《Dash》系列是休闲游戏中的成功典型之一，其美国发行商PlayFirst公司在iPhone平台上的表现也同样不逊色。尽管目前仅推出了8款手机游戏，但在这个充斥大量免费、低价游戏的竞争环境中，却能因优质高价游戏而成为强者，不能不令人称羡。

近日，pocketgamer记者采访了该公司移动部门总经理克里斯·威廉姆斯（Chris Williams），向其了解PlayFirst选择这种发展模式的原因，以及他们对免费模式游戏和新手机平台发展机遇的看法。下文为访谈内容：

Diner-Dash 2

《Dash》系列游戏在PC平台上表现出色，但你们为何认为它在iPhone上也能复制这种成功？

这个游戏系列目前的下载量已经超过800万次，其中有4款游戏的营收一直排在所有游戏的前100名左右，所以《Dash》毫无疑问是App Store中最为成功的游戏。

品牌知名度和成熟的游戏设置，显然是《Dash》在App Store的成功原因之一，但更重要的是，我们会根据iOS平台的配置和特点，对所有游戏进行调整，并定期更新和优化。

如果能让玩家感觉这些游戏是专为自己的手机而设计，那就很有助于提高游戏的黏性和用户留存率。玩家体验我们这些游戏的平均时长超过20分钟，60%玩家在游戏下载30天后，仍然会继续玩这款游戏。

你刚才提到玩家体验游戏的时间长度高于预期，这是因为你们在游戏玩法中的有意安排，还是说这只是用户的游戏习惯？

《Dash》系列游戏拥有一个设置严谨的游戏结构和玩法机制，让所有平台的用户都欲罢不能，过了这关再想继续闯下一关。

我们与iOS平台用户交流后才得知一个很意外的结果，他们并不像对待传统手机游戏那样，只是在等公共汽车的空隙把玩三五分钟，而是坐在家里旁若无人地耗上更长时间，迟迟不肯歇手。

你们是如何选择投放到iOS平台上的游戏？

我们重视质量远甚于数量，我们知道发行一小撮出色的游戏远比出品一大堆平庸的游戏更值得推崇。为游戏玩法润色往往需要花上一些时间，所以我们不会在游戏开发环节上草草了事。

比如说，针对最近在iPhone上发行的《Hotel Dash》，我们之前就打算根据iPhone平台的特点，对它的游戏玩法进行调整和创新，在游戏任务中植入电梯这个元素。

玩家在游戏过程中需要更仔细地考虑，他们的服务车中到底要放哪些道具，根据楼层布局和电梯位置对所要传送的道具进行合理排序。如果玩家在进入电梯时没有事先考虑清楚，就有可能上错楼层，或者拿了太多不必要的道具，任务急需的道具却远远不够。

我们这些额外的努力获得了回报，因为这款游戏的平均用户评价是5颗星，自发行以来一直排在App Store游戏的前20名。

hotel-Dash

你对App Store的游戏定价有什么看法？

《Dash》系列提供高级的游戏体验，拥有令人印象深刻的角色和故事脚本，具有强大的黏性，所以售价为2.99至4.99美元。这个价格略低于PC平台，但仍属于iOS游戏中的高端价位。

如果不是已经形成气候的品牌优势，《Dash》可能很难以这种高价稳居App Store排行榜前列，所以我也很能理解那些售价0.99美元游戏的开发商所面临的压力。

你们可有推出免费模式游戏的打算？

这方面我们还没有什么具体的消息可公布，我们会关注所有的游戏运营模式，以便让自己的游戏不断进步，也相信免费模式能够有效吸引大量玩家，而且靠一小部分玩家就能创造大量营收。

但是，根据我们的经验，我们并不需要靠那种虚拟商品交易的免费游戏来创收，因为我们在《Diner Dash》中已经有提供游戏内置付费功能，玩家可以通过购买餐厅来提高游戏段数。

智能手机市场正在快速发展，PlayFirst对Android和Windows Phone 7平台可有什么发展计划？

PlayFirst向来重视满足用户随时随地玩游戏的需求。这些手机平台上的应用商店都在成长壮大，也拥有一定规模的购买高质量内容的活跃用户，所以我们也当然会考虑向这些平台投放产品。

PlyaFirst手机游戏的开发策略是什么？

我们拥有一个活跃的团队，主要负责不断更新那些已经成型的游戏。我们一直关注iOS平台的最新功能，以便更好地完善我们的游戏。在游戏的初次开发阶段，我们可能会选择与外部开发商合作，但游戏发行后，所有后继的升级工作等都由我们自己来完成，这样我们就能快速地进行循环更新。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

PlayFirst on its Dash series; ‘arguably the most successful on the App Store’

With the Dash series being one of the most popular in casual games, US publisher PlayFirst was always likely to be successful on iPhone too

Yet with only eight to date releases, its approach has demonstrated a commitment to high quality and high priced games in an environment characterised by numerous and cheap.

We caught up with its general manager of mobile, Chris Williams, to find out why it had chosen this approach, and how opportunities such as freemium and new platforms might change this.

Pocket Gamer: The Dash series has been very successful on PC. Why do you think it’s also been successful on iPhone?

Chris Williams: With over eight million downloads to date and the four Dash games consistently in or around the Top 100 games in terms of revenue, Dash is arguably the most successful gaming franchise to date on the App Store.

Brand recognition and proven gameplay are obviously part of this, but equally important is the fact that we have enhanced all of the games to be native to the iOS platforms and continuously update and improve them.

Players get a gaming experience that feels built for their device, which leads to strong engagement and retention. Our average session lengths are over 20 minutes and 60 percent of our users are still playing the games 30 days after they download them.

You mentioned play times are longer than expected. Is this something you’ve built into the gameplay, or just how people play the games?

The Dash games have a well refined compulsion loop and a game structure that makes people to want to progress to the next level regardless of the platform.

We were surprised by the session lengths on the iOS devices until we talked to consumers and realised that they aren’t just playing these games in the traditional three to five minute mobile ‘bus stop’ play patterns. Instead, they are sitting down for ‘me time’ gaming when they are at home and are much more deeply engaged.

How do you decide which games to bring onto iOS?

We focus on quality over quantity since we know that a small portfolio of highly successful games is superior to a large portfolio of games that only perform moderately. It takes time to ensure the gameplay feels polished and so we don’t rush the development.

In Hotel Dash, our most recent release on iPhone, we wanted to deliver and innovative twist on the Dash gameplay by orienting the game vertically on the device and incorporating elevators into the challenge.

Players need to strategise more carefully about what items they put on the service cart and the sequencing of how they deliver them based on the level layout and elevator location. If you don’t plan ahead before you get on the elevator, you might end up on the wrong floor, or with too many of one thing and not enough of another.

The extra effort paid off as the game has an average user review rating of five stars and has been in the Top 20 since launch.

What’s your view concerning pricing on the App Store?

The Dash games are a premium gaming experience that offer strong characters, great stories, and hours of engagement, so they are priced from $2.99-$4.99. This is a little bit less than our PC pricing but considered at the high end of the spectrum for iOS games.

Without an established brand it is difficult to remain high in the App Store charts at a higher price point, so I understand why there is a lot of pressure for developers to sell their games for $0.99.

Do you have any plans for freemium mobile games?

While we don’t have any specific announcements, we are looking at all business models for our games going forward and believe freemium is an exciting way to engage a large user base of consumers while getting potentially meaningful revenue from a small percentage of them.

However, we also know from experience you don’t have to be a free game to make money off virtual goods since we successfully sell restaurants for in-app purchase within Diner Dash to people who want more levels.

The smartphone market is expanding quickly, so what’s the PlayFirst strategy for devices such as Android and Windows Phone 7?

PlayFirst has a history of delivering our games to consumers wherever they want to play.

As the app stores on these new platforms become viable and have an active consumer base willing to pay for high quality content, we will certainly be there with our hit franchises.

What’s PlayFirst’s strategy in terms of how it develops mobile games?

We have a philosophy of live teams that work on the games on an ongoing basis and so the games are never considered finished.

We are always looking at the latest features of the devices and the iOS for how to add to and improve them. We may work with external developers on the initial development of a game but after launch the development typically comes in-house so we can quickly iterate.（source:pocketgamer）