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分析《Kingdom Rush》盈利设计问题及改进方法

发布时间:2013-03-25 17:50:53 Tags:,,,

《Kingdom Rush》是一款由Ironhide Game Studio开发和Armor Games发行的免费flash网页游戏,于2011年7月28日上线,并在当年12月19日登陆iPad平台,2012年6月28日登陆iPhone平台。

简而言之,这款游戏着实令人惊叹。它是如此令人爱不释手,以致于我不敢带着iPad去上班。尽管它是如此出色,但却极少出现在iPad收益榜单前50名。这不禁令我好奇其中究竟存在什么原因。我认为这款游戏至少可以赚取比现在多两倍的日收益,并用一两个月时间开发一个Android版本再多赚数百万美元。

Kingdom Rush(from deconstructoroffun)

Kingdom Rush(from deconstructoroffun)

核心循环

《Kingdom Rush》的核心循环与典型的付费游戏一样,只有关卡本身渐进式的难度,而没有约束机制。尽管没有约束机制,《Kingdom Rush》还是引进了一种被称为Gems的软货币,并出色地使用了Star机制。

玩家在这款游戏中可通过杀敌而赢取Gems。所以无论输赢你都会在战斗结束时赢得一些Gems,并在之后使用这些Gems购买一些升级道具用来提高打胜战的机率。玩家还可以通过IAP购买Gems。

赢取Stars是一桩更大的事情。每个关卡都有3个不同挑战。第一个是“标准”挑战,玩家只需要在大批敌人的进攻下存活下来就行。玩家如果在这一轮“标准”挑战中就打败敌人,他将赢得3个Stars,如果在另外两个不同挑战模式中也胜出,还将赢得额外两个Stars。

core loop (from deconstructoroffun)

core loop (from deconstructoroffun)

Stars可用于永久性升级防御力(游戏邦注:例如获得更多攻击点数等),以及解琐更多英雄。所以你玩游戏的技术越好,防御力就越强,这样你重返之前挑战模式的关卡时就会赢得更多Stars,得到更高的防御力。换句话说,游戏中的每个关卡都有很棒的重玩性。

步骤1:Gems——隐藏的软货币

我是玩了10小时的游戏之后,才发现每场战斗都可以让我赢得Gems,并且可以使用Gems购买升级道具。你可能会问为什么我花了这么长时间才注意到游戏中的软货币?

首先,游戏并未在关卡结束屏幕中告知你赢得了Gems。

victory(from deconstructoroffun)

victory(from deconstructoroffun)

其次,你无法在游戏中任何地方看到Gems的收支情况,除非你特意跑到游戏内置商店去看。

map(from deconstructoroffun)

map(from deconstructoroffun)

第三,游戏并不鼓励或者强迫你去道具商店,导致大量玩家在战斗结束后都没有Gems的概念,更不要说是用这些Gems去购买升级道具的意识。在我看来,Gems的存在感出现得太迟了,等我发现时我已经拥有许多Gems,也就没有必要再去购买更多Gems。为什么不在我输掉一个关卡,或者没有赢得三颗星时弹出让我去购买升级道具的窗口呢?

ingameshop(from deconstructoroffun)

ingameshop(from deconstructoroffun)

如果修复了以上三个问题,相信将近100%的活跃玩家都会理解Gems的概念。这可以让更多玩家在一开始就积极进入游戏内置商店,使用Gems购买升级道具。活跃的Gems耗量可以转化成更多Gems需求,从而增加更多的IAP销量。

步骤2:英雄室——出色的理念,糟糕的执行

我很喜欢这款游戏的“英雄室”理念。在每场战役之前,你可以选择一个英雄,并指派他/她上战场。游戏中有7个不同的英雄,其中3个免费,4个需要用IAP购买。但这个出色理念的执行方式却实在不敢令人恭维。

要解琐英雄室,你得拥有15个Stars,但游戏并没有采取措施鼓励玩家积满15个Stars以用于一次性的大额消费,因为玩家打败一个关卡时,游戏就会让他们用掉所有的Stars来升级防御力。

hero room(from deconstructoroffun)

hero room(from deconstructoroffun)

实际上在之后的关卡才能解琐英雄室。这意味着两种情况,首先,即使是留存率极高的游戏也会在玩家到达之后的关卡中流失至少30%的活跃用户,因为他们此时已经无法再打通所有关卡。

第二,在之后的关卡中,玩家已经没有多少可玩的内容,此时他们又怎么会积极掏钱呢?他们已经在无需花钱的情况下玩了这么久,而现在你又只给他们3个新的英雄,那他们还有什么必要花钱获得第4、第5或第6个看起来只是略有优势的英雄?

真正优秀的盈利策略会更早引入英雄室。例如,迫使玩家选择关卡之后解琐英雄室。引进英雄室之后,就要为每个英雄设置合理的Stars价格。为什么要把所有的英雄价格都设置成15个Stars,为什么不把第一个英雄设置为3个Stars,第二个为5个Stars,第三个为7个Stars?这种方法与向玩家呈现刷任务机制和付费画面一样,会驱使玩家购买付费英雄。

步骤3:价格点——不能再降价

在《Kingdom Rush》中,玩家可购买4种不同的英雄,以及3种不同的Gems内容包。一个英雄花费是1美元,最大的Gem内容包售价为5美元。所以在理想情况下,玩家会购买一个英雄和一个Gem内容包。这会让你花费多少钱?4-6美元,没错,最多只有6美元。

首先,我会更改Gem内容包的价格,将其从当前的0.99美元、2.99美元和4.99美元改成2.99美元、5.99美元和9.99美元。其次,我们优化Gem内容包上面的促销文本(详见下图)。现在我并不知道中等包裹中含有6000还是7500个Gems。简单地添加一个“买6000个,免费赠送1500个”的标志就可以了。另外,我还会加上硬编码的价格,这样游戏不但可呈现当前售价,还可以展示当前货币的价格,这样有助于提高转化率。此外,通过服务器获取价格也便于在无需创建新框架的前提下快速调整。

in game shop(from deconstructoroffun)

in game shop(from deconstructoroffun)

第二个是英雄定价。每个付费英雄仅售0.99美元,真是一个蹩脚的策略。毕竟即使是同一家商店中的土豆,也会有不同的价格。价格传递着价值。如果所有的付费英雄都是同样的价值,那么还有必要做出4种不同的英雄让玩家选择吗?为什么不只推出一个同种价值的英雄?只要将这些英雄售价简单设置为1.99美元、2.99美元、4.99美元和9.99美元就行了。

Hero Room(from deconstructoroffun)

Hero Room(from deconstructoroffun)

步骤4:出售关卡

从我个人经验来看,在iOS平台上出售关卡包值得一试。最重要的是,开发者应该引进付费内容包,一些独特而很棒的东西。最好在游戏玩法上略有不同。

付费内容当然也要与核心游戏存在关联。一个典型列子就是向打赢付费内容包的玩家奖励一些可用于核心游戏的东西(游戏邦注:请阅读相关文章–分析《小鳄鱼爱洗澡》中的IAP机制)。

步骤5:推出Anroid版本并盈利

《Kingdom Rush》目前仅有网页版和iOS版本,下一步应该登陆Android平台。但在这款游戏移植到其他平台之前,它最好先优化Gems、英雄室、定价以及可购买的额外内容。

Android项目愿景

应用售价:免费

ARPPU:2.41美元

日常转化率:0.3%

DAU:100万

月总收益 > 21.7万 + 3万广告收益

ARPPU(from deconstructoroffun)

ARPPU(from deconstructoroffun)

小改变孕育大影响

Ironhide已经制作了一款很优秀的游戏,当然他们还该优化游戏流程,尽早为玩家引进Gems和英雄的概念,并重新调整售价点。这些都是小改变,但却可能极大增加Ironhide的收益,从而让他们创造出更多很棒的游戏。(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

Kingdom Rush – 5 Steps to Double Revenue

Kingdom Rush is developed by Ironhide Game Studio and published by Armor Games, released as free flash browser game on July 28, 2011 and on the iPad on December 19, 2011 and on iPhone June 28 2012.

In short the game is amazing. It’s actually so good, that I couldn’t take my iPad to work cause I couldn’t stop playing the game. Yet despite being such a great game it has barely hit top 50 grossing chart on iPad. This got me thinking. And it got me blogging. In the end I do believe that you could at least double the daily revenue of the title and make few millions on a free version for Android with a month or two of development.

The Core Loop

Kingdom Rush’s core loop is that typical for a paid game in the sense that there’s no restriction mechanics other than the progressive difficulty of the levels themselves. But despite not having restriction mechanics Kingdom Rush does introduce soft currency called Gems and makes exemplary use of the Star mechanics.

In Kingdom Rush players earn Gems by slaying enemy troops. So win or lose you’ll still pocket some Gems once the battle is over. Gems can then be used to purchase from a narrow assortiment of various consumable power-ups that can be used to win the battles. Players can also buy Gems via IAP.

Earning Stars is a bigger deal. Each level has 3 different challenges. First there’s the “normal” challenge, where player has to simply survive under the waves of enemy attacks. In case player really gives it to the enemy in the “normal” challenge he’ll earn 3 Stars and will be given chance to earn 2 more Stars by besting the same level in two different challenge modes.

Stars are then consumed to permanently upgrade defenses (more hit points, attack points etc.) as well as to unlock heroes. So the better you play the better defenses you’ll get, which enables you to go back and best previous levels in challenge modes and earn more Stars to get even better defenses. In other words, great replay value for each level!

Step 1: Gems – the Hidden Soft Currency

I played the game for 10 hours before I realized that I’m getting Gems from each battle and that I can actually use these Gems to purchase power-ups. Why it took me so long to notice the soft currency of the game you ask?

First of all they don’t tell you about the gems earned in the level complete screen.

Got 3 Stars. Do you see how many Gems I earned?

Secondly you don’t see your Gem balance anywhere in the game, unless you specifically go to the in-game shop.

The Star balance is shown very clearly on the top right.

I’m also guided to use the Stars for upgrades. Do you see how many Gems I have?

Thirdly the game doesn’t encourage nor force you to the power-up store at any time leaving huge chunk of players totally unaware of the whole Gems concept let alone the possibility to purchase power-ups. In my case I realized the existence of the Gems very late and at that point had already so much Gems that there was no point for me to purchase more. Guys, how about a popup encouraging me to purchase power-ups when I fail a level or when I earn less than 3 stars?

Finally a place where I can see my Gem balance and actually use some Gems. Oh, and I’m actually encouraged to monetize once I’m running low on Gems.

By fixing the three issue above arguably near 100% of all active players would understand the concept of the Gems. This would lead  to far more players actively entering the in-game shop from the get go and using their Gems to purchase power-up. Active consumption of Gems would convert into greater demand for Gems which would then result as increased IAPs of the Gems packs.

Step 2. The Hero Room – Great Concept, Poor Implementation

I love the Hero Room concept. Basically how it works is that before each battle you can choose one of the heroes and command him/her on the battlefield. There are 7 different heroes out of which 3 are free on 4 can be purchased with IAP. But this awesome concept is implemented in very silly way.

Unlocking the hero room requires you to have 15 Stars, but having 15 Stars is not encouraged by the game as the players are taught to consume all the Stars they earn for beating a level to upgrade  their defenses instead of saving them for one big purchase.

15 Stars unlocks the Hero Room and gives 3 free heroes and 4 paid heroes ($0.99 each)

In reality players unlock the Hero Room at later levels. This means two things. Firstly even extremely well retaining game has lost at least 30% of its initial active users by the time they reach the later levels simply because they’re unable to beat all of the levels till that point.

Secondly it’s hard to believe that players will monetize well at final levels when there’s not that much content left. They’ve already gone this far without using any money and now you’ve just given them 3 new heroes to play around with. Why should the spend to get 4th, 5th or 6th Hero that is only marginally better?

A sound monetization strategy would be to introduce the Hero Room earlier. For example force player to unlock it after chosen level (I’d take a look at the funnel and open the Hero room prior to a level with the biggest drop off). After introducing the Hero Room it would make sense to Star price each of the Heroes individually. Instead of unlocking all Heroes for 15 Stars how about giving the first Hero for 3 Stars, second for 5 and third for 7 Stars? This approach would drive players to purchase the premium Heroes as they would be presented with grind or pay scenario.

Step 3: Price Points – You Just Can’t Go Lower

In Kingdom Rush players can buy 4 different heroes and 3 different packages of Gems. A Hero costs 1$ and the larget Gem pack costs 5$. So in ideal case player would buy a hero and a Gem pack. How much will that set you back? 4$-6$. Yep. Maximum of 6$…

First of all I’d change the Gem pack prices from current 0.99$, 2.99$ and 4.99$ to $2.99, $5.99 and $9.99. Secondly I’d improve the sales text on the Gem packs (check the image below). Now I don’t know if I’m getting 6000 or 7500 Gems with the medium pack. Simply adding a plus sign 6000 + 1500 FREE would do the trick. Thirdly I’d take away with the hard coded prices. This way game could not only show the current prices but also show the prices in the right currency, which is always good for conversion. Also fetching the prices from the server allows quick modifications without the need for a new build.

How many gems are you getting in medium and large packs?

Second is the Hero pricing. Asking 0.99$ for every premium Hero is just stupid. I mean even potatoes in the store have different prices. Prices are used to communicate value. Now if all of the premium Heroes are of the same value why there are 4 different Heroes players need to choose from? Why not only have one if they are of the same value? Easy fix is to simply price the premium Heroes 1.99$, 2.99$, 4.99$ and 9.99$ (also slap a Most Popular sticker image on the 4.99$ Hero and you’ll in for a monetization treat…)
All the premium Heroes cost 0.99$ each, which makesabsolutely no sense at all.

Step 4: Sell Us Levels, Please!

From my experience selling level packs on iOS is definitely worth the development cost. Most importantly developers should introduce the premium content pack as a side story. Something unique and cool (just go bananas with the graphics). Preferably with some slight twist in the game play.

Premium content should also be some way tied to the core game. A good example is to reward player for beating the premium pack with some item they can be use in the core game.

Check out my previous blog post on selling paid content for more deeper breakdown of various mechanics:

Where’s my Water and The Art Selling Paid Content

+ Play Angry Birds Star Wars and you’ll get exactly what I’m talking about…

Step 5: Going Android and Making $

Kingdom Rush can be currently played on web and iOS. Next step would be Android. But before the game is ported on either of the platform the game really needs to improve the demand for Gems, Hero Room, pricing and add purchasable extra content.

Android business case

App price: Free

ARPPU: $2.41

Daily Conversion: 0.3%

DAU: 1’000’000

Monthly Gross Revenue > 217’000 + 30’000 Ad revenue

Calculating ARPPU for Android

Small Changes Bearing Significant Impact

In the end Ironhide has already done all the heavy lifting by creating a truly amazing game. Sure they have to improve the progress flow so that players are introduced to Gems and Heroes from early one. And yes they have to rework on the price points. In the end these changes are very small yet important ones as they will significantly increase the revenue for Ironhide and make it possible for them to amaze us with more great games.(source:deconstructoroffun


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