从产品体验的角度聊《模拟人生：移动版》是如何盈利的

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。

这次我们测评的是《模拟人生：移动版》（The Sims Mobile），这是EA经典生活模拟系列的最新手游。

通通免费

在EA的所有游戏中，《模拟人生》系列的吸引力应该是最广泛的。它在PC平台上所获得的成功是前所未有的，最近几年在其它主机平台上也吸引了大批玩家。

《模拟人生》一直都被看作是最适合F2P模式的游戏。虽然PC粉丝对《模拟人生：畅玩版》（The Sims Freeplay）的评价并不高，但它也是个下载量超过2亿的成功产品。

距离发行已经过了六年多，《模拟人生：畅玩版》似乎有点力不从心了。

《模拟人生：移动版》于2017年5月测试发行，2018年3月6日全球正式发行，EA打算在移动平台上推出这一系列的最新产品。但是，它成功了吗？

移动平台上的《模拟人生》

虽说手游版肯定有进行简化，但《模拟人生：移动版》更像是PC版的蒸馏产物，把这一经典游戏的核心特色保留了下来。

手游版的开放程度不及PC，但玩家依然可以自创模拟市民、设计房屋、发展关系以及派他们去工作。

这两个版本之间最大的区别就在于手游版中所有事情耗费的时间都会比PC长，这就是F2P游戏的固定套路，《模拟人生：移动版》的游戏经济就是基于这种原则所构建的。

the sims social(from raymazza.com)

对于刚开始玩这个游戏的玩家来说，每天都会有日常任务——你需要完成一些事情来挣钱以及积累经验，进而升级。之后你就能解锁新的事件和新的互动。

游戏中还有体力系统，限制角色的行动次数。模拟市民的体力可以通过“打盹”（power nap）恢复10点体力，但是24小时内只能使用一次；另外就是使用杯子蛋糕。

普通杯子蛋糕可以用游戏的硬货币模拟钞票（SimCash）购买，完成每日任务清单也能得到蛋糕。一个杯子蛋糕可以恢复一个模拟市民的所有体力。

参加派对活动时，模拟市民的体力值会暂时替换成活动专用体力，数值会变小。派对中的默认体力值是10点，但你可以使用派对蛋糕激发闲聊技能，获得额外的10点体力值（或者是恢复失去的10点）。

模拟与真实

当然，《模拟人生：移动版》中也用上了模拟币（Simoleons）——这一系列长期沿用下来的软货币可以通过完成任务来获得，主要是用来购买新家具或者是服装。

上文提到的模拟钞票是游戏中的硬货币，完成某些任务也可以得到钞票，但是数量不多。玩家可以通过礼包形式购买，从4.99美元买250到99.99美元买7500。

就像之前说的，模拟钞票可以用来恢复市民的体力。游戏中的活动通常都需要玩家多次参与互动与或者是要耗费很长时间，使用模拟钞票可以提前结束任务。

加速的另一种方法就是立即解锁额外的模拟市民。《模拟人生：移动版》开始的时候只会给玩家一位模拟市民，随着玩家经验累积、升级，玩家最多可以获得四位模拟市民，

你也可以选择花费175钞票（大约是3.50美元）在早期就解锁新的模拟市民。

另外，游戏中的付费物品，比如说衣服和家具，也只能用钞票购买，这都是F2P游戏的常见设定，没什么好意外的。

人生全靠碰运气

票券（Tickets）出现之后游戏就变得更复杂了，不同的票券有不同的功能。

家庭票（Home Tickets）可以代替其它货币购买某些家具，而模拟票（Sim Tickets）则用于装扮模拟市民。

有三种等级的传家宝票（Heirloom Ticket）——普通(regular)、超级（super）和豪华（luxe），它可以用来购买特殊物品，解锁市民的某些特征，这就让玩家有了额外的新体验。

再来就是时尚宝石（Fashion Gems），这就是游戏中最典型的F2P设计了。花费20个宝石可以制造一件带有随机属性加成的衣物，它实际上就是一个gacha系统。

真正巧妙的地方在于鼓励玩家再次尝试的方式——举个例子，玩家得到了一条棕色裤子，穿上后可以增加个人魅力，但他更想要的是一件夹克。接下来，玩家就可以选择留下喜欢的部分（留下的部分会增加对应的成本，下一轮所需的宝石会增加），抛弃不喜欢的部分，然后接着抽下一轮。

所有的票券和时尚宝石都可以通过特定的行动免费挣取，当然你可以选择用模拟钞票购买。

没有惊喜

游戏中的大部分内容还是比较中规中矩的，算是2018年里一个比较优质的F2P游戏。

你能在游戏商店中毫不意外地看见各种新手礼包：比如甜蜜优惠包（Sweet Deal）——提供了50个杯子蛋糕和550模拟钞票，只要4.99美元。这么多杯子蛋糕要按原价算是9.99美元，还多给了这么多钞票。

同样地，偶尔观看视频广告，领取更多任务奖励也是意料之中的设计。

EA看中的是移动平台的巨大潜力，希望能用这一系列新作《模拟人生：移动版》给这些不计其数的潜在用户带最新的游戏体验，而且从早期迹象来看，这游戏确实前景可观。

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 The Sims Mobile, the latest free-to-play mobile entry in EA’s classic life simulation series.

Free for all

Of all EA’s properties, The Sims probably has the broadest appeal. It’s been incredibly successful on PC and in more recent years on console.

It was always a prime candidate for a free-to-play mobile version, then. And while The Sims Freeplay may not be favoured by The Sims purists, it’s been a successful game with more than 200 million downloads.

Now more than six years old, however, The Sims Freeplay is becoming somewhat long in the tooth.

The Sims Mobile, soft-launched in May 2017 before its eventual worldwide release on March 6th 2018, is setting out to bring the franchise up to date on mobile. But does it succeed?

The Sims, on mobile

While obviously simplified, The Sims Mobile feels very much like a distillation of The Sims’ core appeal.

It’s much less open-ended, but players can nonetheless create Sims, design their homes, cultivate their relationships and set them off on careers.

The key difference, as with any free-to-play game, is that it has to take longer to do all these things for the model to work. The Sims Mobile’s economy is built around this basic principle.

So for starters, every day comes with a daily to-do list: the busywork that’s required each day to earn the required currency and experience to progress. Experience allows the player to level up, which in turn unlocks new types of events and interactions.

More straightforwardly, there’s an energy system that limits the number of actions each Sim can perform. A Sim’s energy can be restored either by having them take a ‘power nap’, which restores 10 energy though is only available every 24 hours, or by using a Cupcake consumable.

Regular Cupcakes can be bought using hard currency SimCash (more on that shortly), or earned by completing a list of daily tasks. One cupcake instantly restores all a Sim’s energy.

When participating in party events, a Sim’s energy meter is temporarily replaced with a smaller, event-specific one. A Sim has 10 energy points by default during parties, but Party Cake consumables can maximise schmoozing potential by adding (or restoring) a further 10.

What is Sim and what is real?

Of course, good old Simoleons feature in The Sims Mobile. The series’ long-standing currency is the soft one here, earned by completing quests and used primarily to buy new furniture and clothing.

The aforementioned SimCash is the hard currency, which is also earned by completing some quests, albeit in much smaller quantities. It comes in packs ranging in price from $4.99 for 250 to 7,500 for $99.99.

As discussed, SimCash can be used to top up a Sim’s energy. Events, which usually either require active player involvement or an hours-long wait to complete themselves, can be ended early using SimCash.

Another way in which SimCash can be used to accelerate progress is by unlocking additional character slots immediately. The Sims Mobile begins with the player having only one Sim to watch over, with this number eventually growing to four as they gain experience and level up.

But for 175 SimCash – approximately $3.50 – another playable Sim can be created early.

Meanwhile, more predictably, some premium items of clothing and furniture can only be bought using SimCash.

Life is a lottery

Then things get more complicated with the introduction of Tickets and their very specific functions.

Home Tickets can be used in lieu of other currencies to buy certain furniture, while Sim Tickets perform the same function for Sim apparel.

Then there are three grades of Heirloom Ticket – regular, super and luxe – which can be used to buy items that unlock certain traits for your Sim. This, in turn, allows them to access new paths.

Then there are Fashion Gems, which is the area most clearly influenced by free-to-play mobile design practises. 20 of these can be used to create a piece of clothing imbued with a random stat boost, in what’s essentially a gacha system.

The really clever part, though, is the encouragement to retry for a better outcome.

Say that a player ends up with some brown trousers that increase charisma, but would prefer a jacket. They can then pin the elements they’re happy with – each retained aspect adding to the cost of a second spin – and re-roll the rest.

All Tickets and Fashion Gems can be earned for free through specific in-game actions, but can also be bought using SimCash.

No surprises

For the most part, then, The Sims Mobile just feels like what it is: a polished free-to-play mobile game in 2018.

This means it’s no shock to see the pitching of economical starter packs for new players, including the Sweet Deal pack which offers 50 Cupcakes and 550 SimCash – a haul of Cupcakes that is worth $9.99 under normal pricing, plus 300 more SimCash than is usually given for this price – for $4.99.

Equally, the occasional option to watch a video ad to increase rewards from completing a task is hardly unexpected.

The Sims Mobile exists to bring the series up-to-date on a platform that holds huge potential for it, and judging by the early signs it has a lot going for it（source: pocketgamer.biz ）