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分享关于游戏内置商店的4个设计技巧

发布时间:2013-05-07 13:44:05 Tags:,,,

作者:Yaniv Nizan

现在你已经有一个非常棒的手机游戏概念,你听说免费游戏要通过游戏内购买才能赢利,但是你不知道从何入手。别担心,感到困惑的人不止你一个。设计一个优秀的游戏商店与设计游戏的核心机制非常不同,甚至许多游戏开发者都不确定应该怎么做。

让我来告诉你怎么设计一个让玩家经常光顾且流连忘返的游戏商店吧。以下是4个关键点:

1、把商店放在玩家找得到的地方,并且应该自然地融入到游戏循环中。

2、出售玩家在游戏中每天都会使用的道具。

3、使商店体验更加有趣。

4、限制游戏的持续时间。

如果你能做到以上4点,那么你的游戏商店成功的可能性就会大大提高了。执行其中一两点,效果就相当不错了,但如果你想圆满成功,应该一点不落。以下是执行以上4点的建议:

把商店入口放在玩家找得到的地方

让玩家自然而然地走进商店,必须成为游戏循环中的一部分。我们先看看达到这个目标的几个办法。如果你的游戏分关卡,你应该很容易就能在通关成功页面上添加一个跳转到商店的按钮。如果你的游戏是“生存模式”游戏或“无尽奔跑”呢?没问题。这些游戏的回合时间有限,结束时通常会出现一个总结页面。你应该在这个页面上放一个商店的按钮。设计其他类型的游戏?如果你执行以上4点,你其实已经把游戏分成回合,已经能够使用回合结束页面了。另外,你还可以在成就页面添加商店按钮。

你也可以使用要求玩家激活或装备的虚拟商品,并且把商店当作挑选激活角色/坐骑/武器的界面。这样玩家就会经常光顾商店了。

出售玩家经常使用的道具

好吧,现在玩家从游戏的任何页面都能进入商店了,但玩家为什么要进入商店?我们来思考一下现实世界的情况。我们最经常光顾的商店出售的东西正是我们每天都要使用的和消耗的。我们应该做一些类似这些生活消耗品的道具,让玩家使用游戏币就能轻易购买。怎么才叫“轻易”?玩家应该能在1-3关时或游戏进行几分钟后收集到足够的金币。玩家应该经常使用某类商品,并且容易收集到更多金币。如果你执行正确,玩家几乎每天都会登录商店,从而形成良好的消费循环。

gameplay-soft store(from gamasutra)

gameplay-soft store(from gamasutra)

以下是制作日常道具的要点:

1、互补(给猴子香蕉,给小车汽油……)

2、合理标价(游戏邦注:使玩家在几分钟的游戏时间内就能挣到足够的金币)

3、使用起来有趣,能增加玩家在游戏中的沉浸感

4、玩家使用道具后,能更容易挣到金币

设计一个吸引人的商店

你应该让玩家有理由在你的游戏商店里花时间。如何让玩家流连于游戏商店?商品种类要丰富,保持神秘感和新鲜感。《极速赛车》中的商店就是一个好例子。该游戏商店提供的商品超过200万种。将隐藏道具用阴影表示,等到时机成熟时再揭开,可以增加商店的神秘感。这样做可以使玩家对神秘商品充满期待,进而吸引他们时常光顾商店。添加、解锁道具,甚至推出时令性道具和限量版道具可以保持商店的新鲜感。

限制游戏持续时间

如果你希望游戏商店发挥作用,你必须限制玩家的游戏时间。这有一点儿复杂,所以你必须谨慎处理,不要惹怒玩家。最好的办法是,让玩家在有时限的情况下玩不同的关卡,以此作为实验,评估其对玩家的影响,直到找到平衡点。如果你确实打算这么做,你应该设计一种在玩法中自然消耗和随时间自动累加的资源。例如在《Candy Crush Saga》中,有“生命”,相当于其他游戏中的“燃料”和“精力”。当玩家耗尽“生命”时,就面临以下三种选择:一是购买更多“生命”,二是退出游戏稍后再玩,三是在游戏中等待。如果你采纳以上建议,当玩家选择留在商店中等待时,逛商店应该成为玩家消磨时间的最好去处。

我已经提醒你最后一点存在风险了。如果你看看其他成功的游戏,你会发现它们当中大多采用了这一点或它的变体。你必须保证游戏持续时间达到平衡。(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

Building an In-Game Store for the First Time? Here are the 4 Keys to Success

by Yaniv Nizan

So you have a great concept for a mobile game and you have heard that free 2 play games with in app purchase is the way to go but you are not sure where to start. Guess what? You are not alone. Designing a good in-game store is very different than designing the core of the game and many game developers are unsure about how to do it right.

Let me take you through some of the keys to designing a store that users will enter frequently and hangout in for long periods:

Put the store where user can find it and make it a natural part of the game loop

Create items that players use in your game every day

Make the store experience an interesting one

Limit continuous game play

If you implement these elements in your game you are significantly increasing your chances to succeed. Adding a few of these is good but if you want 3 stars try to get them all. Here is more specific advice about each one of these:

Put the Store Entrance Where Users Are

Getting users to naturally enter the store as part of the game flow is very important. Let’s check a few methods for achieving this. If your game has levels, it should be easy enough for you to add a button to the store from the screen that notifies the user about a successful level completion. What if your game is a ‘survival mode’ type game or ‘endless runner’? No problem. These games have limited sessions that usually end with a summary screen. This will be the right place to put your store button. Designing other types of games? If you implement the 4th tip you would actually break the game to sessions and would be able to use the session end screen. Alternatively, you can add the store button to screens that notify the user about achievements.

You can also use virtual goods that requires users to activate or equip them and use the store as the interface for picking the active character/vehicle/weapon. This will help you get users to the store more frequently.

Add Items that Players Need Regularly

Ok, so the store is now accessible from every screen in the game but why would user want to enter it? Let’s think about the real world. The store that we enter the most is the one that sells the product we use and consume every day. Let’s create some goods like that and make them easy to buy with game coins. How easy? The user should be able to collect enough coins in 1-3 levels or a few minutes of game play. The good itself should be regularly consumed and should make it easier for the user to collect more coins. If you do this correctly you end up with a consumption loop that brings the users to the store almost every time the user plays the game.

Here is how to make a good regular use good:

Make it complement the game store (banans for a monkey, fuel for a car, …)

Price it so that user can earn enough to buy it within a few minutes of game play

Create an item that is fun to use and makes the game more engaging with it

Give the item powers that will make earning coins easier

Design an Engaging Store

You should also give the user reasons to spend time in your In-App Purchase store. Think of ways to make the store engaging and interesting for a long time – extend the variety, add some mystery and try to keep it fresh. If you want to look at a good example of store variety – look at CSR racing. That store has over 2 million items you can buy. You can also add mystery by using silhouettes to hide an item until the right time has come. This helps in keeping the user engaged and curious about what the store has to offer. The last bit is to keep your store fresh by adding items, unlocking items and even featuring seasonal items and limited editions.

Add Limits and Breaks to The Gameplay

If you want to really play it like the pros, you need to limit the user ability to play endlessly. This is a bit tricky so you will need to approach this carefully and be careful not to annoy your users. The best way to do it is by experimenting with different levels of limitations and measuring the impact on users until you reach the sweet spot. If you do choose to explore this direction, you should design a resource that is consumed naturaly in gameplay and automatically adds up as time goes by. Candy Crush Saga, has ‘lifes’ and in other games you can see fuel or energy. When the user runs out, she can choose to do one of three things: buy more, stop playing and come back later or wait inside the game. If you followed the rest of the advice, the option of staying inside the game and visiting the store should be a likely choice for a user who wants to kill some time.

I already wrote about the risks in the last tip but if you look at the top games, most of them have some version of it. You just have to make sure you are balancing it correctly. I will discuss how to do it in one of my next posts.(source:gamasutra)


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