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超休闲游戏的崛起(二):如何确定分类(以paper.io为例)

发布时间:2017-09-22 14:54:11 Tags:,

原作者:Guest Author 译者:Willow Wu

本文是系列文章的第二篇,共有三篇。你可以点这里阅读第一篇

App Store问世的八年以来,手游行业经历了一场卓越的变革,正如我上一篇文章所说的。

这期间涌现出的一些潮流重新定义了手游的种类,而且这些游戏类型在收益榜上已经占据好几年的领先位置。

开发者们从庞大的国际玩家群体中获利,让他们学会了怎么通过IAP购买虚拟物品。可预测、可扩大的移动销售渠道保证了他们拥有源源不断的新玩家,还有可持续发展的事业。

在过去几年,我注意到行业内有个趋势:一些游戏公司利用这段发展期把注意力放在那些简单,但是每天都有上百万人在玩的趣味游戏上——其实这就是“少即是多(游戏邦注:less is more)”的方法。

这些我称作“超休闲(hyper-casual)”类型的游戏随处可见,从一定程度来说这也表达了人们对早年优秀街机游戏的怀旧之情,在70、80年代它们可是无处不在。但是直到最近超休闲游戏才得到了业内的聚焦。

你总是能看到它们在免费榜上登顶而不是收益榜(收益榜上只有这一类app:它们的大部分盈利来自IAP)。而这些超休闲游戏主要是通过广告盈利。

其实他们的盈利状况还是很可观的,我认为是时候来研究研究这些“超休闲”游戏,着重探讨一下它们的共同特色。

快餐式内容,即下即玩

通常来说,超休闲游戏就是字面上意思的马上玩。这类应用的体积一般很小,如果用户在商店或者在广告上看到,他们马上就能玩起来,因为下载安装只需要几秒钟。体积小也意味着尽管不发达国家的移动通信基础设施还不完善,但是也不影响那边的庞大玩家群体玩游戏。

他们打开游戏,然后就可以玩了:没有加载,没有关卡选择,也没有继续上次游戏的选项。用户们想玩多少次就玩多少次,而且游戏流程都很短。这些游戏都极易容易上瘾,因为操作都非常简单,只用点击就可以。而且玩家可以随时开始,随时停止。

简单但是能让玩家上瘾的玩法,这就是简约风潮。

即使你从没玩过这些超休闲游戏,也不会对这种类型和玩法感到陌生,它们跟俄罗斯方块或者纵横填字游戏并没有很大的不同。

它们能够吸引一大批用户,利用一些社交功能甚至是多人同步在线模式提高知名度。这类游戏非常休闲,不需要玩家投入什么东西。

从游戏画面来说,超休闲游戏的一贯风格就是简洁,通常连UI都精简了,明亮的颜色加上简单的几何形状,搭配复古风格,或者干脆就用极简设计。

超休闲游戏的简易性也给它们带来了额外的好处:由于游戏玩法十分简单,可以直接用截图或者广告就表达清楚,可以让游戏更快地传播开。只需要看一下,用户就能明白这个游戏的玩法,不必下载后还要玩一段时间才能搞清楚,这样就移除了游戏的和用户之间的潜在屏障。

摇钱树

超休闲游戏通常不会渴求玩家为他们的游戏内容付钱。与其费力盼着把小部分玩家的IAP转化为收益(别的游戏类型IAP占总收益的比例至少是70%),他们选择换种方式,从整个玩家群体中盈利:通过观看有奖广告视频或者无奖广告视频,无奖广告会给玩家提供IAP选项,购买一些不错的额外功能道具,例如强化或者是私人订制。

虽然每个玩家身上的利润相对比较少,但是可以靠玩家数量、对游戏的依赖程度、以及游戏逐渐提升的知名度来弥补。

而且,由于这类游戏的经济比较浅显,开发者们可以反复利用有奖广告视频呈现内容,增加玩家对游戏的迷恋程度。

关于这种“买一送一”盈利策略,有个不错的例子就是通过有奖广告视频,既能用奖品取悦玩家,也能通过广告盈利,《天天过马路》就是这样。

现如今,超休闲游戏的收益喜人,开发者们也不需要过多的投资。

这类游戏发展之后自成一家,就类似之前说的的midcore游戏从core类中独立出来——看看我之前的文章,如何区别midcore游戏和core类游戏,还有要感谢这篇文章帮助我进一步塑造想法。

在手游业内领跑的游戏类型一定不会缺少庞大的玩家群体和玩家投入。

案例分析Voodoo公司的Paper.io

Start screen of paper.io(from pocketgamer.biz)

Start screen of paper.io(from pocketgamer.biz)

这家位于巴黎的游戏开发公司Voodoo,之前已经有好多游戏获得成功,例如Quiz Run和Bool,但是Paper.io的成功可谓是突破天际。在美国免费游戏排行榜中攀至第二位 (App Annie)。

发布两个月后,Paper.io就成为了App Store中下载量最高的游戏,并且成功保持游戏类榜单前五的位置长达一个多月。

其实Paper.io跟我上面列出的一些超休闲游戏标准是符合的。

即玩

从点击游戏图标到开始玩不用5秒钟。Paper.io的“play”键在开始界面上设计得非常显眼,玩家只要轻轻一点就能马上进入游戏。

玩法

游戏本身是非常简单的,就像多人游戏agar.io一样,它也是对贪吃蛇的致敬。这游戏是经典中的经典,它的成功是整个游戏史上的浓墨重彩的一笔,甚至连现代艺术博物馆都想把它纳入馆藏。

游戏画面是对比色强烈的8位风格,始于一个2D的格子。贪吃蛇的目的是越吃越长,Paper.io的目的是占据地盘,扩大面积,比比看谁的地盘面积大。

游戏的流程一般都在10秒到180秒左右,取决于玩家的技巧和运气。输了以后可以在10秒内就重新开始新一轮游戏。

Paper.io的玩法

盈利

Paper.io对于玩家有三种不同的盈利方式:

观看有奖广告视频,可以在重玩游戏前获得额外的生命。

可跳过的广告视频,每2轮或者3轮游戏就会播放一次。

通过IAP去除广告,并且可以为游戏中玩家的角色获得定制道具。

有奖广告整合

Paper.io是个非常典型的超休闲游戏,但是其他公司也有类似的游戏,例如Miniclip的agar.io,Bitmango的Block!,Gram Games的1010!Merged!和Six!,Ketchapp的Stack,还有最初的连点游戏,等等等等。

在这个系列的下一篇,我们会把焦点转移到数字上,解释生态系统如何促成超休闲游戏的成功,并且详述超休闲游戏商业模式的内部结构。

本文由游戏邦编译,转载请注明来源,或咨询微信zhengjintiao

This article is part two of a three-part series. You can read part one here.

In the past eight years since the App Store was first announced, mobile gaming has undergone a remarkable evolution, as I covered in my last post.

A couple of mobile gaming sensations have emerged that defined particular genres for mobile devices; these titles have dominated the top grossing charts for years now.

Their developers cashed in on a massive international audience that was educated to pay for virtual items through in-app purchases. Predictable and scalable mobile marketing channels helped them to have a steady influx of new users and build sustainable businesses.

In the past few years or so though, I’ve noticed a tendency of some gaming companies to leverage this history but also focus on simple but very enjoyable games that are played by millions on a daily basis — it’s a “less is more” approach.

These games, which I think of as “hyper-casual,” have always been around, and to some extent they are a nostalgic revival of the good old arcade games that were everywhere during the 70s and 80s. But only recently have these games turned into serious business.

You tend to find them on the top of the free charts instead of top grossing (where there are only apps that make the majority of their money through IAPs). Instead they monetise primarily through ads.

They’re making so much money, in fact, that I think the time is right to take a closer look at these “hyper-casual” games and highlight a couple of characteristics they have in common.

Snackable content, instantly available

Typically, hyper-casual games are played literally instantly. The apps tend to be lightweight (small file size), therefore if users discover them in the store or through an ad, they can play them within seconds. The small file size also means they are suitable for massive audiences in underdeveloped countries which are lacking in mobile infrastructure.

They open the app and are in the middle of gameplay: no loading, no level select, and no resume. Users can play as much and as often as they want, and the sessions tend to be short. The games are addictive largely because they’re always just a tap away and players can start and stop at any time.

Simple but addictive gameplay presented in a minimalistic fashion

Even if you’ve never played one of these hyper-casual games, you are probably familiar with the genre and gameplay — they’re not unlike Tetris or crosswords.

They tend to appeal to a broad audience, and some social hooks or even synchronous multiplayer modes help them to go viral quickly. These games are as casual as it gets and require no commitment from the user.

From a visual standpoint hyper-casual games keep it simple, generally having a stripped down UI, bright colors and simple shapes with a retro or even minimalist design.

The simplicity of hyper-casual games has an added bonus: it’s easier for them to go viral because the gameplay is so easily conveyed through screenshots and ads. At a glance, users understand the game, and reduction of that barrier goes a long way toward getting them to download and play it.

“Cas” cows

Hyper-casual games usually don’t urge the user to pay for content. Instead of making most of their revenue via converting a small percentage of their user base with IAPs (usually about >70% of the revenue in other genres), they monetise their whole user base through rewarded and non-rewarded video ads with the option to pay for some nice add-ons like boosts or customisation via IAPs.

The relatively low revenue per active user is compensated through stickiness, scale and viral appeal.

Moreover, because the economies of these games lack depth, their developers can continuously pump out content that is delivered via rewarded videos and contributes to their stickiness.

A great example of this “two-for-one” strategy-income through rewarded videos, coupled with rewards that please users, can be found in Crossy Road.

Since hyper-casual games can make a lot of money nowadays and require lower investment for developers.

They have developed into a genre of their own, in a similar fashion to what midcore became for core games – see my previous post for how I define the difference between core and midcore, and hat tip to this post for helping to shape my thinking.
The dominant mobile gaming genres clustered by audience size and user commitment
Case Study: Voodoo’s Paper.io

The Paris-based developer Voodoo had already seen a lot of success with its previous titles such as Quiz Run and Bool, but its title Paper.io went through the roof: It climbed to second place (App Annie) in the US Top Free overall charts.

It was the most downloaded game in the App Store two months after its initial release and managed to stay in the Top five in ‘games’ for over a month.
Download rankings for Paper.io on iOS (source: App Annie)
Paper.io in fact meets many of the criteria I listed above for hyper-casual games.

Instant

It takes less than five seconds from tapping the app logo to playing the game. Paper.io’s “play” button is very prominent on the start screen, and users jump right into the game upon tapping it.

Start screen of paper.io

Gameplay

The game itself is extremely simple, and like multiplayer agar.io, it pays homage to Snake, a game so successful and iconic that the Museum of Modern Art intends to add it to its collection.

The game sports a contrast-rich 8-bit style, and instead of a snake that gets longer and longer, players build a 2-dimensional grid; the goal is to capture more area than the other players.

Depending on how skilled and lucky the player is, sessions usually last between 10 and 180 seconds. When a player loses, they can start a new session within 10 seconds.

Gameplay of paper.io

Graphic 4:

Monetisation

Paper.io has three different ways to monetise the user:

Rewarded video to get a bonus life before starting a new game

Skippable video and interstitials after every second or third game

IAP purchases for getting rid of ads and customisation of the player’s “avatar”

Rewarded ad integration

Paper.io is a great example for a hyper-casual game, but there are more companies that follow similar patterns, e.g. Miniclip with agar.io, Bitmango with Block!, Gram Games with 1010!, Merged! and Six!, Stack by Ketchapp, and the original dots, to name a few.

In the next part of this series, we will focus on the numbers, explain how the ecosystem enables the success of hyper-casual games, and describe the inner workings of the hyper-casual business model.(source:pocketgamer.biz


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