作者：Ben Liu

本周，Pocket Gems正在庆祝我们的游戏《天堂的港湾》的第二个生日。当我们在2012年发行游戏时，手机游戏的传统生命周期平均为一个月。我们在产业中所注意到的趋势是当玩家真的喜欢一款游戏时，开发者便会继续发展它，如此手机游戏便能够继续存在好几年。就像GungHo便是如此，《智龙迷城》与《天堂的港湾》几乎同时期发行，但直至今天这款游戏还有很不错的表现。而对于我们自己的游戏，特别是《天堂的港湾》能够在发行100周后还维持在前50名畅销游戏榜单中，我们已经觉得很幸运了。

paradise cove(from gamasutra)

我们认为这样的游戏取得成功的部分原因是因为游戏的创造者继续基于某种有意义的方式，并通过添加新内容，功能和游戏玩法去推动着游戏的发展。我们的目标是始终将游戏当成一种服务运行着，让玩家每次游戏时都能获得全新的体验。以下是手机游戏的5大“抗衰老”秘诀：

1.频繁地发行更新内容

如今，成功的手机游戏都是一些新鲜的产品。你不能只是发行一件产品便什么都不管了，你需要通过不断的内容更新而继续吸引更多玩家回来。我们总是不断地添加新内容到《天堂的港湾》以及其它游戏中。例如《Campus Life》便于上周通过了300个可下载的内容更新。

玩家想要基于一个持续发展的基础看到一些新的图像和新角色。我们也发现基于循环基础添加支线任务到游戏中能够有效地将玩家带回游戏中，即使他们已经不如之前那般活跃了。这听起来可能有点吓人，特别是对于小团队来说，但基于全新且有趣的方式重新使用资产并支持玩家去创造他们自己的内容将能够有效地创造一个可持续的内容循环。我们已经创造了核心技术让我们能够在游戏中快速且轻松地改变每个资产和数值了。

2.持续在关键的功能上进行迭代

成功的手机开发者会将发行日当成是游戏开发的“第一天”。除了频繁的内容更新，添加新功能和游戏玩法模式也能让玩家在已经玩过的游戏中获得更多乐趣。例如在《天堂的港湾》发行几个月后，我们发行了一个全新的游戏机制，让海盗去攻击玩家的城镇。海盗待在屏幕中，包围玩家的城镇，直至他回到游戏中并将其打败。一个月后，我们基于该内容添加了玩家对抗玩家的战斗模式。这对于游戏来说是个巨大的完善，并为我们的游戏添加了一个有趣的新元素。

3.整合真正的社交机制

每款成功的手机游戏都有一些社交整合水平，你也会发现最成功的游戏已经精通了这一点。提供一种方式让玩家能够被动或主动地与朋友一起游戏是手机游戏的必要元素。在Pocket Gems，我们尝试着思考与好友一起行事的乐趣。我们并不想努力创造人工机制去发送一些信息和邀请。尽管PvP游戏玩法一直被当成硬核游戏的机制，但是当我们将这一元素引进《天堂的港湾》并运行玩家与好友进行战斗时，游戏的用户粘性出现飙升。

4.扩展核心游戏循环

我们从之前的游戏中学到的另外一点便是通过扩展核心游戏循环以提供更深入的互动体验。《天堂的港湾》一开始是围绕着探索而进行的休闲游戏，但随着时间的发展我们通过扩展核心循环而包含了更多的活动。在这一过程中我们发现游戏变得更有趣，并且我们的平均回合长度也显著增加，今天，比起简单地创建房子并收集货币，就像游戏最初发行的版本一样，玩家也能够在此创造道具，继续航行，与海盗抗击等等。保持现有的玩家比获得新玩家简单多的，并且添加深度到玩家已经玩过的游戏中正是我们成功的关键元素之一。

5.与玩家交谈

关于这些秘诀的最后一点便是将玩家当成是创造与发展游戏的合作伙伴。在Pocket Gems，我们总是会不断地与玩家交谈，分析玩家数据并回应他们的反馈。手机游戏作为一种服务的成功是取决于随着时间的发展进化并改变游戏的能力。不断地迭代，听取玩家的看法，并使用他们的反馈去修改并发行新功能将帮助我们留住现有的玩家并吸引全新玩家。

（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 Anti-Aging Tips for Mobile Games

by Ben Liu

This week, Pocket Gems is celebrating the second birthday of our game, Tap Paradise Cove (TPC). When we launched the game in 2012, the typical lifespan for mobile games was about a month on average on the good side. A trend which we’ve noticed across the industry is that when players really love a game, and developers continue to evolve it, mobile games can live on for years. GungHo, for example, has done this well with Puzzle & Dragons which launched around the same time as TPC and is also still doing well today. We’ve been lucky enough to see this in our games as well, especially with Tap Paradise Cove, which has been a top-50 grossing game consistently for 100 weeks and counting.

We think that part of the reason titles like this have been so successful is because the makers of these games have continued to grow and evolve them in meaningful ways over time with new content, features and gameplay. Our goal has always been to run our games as a service and to make the player experience fresh and new each time our game is played. Next week, I’ll be speaking at GDC about how we’ve expanded the life cycle of TPC by introducing hardcore game mechanics to players who were initially drawn to casual games. In the meantime, here are five “anti-aging” tips for mobile games:

1. Release Frequent Content Updates

Successful mobile games these days are living, breathing products. It’s not enough to release a product then just sit back and watch, you need frequent content updates to keep players coming back. We’re constantly adding new content to TPC and do the same for all our games. Campus Life, for example, just passed 300 downloadable content updates last week.

Players want to see new art and new characters on an ongoing basis. We’ve also found that adding side quests to the game on a recurring basis brings players back to it even if they have been less active for a while. It might sound like an intimidating feat, especially for smaller teams, but reusing assets in new and interesting ways and enlisting players to create content of their own can be both be extremely helpful in creating a sustainable content cycle. We have also built core technology that allows us to change each asset and value in the game quickly and easily.

2. Continuously Iterate on Key Features

A successful mobile developer should consider launch day as “Day One” of the game’s development. In addition to frequent content updates, adding in new features and gameplay modes gives players more to enjoy within a game that they already play. For example, a few months after the launch of TPC we released a new gameplay mechanic in which pirates would attack the players’ town. The pirates stay on the screen and put your town under siege until the player goes back into the game and defeats them. A month later, we built on this and added player versus player battle element to the game. It was a huge improvement for the game and added an incredibly fun new dimension for our franchise.

3. Integrate Truly Social Mechanics

Every successful mobile game has some level of social integration, and you’ll find the most successful games have mastered this aspect. Providing a way to either passively or actively play with friends is essential in a mobile game. At Pocket Gems, we try to think of what would be fun to do with your friends. We don’t think efforts to create artificial mechanisms for sending them messages and invites work. While PvP gameplay would traditionally be considered a hardcore game mechanic, we saw engagement soar when we introduced that element to TPC and allowed people to battle their friends.

4. Expand the Core Gameplay Loop

Another thing that we learned from our previous games is expanding the core gameplay loop offers deeper interactive experiences. TPC began as a mostly casual game built around exploration, but over time we expanded the core loop to include more and more activities. In doing so we found that the game became more fun and that our average session length increased significantly. Today, rather than being able to simply build houses and collect coins, as in the initial launch version of the game, players are able to also craft items, go on voyages, battle pirates, and much more. Keeping existing players is easier than getting new ones and adding depth to a game they’re already playing is one of our keys to success.

5. Talk to Your Players

The last tip for today is to make the player a partner in building and evolving the game. At Pocket Gems, we’re constantly talking with our players, analyzing player data and responding to their feedback. The success of mobile games-as-a-service depends on the ability to evolve and change the game over time. Constantly iterating, listening to players, and using their feedback to revise and ship new features can help retain existing players and bring in new ones.

If you want to learn more about adding game mechanisms inspired by hardcore games in casual games, my talk at GDC is Thursday, March 20 at 3:05 pm, in room 3003 in the West Hall.

Hope to see you there! (source:gamasutra)