作者：Mike Rose

几周以前，几位迪士尼资深员工创立了一个独立游戏工作室Hyper Hippo。他们表示该工作室专注于通过游戏传达情节生动的体验，鼓励玩家在游戏中社交互动。

Lance Priebe之前是迪士尼虚拟世界俱乐部Penguin的联合创始人；Pascale Audette是迪士尼在线工作室的主管。因此，可以说在他们深谙儿童游戏的制作之道。

也因此，我询问Hyper Hippo团队能否提供一些关于制作儿童游戏的技巧，他们爽快地答应了。

以下是来自多年从事儿童游戏的行家的经验，所以那些打算制作儿童游戏的开发者们务必一读。

hyper hippo(from gamasutra)

1、最有价值的时间

如果你想衡量一款儿童游戏是否成功，不要看财政数字，而要看这款游戏的美术、游戏论坛、在线社区的情况。如果你找不到，那就说明这款游戏麻烦了。

无论这个月的指标显示了什么，只要没有玩家社区的支持，游戏就注定会失败。玩这款游戏的人并不关心游戏的死活，只要有新的游戏出来了，他们便很快弃这款游戏而去。而具有忠实的玩家社区支持的游戏，无论财政上是否成功，至少让玩家付出了最有价值的一件东西——时间。

2、孩子不懂阅读

这么说并不是侮辱孩子，毕竟大多数儿童是具备阅读能力的。说他们不懂阅读，很大程度上是指即使他们能够阅读，有些孩子也不愿意。只要不是强制，孩子总是倾向于无视文本。

只有当孩子相信阅读某段文本会马上解答他们想知道的东西，他们才会阅读。作为游戏设计师，你的职责就是给他们提供他们需要的文本，并确保所提供的文本是清楚有用的信息。

3、重视故事模式

说到游戏的剧情，应该始终记住，孩子是天生的讲故事高手。他们会暂时抛开自己的怀疑，全身心地投入剧情中，创造他们自己的神话，并且对你的叙述做出比成年人更快的解释。

然而，能力越强，责任越大。必须给予孩子质疑和想象故事的空间。你不能灌输僵死的故事给他们。故事应该包含一些神秘和解读的空间。毕孩子对一个故事的影响越大，他们对这个故事的想象就越丰富，他们也会越喜欢这个故事。

hyper hippo (from gamasutra)

4、考虑两种用户的需求

事实上，购买和玩儿童游戏的是两个消费者：孩子玩，家长买。这个浅显的事实道出了游戏设计的核心，特别是在现在这个妈妈和爸爸也拿手机或平板玩游戏的时代。

游戏设计师面临的挑战是：你必须向那些可能并不使用该产品的人传递它的价值。对于孩子，1美元买1000个能量宝石当然是贵得让人心痛，但对孩子的家长来说，还是很划算的。所以你应该通过信息设计和营销策略来解释这一点。

你必须向孩子解释为什么他们的购买是划算的。所以不要按家长的理解1000个能量宝石等于1美元来表述，而要表述成相当于1小时的快乐游戏时间。

另外还要记住的是，在孩子玩游戏时，父母一般也在同一个房间。所以问问你自己：在不看游戏场景的情况下，游戏的声音是否讨人嫌？游戏的音效如何？当你在设计游戏声音时，务必考虑到孩子的父母。

5、尊重孩子的时间

对于孩子来说，最让人沮丧的就是，他们的时间经常无法自由支配。

这与学校教育有关。孩子们有课后活动、有家庭作业、有作息时间表。甚至在空闲的时候，他们的游戏设备会被限制使用，比如，每天只能玩20-30分钟；只有周末能上网等。

孩子的每一分钟游戏时间都是宝贵的，所以我们必须尊重这些时间。尽量缩短载入画面的等待时间。如果游戏是在线的，不要安排几小时发生一次的游戏事件，毕竟儿童玩家不能保证每天都不错过。（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）

5 tips for making successful kids’ games in 2013

By Mike Rose

A few weeks ago, a couple of Disney veterans founded a kids’ games start-up called Hyper Hippo, which they say will focus on creating experiences that will value compelling storytelling, and encourage socially responsible behavior in its players.

Lance Priebe was previously the co-founder of Disney’s virtual world Club Penguin, while Pascale Audette headed up Disney Online Studios. Hence, it’s fair to say that between the two of them, they know a thing or two about creating successful games for children.

With this in mind, I asked the Hyper Hippo team if it’d be up for providing five top tips for building kids’ games in 2013, and the studio was happy to oblige.

Those developers looking to create games for the younger generation should make this essential reading, as it comes with many years of knowledge from the kids’ game space.

1. The most valuable currency

If you want to measure the success of a children’s game, don’t look for the financial numbers. Search for fan art related to the game. Search for forums dedicated to the game. Search for online community buzz. If you can’t find any, be worried.

No matter what this month’s metrics say, the game is going to tank because it has no community behind it. The people playing the game don’t care about it, and will quickly drop it for the next thing that comes along. Games that have a vibrant community of fans, whether or not they’re paying for the game financially, are paying for the game with the most valuable thing they have available – their time.

2. Kids don’t read

This is not meant to be an insult, as most kids are certainly capable of reading. It’s not that they can’t, it’s that, by and large, even when they can, some kids simply don’t read. Kids will ignore all text that they can get away with.

They will only read if they believe the piece of text will immediately help them with what they want to know. As game designers, it’s your job to give them that text when they need it, and make sure that it’s clear and useful information.

3. Story Mode

When it comes to a game’s story, always keep in mind that kids are natural storytellers themselves. They will suspend their disbelief, invest deeply into the plot, and invent their own myths and explanations for your narrative more quickly than an adult might.

However, with this great power comes great responsibility. Kids must be given room to wonder and imagine in the story. You can’t spoon-feed them a rigid narrative. The story should contain some mysteries and room for interpretation. The more a child can impact a story, and flex their own imagination within it, the more they’ll adore it.

4. Two customers in one

Every customer that buys and plays a children’s game is actually two customers: the child that plays, and the parent that buys it. This simple truth should inform a game’s design down to its very core, especially in this modern world of Mom or Dad handing over their phone or tablet to play on.

Here’s the challenge: you need to convey the value of the product to someone who probably isn’t going to use it. To a child, the value of 1,000 power gems for $1 is painfully obvious, but it’s the parent that needs to be convinced. So it’s vital to design your messaging and marketing to explain this.

You need to provide the child with the words and ideas to explain why his purchase has merit, and it needs to feel honest and like a great deal. So rather than 1,000 power gems, a parent should understand that $1 equates to, say, an hour of happy game-time.

Also, keep in mind that parents are generally in the same room as the child playing your game. So ask yourself: is this super-duper catchy soundtrack really annoying to listen to without context? What about your sound effects? Keep Mom and Dad in mind when you’re composing.

5. Respect kids’ time

One of the most frustrating things for a child is that their time is frequently not theirs to spend as they please.

This goes way beyond the structure of school. They have after-school activities. They have homework. They have a set bedtime. And even during their free time, the usage of a particular gaming device may be restricted. Maybe it’s only 20-30 minutes per day. Maybe they’re only allowed to go online on weekends.

Every minute that they’re playing is precious, so we must be respectful of it. Minimize the time spent waiting at loading screens. If you’re running a persistent, online world, don’t have an event occur for only a few hours, and don’t expect that all players will be able to log in every single day without fail. (source:gamasutra)