作者：David Barnes

目前已经有许多文章阐述如何开发出成功的社交游戏。经过大量调查之后，今天我将分享某些游戏设计原则，确保你的社交游戏能够获得成功。采用以下10项原则，你的游戏便可吸引玩家蜂拥而至，让你获得从中盈利的机会。如果没有取得这种成果的话，原因只可能是你并没有正确地运用这些原则，难道不是吗？

如果你的脑中已经形成了某个游戏概念，那么将其与这10项原则比较，考察以下两点：

1、你的概念是否与每项原则相符。

2、你是否可以将游戏进行润色，使其对这些原则的符合程度更高？采取这些措施会让游戏变得更好还是更差？

social-gaming(from latestdigitals.com)

以下便是社交游戏设计的10项原则：

1、“筑巢”重于探索。在多数电脑游戏中，你管控资源的目标是能够在游戏世界中继续探索下去。比如，你保留生命数、生命值和护甲，这样你就可以在游戏中进一步发展下去，不被杀死、射杀更多对手并最终击败BOSS。在社交游戏中，探索只是获得用来在游戏世界中“筑巢”的资源的方式。某些射击游戏的主要目标是积累弹药、生命值和生命数，射杀对手只是实现目标的方式而已。社交游戏采用的便是类似的做法。如果你正在设计社交游戏，那么在一开始便要转变筑巢和探索二者间的关系。

2、单人机制，动态社交。最成功的社交游戏本质上都是简单开放的单人游戏。动态社交要以此为核心，最简单的形式就是高分排行榜，通常会采用更为复杂的方法。如果你正在设计社交游戏，就应该以单人游戏为核心。然后寻找将社交动态融合进核心单人游戏的方法。

3、与陌生人竞争，与好友合作。社交游戏通常有包含所有玩家的高分排行榜，多数社交游戏玩家关心的是在总排行榜上得到提升，而不是打败他们的好友。相反，好友们偏爱在社交游戏中互帮互助，让非游戏用户在游戏中“帮助好友”是将他们引入游戏的绝妙途径。寻找让好友们在游戏中互相帮助的方法，让非游戏用户向沉溺于游戏的好友提供礼物和支持。

4、玩家自我表现。除了获得好友帮助外，社交游戏玩家也希望能够向好友展示自己的成就。让玩家以他们可以向在线好友炫耀的方式来安排和呈现他们“所筑之巢”。游戏中成功的主要激励因素和奖励应当是某些玩家可以在个人页面呈现或赠送给好友的漂亮或有趣的事物。

5、游戏永远无法结束。社交游戏应当永远没有“结局”。玩家应当永远可以参与到游戏中、不断增加他们的分数、不断积累和投资新的资源。你的社交游戏应当没有结局。如果你还能给玩家某种目标感或故事叙述，那就更好了，但这些并非必要内容。

6、容易学习，容易取得进展。游戏的基本机制应当能够让玩家在数分钟的时间内掌握。游戏中的加载也可以用来指导玩家。无论玩家在游戏中的首次表现多么糟糕，你都要为他们的参与给予奖励。不能让他们感觉到自己“停滞不前”，让他们在每次玩游戏的时候都能感受到某些东西正在增加。

7、所有玩家均可体验。社交游戏不需要高级的硬件设备或最新的操作系统。如果玩家愿意的话，只要有台PC就可以玩你的社交游戏。你设计游戏的目标是：既可以在200美元10寸显示屏的上网本上运行，也可以在2000美元的苹果笔记本上运行。

8、虚拟货币和虚拟支付。多数社交游戏中都有你可以在游戏中赚取的虚拟货币和某种只能用金钱购买的货币。虚拟货币让玩家养成“购买”道具的习惯，然后告诉玩家用现实货币购买会更加简单而且效果更好。在这方面取得良好平衡的技巧在于选择合适的“只能用金钱购买”的虚拟道具，这样玩家会被吊足胃口，在时机恰当时就会想去购买。选择某些“虚拟商品”，并为其设计3种不同的获取方法：游戏内“赚取”的货币、现实货币和好友赠送。

9、登录奖励。成功社交游戏会鼓励玩家定期登录游戏。无论玩家在游戏中的表现是好是坏，任何人对游戏的参与对开发商来说都是有价值的。因而，社交游戏通常会为每天都登录游戏的玩家提供奖励。残酷的游戏（游戏邦注：有时也可以成为成功的游戏）甚至会惩罚那些未定期回到游戏中的玩家，让他们无法得到某些金钱或资源。你应当找到鼓励玩家频繁回到游戏中的方法，但是不要给他们过于严厉的惩罚。

10、轻松有趣。重点在于，多数Facebook游戏并非现实主义、暴力或有深层含义的内容。它们专注的是多数人觉得轻松愉快的东西，如咖啡馆、农场、动物园和岛屿等。当然，黑帮和僵尸游戏也不错，但是此类社交游戏不可过于鲁莽。确保你的游戏能够让玩家欢笑。

游戏邦注：本文发稿于2010年2月27日，所涉时间、事件和数据均以此为准。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

The 10 Principles of Social Game Design

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:

1. If your concept naturally fits each of these principles, and

2. 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.

11. 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)