作者：Chris Gray

我做游戏已经超过30年了。16岁时我做了一款叫作《Boulder Dash》的街机游戏。也许你还在Atari 8-bit或Commodore 64上玩过它。那是一个令人兴奋的年代，还不存在所谓的电子游戏“行业”这个概念，游戏开发完全是由一帮有想法、有热情、愿意学习如何制作的人在推动着。

《Boulder Dash》的成功为我积累了第一次行业经验，并铺设了一条新的职业道路—-我现在在TapStar Games工作。在为大发行商工作了十年之后，我花了许多时间思考一开始便成为小型开发者与在在大型发行公司工作十年之间有何差别，以及小型开发者如果做得好可以拥有什么优势和机遇。我得到的结论是，如果他们够聪明、有创意，能意识到自己的弱点和长项，他们没可能不成功！

于是，我在Casual Connect大会上发表了一个关于“David vs Goliath”的演讲。

david vs. goliath（from gamasutra）

首先简要介绍一下这个神话故事

在圣经故事《David与Goliath》中，David穿上链甲，戴上黄铜盔和带上一把剑准备与巨人Goliath决斗。但正要出发时他又停下了。

“我不能这么去，因为我没准备好。”说罢，他拾起了5块光滑的石头。

我们都知道接下来发生什么事—-David赢了！（游戏邦注：Goliath是传说中的著名巨人之一，《圣经》中记载，他是腓力士将军，带兵进攻以色列军队，他拥有无穷的力量，所有人看到他都要退避三舍，不敢应战。最后，牧童大卫用投石弹弓打中歌利亚的脑袋，并割下他的首级。）

David战胜Goliath被认为是反常的，但其实不是—-David始终占上风。

如果你是David，那么你不能与Goliath正面交锋

一位名叫Ivan Arreguín-Toft的政治学家观察了近两百年以来强方与弱方之间的战争。他发现，当不被看好的一方意识到自己的弱点而选择非常规的策略时，获胜的可能性就有63.6%。

所以，当不被看好的一方选择不遵守Goliath的规则时，他们就会胜利，甚至当我们想到的和知道强方的一切都表明弱方不应该获胜。

这里的启示是—-你不能与Goliath正面交锋，如果你是David们中的一员的话。而在开发和发行手机游戏时，你必须调整自己的策略，扬长避短。

David们如何玩转手机游戏

不要妄想成为下一个EA或Zynga甚至Kabam。这里有四款典型的David们的手机游戏。如果你能从它们的经历中吸取经验教训，你也可能复制它们的成功！

Supercell—-美就是一切

根据《福布斯》杂志最近的一篇文章，Supercell每天从850万日活跃玩家手中获得240万美元，有时候甚至更多。Supercell在2013年的估值已经超过8亿美元了，单是第一季度的收益就达到1.79亿美元。关键是，他们在市场上目前只有两款游戏，而且只有iOS版：社交农场游戏《Hay Day》和塔防游戏《Clash of Clans》。Supercell有90名雇员，所以他们算是大块头版的David，但仍然属于弱势的一方。

Supercell专注于能把玩家带进游戏的细节，比如可爱的角色，毛绒绒的绵羊告诉玩家可以剃毛了，圆胖得走不动的猪暗示玩家可以宰割了。

根据《Hay Day》的产品经理和设计师之一Timur Haussila，美学是Supercell的关注重点之一，事实上，他们是最先设计《Hay Day》中的动物外观。他解释道：“这具有很大的影响，因为外观是玩家首先看到的。”

第二个重点是手机游戏的社交性。在《Hay Day》中，玩家不仅可以访问其他玩家，还可以帮助他们，可以生产和出售产品给其他玩家，换取游戏币。玩家还可以使用真钱购买游戏资源和增益道具。

Mojang （《我的世界》）—-为了玩家保持游戏的乐趣

瑞典的游戏开发工作室Mojang凭借游戏大作《我的世界》在去年的收入便达到2.37亿美元（净利润超过9000万美元）。这款游戏售价为20美元，所有平台的销量超过2000万。《我的世界》于2009年作为实验游戏第一次发布在PC/Mac平台，大获成功后才转战Android和iOS手机平台；之后又与4J工作室合作，推出Xbox 360版和XBLA版。

Mojang只有25名雇员，仍然保持着独立精神，比起盈利反而更加专注于制作有趣的游戏。开发者Marcus Persson对其他“车库”里的开发者们提出建议：“做自己想做的游戏，用批判的眼光看待你的作品。如果你真的喜欢自己的游戏，那么也会有其他人喜欢它的。”

Mojang的优势之一是，专注于建设玩家社区和整合玩法机制，使玩家得以创造和分享他们自己的成果。玩家社区的口口相传是该游戏成功的关键—-而不是雄厚的营销预算。

2011年，Persson曾透露计划在游戏中添加成就系统，现在看来效果相当好！

Imangi （《Temple Run》）—-维持小规模

《Temple Run》的开发者Keith Shepherd和Natalia Luckyanova已经借助着这款手机游戏的成功转变成百万美元商业的三人公司（美工Kiril Tchangov是夫妻档）。iOS版的《Temple Run》在App Store上发布第一周即获2000万下载量，而在iOS和Android两大平台的总下载量已超过1.7亿次。

一开始，《Temple Run》是99美分付费下载，虽然发布之后立即获得一面倒的好评，但两周后新玩家人数逐渐减少。发布一个月后，Shepherd决定把游戏改成免费模式，允许玩家免费下载基本版，然后购买虚拟金币，再用虚拟金币兑换游戏内的升级道具。这款游戏以约20万次/日的下载量峰值很快上升到免费应用排行榜的第二名，成为App Store二月份收益最高的游戏之一。

该游戏的续作《Temple Run 2》于二月推出，在App Store‘Google Play和Amazon Marketplace发布头两周就获得超过5000万下载量，创下手机游戏史上下载量增加最快的纪录。

免费模式确实是Imangi的福音。

该团队在游戏的画面上冒了险，使用暗色调和不吉利的主题，而大部分流行的游戏往往采用明快的色调和积极的主题。在这款游戏中，红头发的盗贼偷走了神庙里的圣物，然后被一群饥饿的鸟怪疯狂追击。

Imangi又冒了另一个险，与Disney合作推出游戏的两款姐妹篇游戏，这个“二重奏”组合在合作中保持了自己的优势。

《Temple Run: Brave》是第一版《Temple Run》与Pixar动画工作室的《Brave》的混合体，因为照顾Disney的利益，这款游戏是付费下载的。《Temple Run Oz》将《Temple Run》与Sam Raimi即将上映的电影《Oz: The Great and Powerful》相结合，邀请玩家探索电影中的绝妙场景。

作为Goliath们当中的David，我认为Imangi的冒险有利于发扬他们的优势。

《Plague Inc.》—-口口相传的力量

《Plague Inc》是一款iOS和Android策略游戏，开发者是Ndemic Creations的James Vaughan和三位自由职业者。这款游戏的下载量超过1000万，是2012年美国付费iPhone游戏下载量排行榜中的第15名。在这款游戏中，玩家要杀死尽可能多的致命传染病患者，以防止他们感染世界上的其他人。

Gamasutra的Leigh Alexander在3月时曾经报道它的成功故事。在文章中，Vaughan透露这款游戏的发布是悄无声息的：他当时正在休假，Apple比预料的时间更早发布了它。“那意味着它已经面临着相当重要的硬战”。但在它的意外发布之后四小时内，下载量达到500次。没有苹果的推荐，没有用户开发策略和市场营销策略，仅靠口口相传就慢慢占领了小众市场。

Ndemic的秘密“David”配方有两个原料：一是Vaughan喜欢pc策略游戏,二是他认为手机上缺少高品质的策略游戏。除了精致，《Plague Inc》的难度很大，且发人深省，它把玩家当作聪明人。

他关注的其他细节是，社区建设。粉丝喜欢讨论游戏，这有助于《Plague Inc》的传播。它甚至已经成为Reddit上的热门话题，进而又增强了社区实力。这不是靠营销预算就能达到的效果—-你必须有一款人们喜欢玩和分享的好游戏。

David们打破所有规则和战胜Goliath们的五个办法

在手机游戏市场，David们有许多值得尝试的做法。以下是我最推荐的5个建议：

1、接受创新的风险，比Goliath们更快更创新。做敏捷的快艇（David），不要做迟钝的大油轮（Goliath）。专注于品质、快速开发和快速迭代—-失败快、代价小；一边前进一边解决问题。最重要的是，保持乐观和原创。

2、利用所有破坏型商业模式和可用的新兴技术。你不需要风险投资或大量周转资金才能运行业务。

3、小规模是新的优势。少成本的小型灵活的团队=大ROI（投资回报率）。你不需要扩大规模，不要渴望在帝国大厦里办公。大也意味着慢和风险。记住，在30年代的“电影黄金时代”，导演个人和小制作团队胜过大电影公司。

4、与玩家建立一对一的关系。与你的玩家一起书写动人的故事。

5、大量利用社交媒体、PR和游击营销策略（游戏邦注：这是一种采用非主流策略和场所的促销活动）。Indy开发者们在这方面做得很好。评价或推荐比任何横幅广告或“开发的消费者”更有价值。

只要你不要把自己当作Goliath，你就能打败Goliath

只要你能认识到自己的弱点，并发挥自己的优势，你就能打败比你强大得多的开发商/发行商。坚持不懈、努力工作、乐于接受新策略和利用所有可用的技术及媒体形式，你就能打败Goliath。

（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）

David vs Goliath – Why smaller developers can win in the new mobile gaming landscape

by Chris Gray

I’ve been making games for going on more than 30 years now. When I was sixteen, I created an arcade game called Boulder Dash. Maybe you played it on the Atari 8-bit or Commodore 64. It was an exhilarating time where there was no concept of a videogame “industry” and it was fueled by an idea, passion and willingness to learn how to create.

The runaway success of Boulder Dash as my first game experience set the stage for this new career path I am now taking with TapStar Games. After spending the last decade working for big publishers, I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on the differences between my initial start as a small developer and my last ten years at a large publisher, as well as the advantages and opportunities that the little guys can have if they play their cards right. That is, if they are smart, innovative and recognize their weaknesses as well as their strengths, there is no reason they can’t succeed!

Which leads me to a talk I gave at Casual Connect about Davids vs Goliaths.

First a little history–

In the Biblical story of David and Goliath, David put on a coat of chains and a brass helmet and readied himself with a sword: he prepared to wage a conventional battle of swords against Goliath. But then he stopped.

“I cannot walk in these, for I am unused to it,” he said, and picked up those five smooth stones.

We all know what happened next, David won!

David’s victory over Goliath is held to be an anomaly, but it was not – in fact, Davids win all the time.

You can’t compete directly with Goliaths if you’re a David.

A political scientist named Ivan Arreguín-Toft looked at every war fought in the past two hundred years between strong and weak combatants. He found that when the underdogs acknowledged their weakness and chose an unconventional strategy, the “David’s” won in 63.6 percent of the cases.

So, when underdogs choose not to play by Goliath’s rules, they win, even when everything we think we know about power says they shouldn’t.

The message here is — you can’t compete directly with Goliaths if you’re a David. Rather you need to adapt your strategy and focus on your strengths to develop and publish mobile games.

How Davids Play in Mobile Gaming

Don’t try to be the next EA, or Zynga, or even Kabam.  Here’s four smaller developers who are great examples of the Davids of Mobile Gaming, and if you take a lesson from their playbook, you might just be able to replicate that success yourself!

Supercell – Aesthetics are Everything

According to a recent article in Forbes, Supercell has 8.5 million daily players generating $2.4 million every day, sometimes more. Supercell is already at a run-rate of more than $800 million for 2013, having earned $179 million before expenses in the first quarter alone. Here’s the kicker – they only have two games on the market right now, only available on iOS: the social farming experience, Hay Day, and the tower defense game, Clash of Clans. Supercell has 90 employees so they are a larger David, but an underdog nonetheless.

Supercell focused on small details that lead players deeper into the game, such as the charming aesthetics of game characters like sheep that overflow with wool when it’s time to sheer them or pigs that become so fat they cannot walk, indicating it’s time to harvest their meat.

According to Timur Haussila, a product lead and one of the brains behind Hay Day, the aesthetics are a big deal and, in fact, the visuals of the animals on Hay Day came first. “It has a huge impact,” he said. “It’s the first thing that you see.”

Then there is the social aspect of mobile gaming as a draw. In Hay Day, not only can you visit other players, but you can help them, and you can both produce and sell goods to other players with in-game money.  You can use real money to buy yourself game resources and power-ups.

Mojang (Minecraft) – Keeping it Fun for the Community

Swedish developer Mojang enjoyed $237 million in revenue last year (>90M in profit) thanks to its hit game Minecraft, which sells for about $20 and has been purchased over 20 million times across all platforms. Minecraft was first released for the PC/Mac in 2009 as an experimental game, and only after its runaway success did they bring it to the mobile platforms Android and iOS; and then partnered with 4J Studios to release it on Xbox 360 and XBLA.

With just 25 employees, the company still retains its indie spirit, focusing on making games that are fun over making a profit. Creator Marcus Persson’s advice to other “garage” developers: “just make games for yourself and try to have a critical eye to what you do. If you genuinely like the game there will be other people who like it as well.”

One of the strengths that Mojang focused on was building a community and incorporating gameplay mechanics that allowed players to create and share their own hard work. The community’s word of mouth was a key component in the game’s success — not a huge marketing budget.

Persson spoke with Gamasutra back in 2011 about his plan to add achievements to the game, which has turned out pretty well for them!

Imangi (Temple Run) – Programmers at Heart who are Keeping it Small

Temple Run’s creators, Keith Shepherd and Natalia Luckyanova, have turned the mobile gaming boom into a million-dollar business for the three-person company (artist Kiril Tchangov rounds out the husband and wife team). Temple Run for iOS drew over 20 million downloads in its first week on the App Store and has been downloaded over 170 million times across both iOS and Android.

In the beginning, Temple Run cost 99 cents to download, and while it received overwhelmingly positive reviews immediately after launch, the number of new users began to taper off after two weeks. A month after its debut, Shepherd switched to a freemium pricing model, allowing users to download a basic version for free with the option to pay for virtual coins that can be redeemed for in-game upgrades, including invisibility. The game quickly rose to No. 2 on the App Store list of free apps and was downloaded about 200,000 times a day at its height, making it one of the highest-grossing games in the App Store in January, according to Apple.

A sequel, Temple Run 2, was released in January and in the first two weeks of launching on the App Store, Google Play, and the Amazon Marketplace, the app was downloaded more than fifty million times, the fastest downloaded mobile game in history.

The freemium model has clearly been a win for Imangi.

The team took a risk with the visual aspect of the game, using dark colors and a more ominous theme, while most popular mobile games tend to have bright colors and a cheerful theme.  In the game, a red-haired thief has stolen an idol from a temple and is being chased by a hungry pack of animals.

And while Imangi took another risk in partnering with Disney on two of its follow-up games, the duo maintains their strength lies in their small size.

Temple Run: Brave, which combined the first Temple Run game with Pixar’s Brave, remains a major paid download for partner Disney, and Temple Run Oz, which is a mashup of the Temple Run game with Sam Raimi’s upcoming Oz: The Great and Powerful movie, explores stunning environments inspired by the film.

As a David in a sea of Goliaths, I believe Imangi’s risks have worked to their advantage.

Plague Inc. – Spreading Virally by Word of Mouth

Plague, Inc., an iOS and Android strategy game developed by one-man developer, Ndemic Creations’ James Vaughan and a team of three freelancers, has been downloaded over 10 million times and was the 15th most downloaded paid iPhone game of 2012 in the U.S.  The game has players killing as many people as possible as they try to infect the world with a deadly plague.

Gamasutra’s Leigh Alexander covered its success back in March in which Vaughan reveals the games’ success began with a completely-silent launch: he was on vacation, and Apple released the game sooner than it expected. “That meant it was already facing a pretty significant uphill battle,” he said. But in the four hours that followed its surprise launch, it had been downloaded 500 times. With no Apple featuring, no user acquisition and no marketing, it’s been able to spread to fans of the niche slowly by word of mouth.

Ndemic’s secret “David” sauce was two fold: Vaughan loved strategy games on the PC and felt that there weren’t enough high quality strategy games on mobile. In addition to being very polished, Plague, Inc is challenging and thought provoking, and treats the players as intelligent human beings.

The other detail he paid attention to was community-building. Fans enjoy talking about it with each other, which has helped Plague, Inc. spread virally. Its even become a popular topic on Reddit which only makes the community stronger. This isn’t something you can put marketing dollars behind – you need a great game that people want to play and share.

5 Ways Davids Can Break All the Rules and Beat Goliaths

Davids have a lot going for them in the mobile gaming market. Here’s my top five pieces of advice to all the Davids out there:

Take creative risks and be faster and more creative than the Goliaths. Be the agile speed-boat (David) not the lumbering super tanker (Goliath). Focus on quality, fast development and rapid iteration – fail quickly and cheaply and often; fix it as you go or move on. Most of all, be passionate and be original.

Take advantage of all the disruptive business models and emerging technologies available. You don’t need VCs or a lot of working capital to be in the business.

Small is the new beautiful. Small overhead and small, nimble teams = larger ROI. You don’t need to scale up to be huge so don’t worry about empire building. Being big also means being slow and risk-adverse. Remember, directors and small production teams won out over large integrated film studios of the 1930′s “golden age”.

Build a 1-1 relationship with your audience. Have a compelling story and connect with your audience.

Relentlessly engage in social media, PR (earned media) and guerrilla marketing.  Indy developers do this well. A review or recommendation is more valuable than any banner ad or “acquired customer”.

You can beat the Goliaths as long as you don’t try to act like a Goliath

Anyone can compete successfully against much larger developer/publishers as long as you know your weaknesses and play to your strengths. Through perseverance, hard work, being open to new strategies and exploiting all the available technologies & media formats today you can make it happen.
Tell us about your favorite Davids of Mobile Gaming in the comments below.(source:gamasutra)