。它们主要内容能让多数人感到愉快，比如餐厅、农场、动物园和岛屿等等。当然，黑帮和僵尸游戏同样流行，但最好别在社交游戏中表现得过于残忍。确保你的游戏能够让玩家脸上布满微笑。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

The 10 Principles of Social Game Design — at last, the DEFINITIVE LIST

David Barnes

There’s been a lot of speculation about how to develop a successful social game. Now, after extensive research, I can present to you the definitive list of game design principles that will guarantee you social game success. Just apply the 10 principles below and you’ll have herds of players ambling to your game like so many dumb cattle, ready to let you squeeze the milk of monetization out of their swollen, distended udders. (And if you don’t, it’ll only be because you didn’t apply them properly, all right?)

If you’ve already got a game concept in mind, run it past these 10 Principles and see: If your concept naturally fits each of these principles, and whether you can refine your game so that it meets these principles better — will doing so make the game better, or worse?

Without further ado, here are the 10 Principles of Social Game Design:

1. Nesting not questing. In most computer games you manage resources in order to keep playing so that you can compete “quests” — for example you conserve lives, health, and ammo so that you can progress further without getting killed, shoot more baddies, and finally defeat the boss. In social games the quests are simply a means to gain resources that you can use to “feather your nest” in the game world. Imagine a shoot ‘em up where the main goal was to amass ammo, health, and lives — and killing baddies was only a means to achieve that. That’s what social games are like. If you’re designing a social game, turn the relationship between nesting and questing on its head.

2. Single player mechanic, social dynamic. The most successful social games are at heart a simple, open ended single-player game. Built around that core game is a social dynamic — which can be as simple as a high score table, but is usually far more elaborate. If you’re designing a social game, build a 1-player game at the core, then look for ways that social dynamics can feed into and off the central single-player game.

3. Compete with strangers, co-operate with friends. Social games tend to have high score tables that feature all players, and most social game players focus on moving up the general table, not beating friends. On the other hand, friends love to help each other out in social games — and giving non-players ways to “help a friend” in the game can be a great way to introduce them to the game. Look for ways to let friends help each other in the game — let non-players give gifts and support to the game addicted friends.

4. Player self-expression. As well as getting help from friends, social gamers want to show their achievements to friends too. Let your players arrange and display their “nest” in a way that they’ll want to show off with their online friends. Design your games so that the main incentive and prize for succeeding is something beautiful or fun that players can display on their profile page or give to their friends.

5. The game never ends. A social game should never be “completed”. The player should always be able to continue engaging with the game, continue to increase their score, continue to amass and invest new resources. Design your game so that there is no definitive conclusion. If you can still give the player a sense of purpose and narrative then that’s a bonus, but not essential.

6. Easy to learn, easy to make progress. The basic mechanic of the game should be something that players can “get” in a matter of minutes… or less. Include loads of in game prompts to guide readers through their first play. No matter how badly your players play on their first go, give them a prize for taking part. And never put them in a position where they feel like they’re “stuck” — keep increasing something every time they play.

7. Accessible to all. Social games don’t require fancy hardware or the latest OS. Anybody with a PC should be able to play your social game if they want to. Design your game so that it’ll work on a $200 netbook with a 10 inch screen, as well as a $2000 Apple egobook.

8. Virtual currencies and virtual purchases. Most social games feature a fictional currency that you can earn in the game, and a different currency that you can only get by buying it with real dough. They get players hooked on “buying” stuff with the fictional currency, and then show that it’s much easier and more effective to just use real money. The trick of getting the right balance is to choose the right “real money only” virtual items so that players can do enough to get hooked without them but still have a strong incentive to cough up when the time is right. Choose a whole range of “virtual products”, and design for three different acquisition methods: in game “earned” currency, real “bought” currency, and gifts from friends.

9. Rewards for checking in. Successful social games want to encourage players to engage with the game regularly. It doesn’t matter whether the player is playing well or poorly — any engagement with the game is valuable for the developer. Therefore, social games often provide an incentive to the player just for turning up each day. The truly ruthless games (which also tend to be the most successful) will even punish the player for not coming back regularly — denying them access to money or resources that they rightfully earned. Look for ways to encourage your players back frequently, but try not to alienate people by punishing them TOO hard if they don’t.

10. Light hearted and fun. Importantly, most Facebook games are not especially realistic, violent, or “deep”. They focus on simple ideas that most people find pleasant and sweet — cafes, farms, zoos, islands, and so on. Of course, mafia and zombie games work too — but it is best not to get too brutal in a social game. Make sure your game puts a smile on its players’ faces.

What is the 11th principle? What other design concepts do you think are an essential part of the successful social game? Let rip in the comments below.

Do these principles just about cover it? What have I missed? And are these rules just made to be broken by creative, innovative indie developers? Tell me all about it, suckers. (Source: Facebook Indie Games)