以四个典型超休闲类手游为例探讨核心循环设计

原作者：Carl Livie 译者：Vivian Xue

人们常说，你有7秒的时间给他人留下良好的第一印象。毕竟，人们下判断的速度很快，如果一开始印象糟糕，就很难挽回了。

游戏也是一样的道理，尤其是手游。主机和PC游戏由于需要花钱购买，因此尚有挽回的余地。由于不想白花钱，哪怕玩家一开始觉得游戏很烂，也很可能会咬牙玩下去。但对于大部分手游开发者来说，这种美事是不会发生的。

绝大部分手游都是免费下载的，这意味着玩家如果对游戏没感觉，他们没有理由接着玩它们。一旦游戏给玩家的第一印象很糟糕，他们立马就会卸载并把它忘得一干二净。为了给玩家留下良好的第一印象从而留住他们，设立优秀的游戏核心循环是关键。

1. 游戏核心循环是如何刺激玩家的

设计优良的核心循环鼓励玩家在最初的几秒过去后继续玩游戏。在最初的几秒内，你应让玩家感到这个游戏“容易上手但很难掌握”，通过刺激玩家的好奇心让他们继续学习。游戏必须设立清晰的目标，这样玩家在迅速解决谜题后就会自我感觉良好。

新手玩家由此感到自己取得了成就、增强了信心和能力并且获得了奖励，并想要继续玩下去。迅速取得成就总能让玩家感到愉悦。毕竟，人人都想成为聪明人。

所有的这些要素对于参与度、留存率和盈利至关重要。接着可以增加额外层次的深度和难度，这些额外挑战将创造更大的成就感和力量感。这里的关键在于，只有当玩家已经着迷于初始、简单的概念时，再叠加这些层次才有意义。注意，不要同时塞给玩家太多概念，他们会感到喘不过气或者困惑，最终卸载你的游戏。

移动平台上超休闲游戏的增长证明了有效的游戏核心循环的力量。一款游戏可能拥有精良的画面、深度的玩法机制和令人满意的剧情，但如果核心循环不达标，玩家将丧失兴趣。从本质上说，核心循环是游戏使玩家保持兴趣的最关键部分。

让我们来看几个最优秀的核心循环设计，你就会明白为什么应该把它放在设计的首位。

1. Happy Glass

Happy Glass这款游戏结合了人类最基本的本能之一：想象。游戏设计很简单，一根出水管，玩家通过划线将水流引到玻璃杯里。游戏操作也毫无违和感——玩家很自然地用手指划线，然后等待结果。

正因如此，Happy Glass是一个能够快速上手的游戏。玩家可以在几秒内取得一些成果，并在之后返回上次卡住的关卡。简单直观的控制确保玩家知道自己该做什么，即便是出现了新的玩法机制比如高温表面和封闭绘图区域时。Lion Studio确保了其游戏可快速上手、可分享、直观、具有奖励性和创新性。

简洁的UI不仅看上去很舒服，还能够在人们玩乐之余，以一种友好的方式向他们推荐工作室的其它游戏。这里的留存不仅在于让玩家继续玩Happy Glass，也在于让他们爱上其它游戏。游戏主界面上的广告不断微妙地暗示玩家尝试工作室的其它游戏。这种交叉推广帮助工作室将玩家留在自己的产品内。

游戏每隔几个关卡提供奖励广告（奖励金币和提示）。此外玩家还可以购买新颜色的水、新铅笔或者新的玻璃杯表情。这些从本质上看属于美学范畴，而非游戏机制的增加，但他们在增添玩家成就感和提升留存率上发挥了理想的作用。

Love Balls（from gamesindustry.biz）

2. Stickman Hook

Stickman Hook最大的优点是极简。和Happy Glass一样，游戏不需要教程。玩家只需按住屏幕就可以勾住某物，松开手释放该物。玩家的目标是让小飞人抵达终点线，如果一切顺利，整个过程只需要几秒钟。游戏会适量引入更多复杂的机制，因此玩家不会被新机制难倒。自然流畅的操作使玩家感觉自己很机智敏捷，即便他们从没玩过这个游戏。

和Happy Glass很像，StickmanHook也是一个极容易上手的游戏。玩家不需要花很长时间取得成果。相反地，玩家们可以随时玩随时退出，游戏还定期为他们提供奖励。

当玩家数次尝试某关卡失败时，游戏会提供一个观看视频跳过关卡的选项。同样，玩家还可以通过观看视频广告解锁新皮肤，像这样的新内容总是源源不断地出现，吸引玩家自愿观看广告。

同样的，游戏UI简洁明了，并微妙地向玩家推荐 MadBox的其他作品以将他们锁定在工作室的游戏生态中。

3. Love Ball

Love Ball的游戏规则很简单。玩家只需要通过画线或图形让画面上的两个球撞到一起。游戏操作也很自然，玩家用手指画线，然后等待结果。

游戏是如此简洁明了，没有必要在玩法上搞太多花样。这种设计符合Voodoo对产品的要求：适合在YouTube上宣传、直观、非惩罚性、创新性——所有例子中的游戏都具备这些品质。

4. Dash Valley

和Stickman Hook一样，Dash Valley的机制特别简单，规则只需要简要的介绍。游戏主菜单展示了玩家需要了解的一切——用手拖动小球，通过按压屏幕减慢速度。这种机制虽然简单，但随着游戏环境的变化，玩家需要克服的障碍难度将逐渐上升。

玩法很有趣也很容易让人上瘾，清晰的核心循环使开发商MadBox能够充分发挥广告的作用。玩家每打两个关卡将遇到一个广告。MadBox还为玩家提供了奖励视频，用于复活和解锁装扮皮肤。

游戏顶部设计了一个进度条，以便让玩家了解自己距离完成关卡还有多远，同时也刺激了玩家失败后再次尝试。这有助于提高核心循环的透明性、回报性，并激励玩家继续玩下去。

设计建议：

这些游戏玩法可能各不相同，他们的核心循环有重大的相似性。所有这些游戏都先用简单的机制吸引玩家，这样即便是新手也能弄明白，然后慢慢引入新机制，同时提高游戏难度。

通过在关键时机添加这些层次，他们已然抓住了玩家的注意力，确保玩家愿意适应和学习新事物。手游的成败取决于难度曲线设计，它应该是渐进式的，而不是一下子把玩家难倒。直觉对手游来说至关重要。

一旦玩家迷上游戏，最佳的盈利时机就来了，比如向玩家提供能够增益游戏的奖励性广告。这样的奖励会诱使玩家继续玩下去，从而完成核心循环。玩家感觉开心想要继续，点击和观看更多的广告，而开发者将得到更高的留存率并最大化盈利。所有的这一切都是有可能实现的，只要你的手游拥有一个强大的核心循环。

本文由游戏邦编译，转载请注明来源，或咨询微信zhengjintiao

It’s often said that you have seven seconds to make a good first impression. After all, people are quick to judge and if that initial encounter is bad, it’s hard to recover.

The same holds true for games, particularly mobile games. Console and PC games have a certain safety net in that they’re paid experiences. By paying, a player is more likely to push through a difficult first impression in order to make the most of their money. This luxury is not available to most mobile game developers.

Overwhelmingly, mobile games are free, meaning there’s little reason for a player to stick with them for longer than they feel obliged. A bad first impression quickly leads to the player deleting the app and never thinking about it again. To make a good first impression that keeps the player sticking around, it’s crucial for developers to implement a satisfying core game loop.

How a core game loop empowers your players

A well-designed core loop encourages players to stick with the game past the initial early few seconds. It’s those initial moments where you appreciate that a game is ‘easy to learn yet hard to master’, enticing one into learning more about the game by curiosity. There needs to be a clear goal so players feel flattered by their ability to figure things out fast.

Such feeling creates a feeling of achievement, empowerment and reward for beginners so that players feel enthusiastic and want to keep playing. Players respond well to feeling like they’ve achieved something quickly. After all, everyone likes to feel smart.

All of these elements are vital for building engagement, retention, and monetization. Additional layers of depth and difficulty can then be added for an extra challenge to create an even greater sense of achievement and empowerment. The key here is to add those layers only once players have already been hooked by the original, simple concept. It’s important that players aren’t overwhelmed or confused by too many ideas being thrown at them at once, otherwise, they’ll end up deleting the app and going elsewhere.

The growth in hyper-casual games on mobile is evidence of the power of an effective game loop. Games can have incredible graphics, deep gameplay mechanics, and a satisfying narrative, but if the core game loop misses the mark, then players lose interest. Essentially, game loops are the most important part of any title when it comes to keeping players keen.

Let’s take a look into some of the most effective examples of a well-designed game loop, and why it pays to make it a priority throughout one’s design.

Happy Glass

Happy Glass combines one of humanity’s more base instincts: the urge to be imaginative. The idea is simple enough; a water pipe releases water into the level and it’s down to the player to lead it into the direction of a glass. There are no awkward controls here — players intuitively use their finger to draw the line and wait to see what unfolds.

Because of this, Happy Glass is instantly snackable. It’s possible to achieve something within seconds while still being able to return to where you left off at a later time. Its intuitive controls ensure players know what to do, even when new gameplay mechanics like hot surfaces and blocked-off drawing areas are introduced. Such thinking taps into Lion Studios’ methods of ensuring its products are snackable, shareable, straight forward, rewarding, and innovative.

A simple interface makes Happy Glass look welcoming but also offers up opportunities for friendly reminders of the game studio’s other games, relying on the trust that has already been built through playing Happy Glass. Retention here isn’t just about keeping players in Happy Glass but keeping them entranced by other titles from the same developer. An advert on the home screen of the game constantly serves as a subtle reminder to try the studio’s other titles. This cross promotion helps studios retain players within their own portfolio of games.

Ads are served at regular points, offering up free coins and hints. There’s room too for buying new colors of water, new pencils, or smiley faces for the glass. All of these additions are aesthetic in nature, rather than adding to the game’s mechanics, but they’re ideal for helping players feel like they’ve accomplished something while boosting retention.

Stickman Hook

Stickman Hook’s greatest strength is its immense simplicity. Like Happy Glass, there’s no need for a tutorial. Instead, players simply tap on the screen to hook onto something and release to let go. The aim is to reach the end of the level at speed in a process that typically (when done correctly) takes mere seconds. Gradually, more complicated game mechanics are introduced but it’s at a steady pace so that players are never intimidated by what’s to come. Intuitive controls make players feel smart and in control, even if they’ve haven’t played the game before.

Much like Happy Glass, Stickman Hook is highly snackable. It doesn’t require a great time commitment to achieve something. Instead, players can dip in and out seamlessly while rewarding its players at regular points.

If a player finds himself failing a level once or twice, the offer of watching a video in exchange for skipping the stage is provided. Similarly, new skins can be unlocked through watching video ads with a steady stream of new content enticing players into taking the time hit and watch an advert. Stickman Hook offers a compelling urge to unlock something new consistently throughout the game.

Again, the interface is simple and clear. There’s also a subtle reminder that the studio, MadBox, makes other titles, keeping players within the ecosystem of one studio, rather than running the risk of the player going elsewhere for their gaming fix.

Love Balls

Love Balls’ rules are simple enough. One simply has to find a way to bump two balls together through drawing lines or shapes to help the balls meet up. There are no awkward controls here. Instead, players use their finger to draw the line and wait to see what unfolds.

Through being so straightforward, there’s no need to be refreshed on what to do either. Such thinkings tap into Voodoo’s methods of ensuring its products are YouTubable, straight forward, not punitive, and innovative — a trend that we’ll see continue in all these examples.

Dash Valley

Like Stickman Hook, Dash Valley’s mechanics are extremely simple and easily explained without tedious onboarding. The main menu shows you everything you need to know — drag your finger to sling the ball and tap and hold the screen to slow down time. This simple mechanic proves increasingly challenging with new environmental obstacles that players need to learn to overcome.

Gameplay is addictive and fun, with a clear game loop that allows developer MadBox to optimize its ad strategy. Players can complete two levels before an ad is served at the end of a level. MadBox also offers up rewarded videos to revive yourself and for cosmetic skins.

There’s also a progress bar at the top so players know exactly how far they have to go to complete the level, enticing them to try again. This helps create a game loop that’s transparent, rewarding, and keeps players coming back for more.

The takeaway

These games may play very differently but they have crucial similarities when it comes to their core game loops. All of these games lure their players with simple mechanics so that even newbies can figure things out. Slowly, new game mechanics can be introduced while ramping up the difficulty level.

By adding these layers at key points, they’ve already grabbed the attention of the player, ensuring that they’re willing to adapt and learn slightly new methods. Mobile games are dependent on having welcoming difficulty curves rather than challenging the player too quickly. An intuitive nature is vital for mobile games.

Once the player has been entranced by what unfolds, it’s the perfect time to offer monetization features such as reward-based adverts that boost the game in some way. Such rewards then entice the player into doing more and therefore the game loop is complete. The player is happy and sticks around for more, watching and clicking on more ads to gain that precious multiplier, and the developer enjoys high retention rates and maximizes monetization. All of this is only possible in a mobile game with a strong core game loop.（source：Gamesindustry）