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分享开发者制作和推广儿童应用的注意事项

发布时间:2013-06-27 14:45:49 Tags:,,,,

作者:Nancy MacIntyre

传奇游戏设计师Tim Schafer曾提到自己的小女儿向游戏中的角色挥手示意那种神奇的时刻。

Tim渴望创造一种能够与小女儿分享的交互体验,这也正是许多身为人父人母的开发者的自然反应,iTunes、Google Play和Kindle等更易于独立开发者发布游戏的平台,使他们的这一创想得以成为现实。

我曾在Xbox 360、Leapster Explorer等多个平台发布了成百上千款儿童游戏,发现有些游戏开发者陷入了一个误区,即认为制作儿童游戏就像烘焙纸杯蛋糕一样简单!错!

事实上,推广儿童应用比任何一种应用类型都要复杂得多。许多推广成人应用的有效病毒传播手段(游戏邦注:例如Facebook社交功能以及多人模式)都不适用于儿童应用。新联邦法规对儿童隐私监管严厉,并针对发行商如何搜集和使用玩家个人信息制定了更多限制。需要注意的是,这里的玩家“儿童”并非“消费者”(家长)。因此,开发者需加倍费心制作儿童应用,以便取悦两个不同的群体。

这里存在一个问题。应用商店充满大量儿童应用,据NPD Group数据显示,88%的儿童应用属于免费产品。儿童玩游戏的习惯好比是吃零食——他们不会同任何一款游戏建立长期关系,会很快转向另一款应用。据Localytics数据显示,超过25%被下载的应用仅被开启过一次。鉴于儿童一向注意力短暂的现实,儿童应用的访问率更是可想而知。

那么为何还要煞费苦心开发儿童应用呢?原因在于,许多开发者认为儿童应用的回报潜力巨大。通过儿童应用推广健康的社交联系,激发创造性思维,启发儿童的想象力都是其中的诱因,那些试图让生活更美好的技术专家更是如此。

itunes-apps-for-kids(from idownloadblog)

itunes-apps-for-kids(from idownloadblog)

此外,这个市场本身也在不断成长。NPD Group数据指出,儿童群体的平板电脑使用率已经从2011年的3%上升至2012年的13%,平板电脑在儿童用户群体中的使用率最高。这些儿童用户每周有5天时间使用智能手机、平板电脑或iPod Touch等移动设备,每次持续时长接近1小时。

谷歌在今年5月的I/O大会上指出,他们将针对教育领域推广成功的应用,这一领域用户超过2000万,并在秋季专门推出一个Google Play教育应用商店以满足教学需求。今年底,苹果iTunes App Store还将通过iOS 7增加一个专门的“儿童”游戏类型。

那么开发者该如何在这一新兴市场中取胜?以下是我们对于发布成功儿童应用类型的5个建议:

kids-apps(from techaheadcorp)

kids-apps(from techaheadcorp)

1.制作出色的应用。你的产品会为自己代言,产品越好效果就越佳。在Fingerprint工作室,我们投入数小时让孩子和家长测试我们的应用,并根据他人意见来判断我们的产品是否能提供出色体验。俗话说,童言无忌,所以孩子们会直率地说出自己的想法。

2.获得苹果支持。获得苹果推荐,或者进入一个苹果列表,可以让应用从默默无闻变成人尽皆知的产品。你该如何获得苹果关注?让你的游戏脱颖而出,无论是让它比其他产品更美观,还是与其他产品截然不同,总之要尽量争取机会,让应用获得苹果推荐。进入App Store新推出的儿童应用榜单也同样会有帮助。

3.从家长入手。要同家长建立长期的关系。你可以通过游戏本身的设计,鼓励家长同子女“共享”游戏趣味——例如Fingerprint的《The Flying Alphabetinis》这款字谜游戏就是老少皆宜的家庭游戏。要成为家长的一种资源。运用你自身的长处来帮助家长跟进与家庭密切相关的重要市场、政治或社会问题(游戏邦注:例如儿童在线隐私保护法案)。此外,作为一种用户获取策略,最好要在家长经常出没的的地方占有一席之地,例如Common Sense Media。还要积极参与Techlicious等应用评价等网站的博客圈,以及最活跃的Facebook儿童教育群组,例如MomsWithApps或TeachersWithApps。

4.赢取荣誉。在诸多选项中,是否曾赢得一个奖项有助于家长决定下载还是跳过你的应用。这些适用于你的行业奖项包括Parent Tested Parent Approved, Parent’s Choice, Family Choice, National Parenting Publication Awards (NAPPA), Kids At Play Interactive Awards (KAPi)以及Kidscreen Awards。

5.定期更新。要将定期更新视为一项营销环节。应用下载量通常会在更新后突然上升。要在页面中描述你的应用新功能,以便吸引用户。

6.建立强大的应用商店基础。这意味着要有令人一眼就看到游戏精彩之处的截图。确保应用描述直接而到位,并告诉用户为何应该下载你的应用。仔细琢磨要使用哪些搜索关键字。如果你制作的是授权游戏,一定要在关键字中体现这一点。这包括家长和子女最常在搜索中使用的字段——从一般字段(儿童游戏、教育、学习)到特定字段(字母游戏,拼色游戏)。例如,你有一款教孩子理财的游戏,搜索字段就应该包括“数学”、“金融”、“储蓄”、“零花钱”和“预算”。在多数情况下,要记住是成人在检索你的游戏。

在Fingerprint,我们相信儿童应用市场规模和覆盖率,终会超过传统主机儿童游戏市场。但这里的成功法则与盒装游戏市场截然不同,这个市场的开发者更易于发布游戏,但也更难获得关注。这并不是搞定孩子就行了,在此我们都会同意Tim Schafer描述制作儿童互动游戏最令人欣慰的事情就是“看到家长教孩子玩游戏,大人和小孩同乐。这会让我们觉得自己真的制作出一些极具积极影响的内容。”(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,拒绝任何不保留版权的转载发,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

Making and Marketing Kids Apps: Definitely Not Child’s Play

by Nancy MacIntyre

The following blog was, unless otherwise noted, independently written by a member of Gamasutra’s game development community. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of Gamasutra or its parent company.

Want to write your own blog post on Gamasutra? It’s easy! Click here to get started. Your post could be featured on Gamasutra’s home page, right alongside our award-winning articles and news stories.

When legendary game designer Tim Schafer created “Once Upon A Monster,” he talked about the magical moment when his daughter waved back at a character in the game.

Tim’s desire to create an interactive experience that he could share with his young daughter is a natural impulse shared by many developers as they become new parents, and one that seems more attainable than ever, thanks to indie-friendly distribution platforms such as iTunes, Google Play and Kindle.

I’ve launched hundreds of games for kids on platforms as diverse as Xbox 360 and Leapster Explorer. I’ve seen experienced game developers fall into the trap of thinking that making children’s games is as easy as frosting cupcakes!  It’s not.

In fact, the market for children’s apps is even more complex than just about any other category. Many of the effective levers for driving virality in adult apps, such as Facebook social features and multiplayer hooks, are not possible with kid apps. New federal regulations governing children’s privacy put further restrictions on how publishers collect and use players’ personal information. And to complicate matters, the “players” (kids) aren’t the “payers” (parents). As a result, children’s apps have to work twice as hard to please two different constituents.

Then there’s what I call the “Packed Refrigerator” problem. App stores burst with options for kids — with as many as 88% of them free, according to NPD Group. That leads to a snacking behavior — kids sample and move on to the next app rather than develop a long-term relationship with any one title. More than 25% of all apps downloaded are only opened once, according to app analytics firm Localytics. Given children’s short attention spans, that is likely to be even more so with kids apps.

So why bother? The truth is many developers, including those of us at Fingerprint, believe that  the potential payoff is enormous. The opportunity for apps to promote healthy social connections, spur creative thinking, and spark our children’s imagination is irresistible — particularly for technologists who thrive on figuring out ways to make things better.

It’s also true that the market itself is growing. Tablet usage among kids has soared from 3% in 2011 to 13% in 2012, with tablets being used most amongst younger children, according to the NPD Group. Kids spend about 5 days a week using mobile devices such as smartphone, tablet or iPod touch, with an average session lasting just under one hour.

Recognizing this growth opportunity, Google, at its I/O developer conference in May, said it will expand its successful Apps for Education program, which has more than 20 million users, to launch in the fall a dedicated Google Play For Education store catering to classroom needs. And, later this year, Apple will add a dedicated and curated “kids games” category to the iTunes App Store with the launch of iOS 7.

So how can developers succeed in the new app market? While the playbook is still being written and refined, here are five suggestions that we have found especially helpful in launching successful apps in the children’s category:

1. Make Great Apps. Your product will speak for itself and the better it is, the better it will do. At Fingerprint, we spend hours upon hours testing our apps with kids and families and we rely on the opinion of others to help validate what we think is a compelling experience. And, as you know, kids will readily speak their minds.

2. Get Apple on Board. More than just about any other marketing lever, being a Featured App or being included as part of an Apple-curated list moves the needle from obscurity to virality. How do you get Apple’s attention? Have a game that stands out — either because it is more beautiful, better than, or is completely unlike anything else — raises the chances of it being promoted by Apple. The new Kids Category in the App Store should really help, too!

3. Reach Out to Parents. Put yourself in a position to build an ongoing relationship with parents. You can do this in the design of the game itself, by encouraging “co-play” experiences that pull parents into the fun — such as Fingerprint’s The Flying Alphabetinis, a word scramble for the whole family. Be a resource for parents.  Use your expertise to keep parents updated on the most important market, political or social issues (e.g., Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) that matter most to families. As part of customer acquisition strategy, have a presence in places where parents congregate for trusted advice such as Common Sense Media.  Plus, actively engage in the blogosphere targeting go-to sites like Techlicious for app reviews as well as participate on the most active Facebook groups such as MomsWithApps or TeachersWithApps.

4. Garner Awards. With so many options, having an award can help parents decide whether to download your app or skip to the next option. Some of the most popular awards to apply:  Parent Tested Parent Approved, Parent’s Choice, Family Choice, National Parenting Publication Awards (NAPPA), Kids At Play Interactive Awards (KAPi) and Kidscreen Awards.

5. Plan Regular Updates. Rather than regard updates as a “treadmill,” look at them as opportunities to get another bite at the marketing apple. App downloads often spike right after an update is released for this very reason. Talking about your app’s new, better features is a great way to get back in front of the consumer.

6. Build a Strong App Store Presence. This means having compelling screenshots that convey the excitement of your app at a glance. Make sure that the description of your app is straightforward, while also telling readers, without hyperbole, why they should download your app. Give some thought to your search words. If you have a licensed title, make sure that’s part of the search terms. Include categories that parents and kids are most like to use in a search — going from the general (kids games, education, learning) to the specific (alphabet game, coloring). For example, if you have an app that teaches kids about money, search terms can include “math,” “ financial literacy,” “savings,” “allowance” and “budgeting.” In most cases, keep in mind that it’s an adult who is searching.

At Fingerprint, we believe the sheer size and reach of the children’s app market will ultimately exceed the impressive numbers achieved by traditional console market for kids. But the rules for success have changed substantially from the cartridge model — in ways that make things both easier to publish, but also exponentially harder to get traction. It’s not child’s play, but we agree with Tim Schafer when he said that the most rewarding thing about making a kids’ interactive title was “watching a parent help their kid play and play it together. It just feels like we have made something that has a really positive impact.”(source:gamasutra


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