原作者：Matt Suckley 译者：Willow Wu

欢迎回到In-App Purchase Inspector，在这里我们会以消费者的视角定期测评一些F2P游戏。

每期文章，我们都会考虑游戏中IAP的诱因、压力、它们的感知价值、IAP带来的扩展内容还有整个游戏体验的评估。

最终目的就是看看这游戏究竟值不值得我们砸钱，不花钱的游戏体验是否也能让玩家感到满足。

这次，我们要测评的是Playdemic旗下的实时多人游戏Golf Clash.。

开球

Golf Clash的核心本质可以用这样一个问题来描述：如果《部落冲突：皇室战争》的流畅metagame遇上体育类手游常见且易上手的PvP游戏玩法，那会是一个什么样的结果？

Golf Clash发行于2016年九月，这游戏是慢慢火起来的。TT Games在2017年2月收购了Playdemic，表面上他们看中的是乐高手游项目，但是实际上他们看中的是前景大好的Golf Clash。

确实，这游戏在近期创造了一项里程碑式的超强记录：单日收益达到110万美元。2017年7月4号，这是创纪录的一天，距离游戏发行日已经过去了九个多月。

所以Golf Clash为什么还能攀上新高？

golf clash reward offer(from pocketgamer.biz)

流畅&简洁

如果要说哪个公司的作品和Golf Clash最接近，那就是Miniclip了。

贴心的配对系统加上快节奏回合制，搭配容易上手而富有技巧的玩法，这就是从大热门游戏8 Ball Pool和Archery King提取出来的，方案虽然复杂，但是Playdemic成功地把它简化了。

这就是游戏的核心魅力所在，也是它成功的关键因素。

Miniclip的游戏有个通病就是它们难以说服玩家为游戏花钱，尽管他们近期的游戏对这个问题多少有点起效。

而Playdemic的解决办法就是效仿《部落冲突：皇室战争》的奖励机制以及升级系统，几乎是整体照搬到自己的游戏中去。

这么一说你应该能对这游戏有个大概的了解了：玩家获得胜利后会得到宝箱奖励，主菜单有四个宝箱空位，玩家需要打开宝箱才能空出这个位置。一次只能解锁一个宝箱，价值比较高的宝箱需要等待更长时间才能解锁。

宝箱里提供的就是卡片——在Golf Clash中卡片并不是单独存在的个体，它代表着球具和球。当某一种卡片收集到一定数量以后，玩家可以使用游戏中的软货币升级道具。

等待游戏

游戏的盈利方式对玩家来说也并不陌生。说到《部落冲突：皇室战争》所擅长的延时奖励系统和其他常常被效仿的部分，我的观点依旧没变——这绝对是非常优秀的设计。

当然，这种设计的目的就是鼓励玩家使用宝石（也就是硬货币）缩短游戏流程，更早地拿到奖励，就像是圣诞节急于拆礼物的小孩子。

宝石也可以用来买卡片，从Common级别到Epic级别都有。任何时候在球具商店你都能找到这三个级别的道具，虽说每过几个小时就会换成不同的道具。

这就在无形中给玩家的购买欲增加了一点压力，游戏表明了那些令人垂涎的卡片是不会一直都等着你的，是有时间限制的。

宝石礼包有好几种，从0.99美元买80个到99.99美元买17000个。

花钱要谨慎

对于《部落冲突：皇室战争》的玩家来说，他们肯定知道Golf Clash的金币要怎么用，作为软货币，它的基本作用就是升级卡片。

但是，它和《部落冲突：皇室战争》相比，在挣金币的方法上还是有所区别。《部落冲突：皇室战争》的metagame在一定程度上依赖的是软货币短缺，而Golf Clash选择从Miniclip那边汲取灵感，在游戏中加以延伸。

Golf Clash中包含了投机的元素，玩家可以解锁、参加多个巡回赛。难度比较小的巡回赛需要的入场费比较少，奖品也比较少，比较难战胜的对手就需要高额的入场费，但是相对的，获胜奖品也会更多。

作为游戏的软货币，金币的基本功能之一就是交入场费，这就意味着你的接下来会赚还是会亏完全是由你的比赛表现所决定的，玩家可能会输掉他们所有的金币，也有可能在短时间内就屯了一大堆金币。

这就形成了一种趣味满满的玩法，玩家需要冒险去争夺奖励。Playdemic很聪明，他们不会把玩家逼到交不起入场费而放弃游戏，玩家也不是完全没有办法弥补他们损失的金币。游戏中经常会出现有奖广告视频，看完你就能拿到50金币，新手级别的巡回赛入场费就是这个数。

和《部落冲突：皇室战争》一样，金币也可以用来升级卡片，一般的玩家很快就能发现这些软货币的价值其实是和宝石一样珍贵。

实际上，花宝石最划算的的方法之一就是买金币，金币礼包从60宝石买2000金币到20000宝石买2百万金币。

向优秀的作品学习

Golf Clash鼓励玩家花钱的另一种方式就是提供限时折扣，当玩家进入到下一阶段的巡回赛时，限时折扣就会被作为奖励提供给玩家。

最开始出现的是新手礼包，只要花0.99美元就能得到一个金宝箱，80个宝石和4000金币，原来的价格要比这个折扣价贵整整五倍。

但是除此之外，其他就没有什么地方特别的了。Golf Clash成功的主要原因并不在于它的新创意，而是它借鉴了别的游戏，然后合理地运用到自己的游戏中，从而得到了非常不错的效果。

Miniclip和Supercell的热门游戏使用的就是基于核心为PvP框架的metagame设计，Playdemic见证了他们的成功，利用了同样的设计收获了自己的成功。

这游戏受玩家欢迎，让玩家欲罢不能。IAP折扣价值让人一目了然，也没有给玩家过大的压力，催他们花钱。

本文由游戏邦编译，转载请注明来源，或咨询微信zhengjintiao

Welcome back to the In-App Purchase Inspector – our regular look at free-to-play games from the consumer’s perspective.

In each instalment, we consider the incentives or pressure applied to make in-app purchases, their perceived value, the expansion offered by IAPs and the overall value of the experience.

The end goal is to see whether the game makes a good enough case for us to part with our cash, or whether players are content – or engaged enough – to ‘freeload’.

This time, we’re taking a look at Playdemic’s real-time multiplayer game Golf Clash.

Tee off

There appears to be just one simple question at the heart of Golf Clash: what would happen if the slick metagame of Clash Royale met the broad, accessible PvP gameplay of a sports title?

Launched in September 2016, it’s been a slow burner. TT Games acquired Playdemic in February 2017, ostensibly to work on mobile LEGO games, but has found that the real gem it’s acquired is the buoyant Golf Clash.

Indeed, the game recently hit a massive milestone by generating $1.1 million in a single day – a record sales day, more than nine months after its launch on July 4th 2017.

So what is it about Golf Clash that keeps propelling it to new heights?

Slick and simple

If there’s one company’s work that Golf Clash feels closest to, it’s Miniclip.

Its combination of fuss-free matchmaking and quick bouts of simple, skill-based gameplay is cut from the same cloth as the likes of 8 Ball Pool and Archery King, and Playdemic makes that complex formula look easy.

This is key to the game’s central appeal, and understanding its success.

But what Miniclip’s games have often lacked – although recent releases have gone some way to remedying this – is a compelling reason to spend.

Playdemic’s solution to this was to crib Clash Royale’s rewards and upgrade systems almost wholesale.

You know what this means by now: chests are rewarded for victories, which occupy one of four slots in the main menu until they are unlocked. Only one can be unlocked at a time, and more valuable chests take longer.

Chests yield cards – in Golf Clash’s case representing not units, but clubs and balls – which are eligible to upgrade using soft currency when a certain number of the same card has been accumulated.

Waiting game

This means that the game’s monetisation is also rather familiar, and on the timed reward system pioneered by Clash Royale and oft-imitated elsewhere, my position is unchanged – it’s an incredibly smart piece of design.

Of course, the idea behind it is to encourage the use of hard currency Gems to skip the timer and get your rewards early, like an impatient kid at Christmas.

Gems can also be used to buy cards, which range in classification from Common to Epic. A selection of three is available at any time in the club shop, though the stock rotates every few hours.

This adds a sense of urgency to any purchases, making clear that a particularly coveted card won’t stick around forever.

Gems come in bundles ranging from $0.99 for 80 to $99.99 for 17,000.

Look after the pennies…

Golf Clash’s Coins will also be familiar to Clash Royale players, with the soft currency’s primary function being to upgrade cards.

However, there are some key differences in how the currency is earned through gameplay. Clash Royale’s metagame relies to a certain extent on scarcity of soft currency, but Golf Clash’s splash of Miniclip inspiration puts a different spin on this.

There’s a gambling element to Golf Clash whereby the player can unlock and enter multiple Tours. The easier Tours have a smaller entry cost and yield smaller rewards, while others offset tougher opponents and a higher down-payment with larger rewards for a win.

This then becomes the primary function of Coins as a currency, and means that – purely as a result of performances in games – the player can either lose all their coins or build an impressive hoard relatively quickly.

This leads to a lively risk-reward dynamic. Playdemic is obviously keen that nobody is priced out of the game and given no chance to recoup their losses, which is why a rewarded video ad is always on hand to make a quick 50 Coins – exactly the cost of entering the Beginner Tour.

But with Coins also in demand for Card upgrades, like in Clash Royale, the average player will quickly find that this ‘soft’ currency is just as valuable as Gems.

In fact, one of the best uses of Gems may actually be to spend them on Coins, with bundles available from 2,000 Coins for 60 Gems to two million Coins for 20,000 Gems.

Learning from the best

Another way Golf Clash encourages spending is through the use of timed offers, which are presented as rewards for progressing to a new Tour.

The first, the closest the game comes to a starter pack, offers excellent value at $0.99 for a Gold Chest, 80 Gems and 4,000 Coins – which are accumulatively worth five times their asking price.

But other than this, it’s a simple affair. Golf Clash’s triumph isn’t in the new ideas it brings to the table, but the way it implements those taken from elsewhere so effectively.

Playdemic has seen what the likes of Miniclip and Supercell have been able to achieve with metagame design around a competitive PvP framework, and has used that to great effect.

The result is a game that is welcoming and engaging, with the value of IAPs clearly communicated without the application of undue pressure.（source：pocketgamer.biz ）