iQU's Fraser MacInnes on making data a valid tool for game design. Fraser MacInnes is a mobile games industry professional who cut his teeth writing for Pocket Gamer.
He's now working at iQU, a behavioural knowledge company working in the games sector.You can find the previous parts of Fraser's data series on segmentation, targeting, gamer profiles, user acquisition, and marketing acronyms here. When it comes to game design, data is a bit of a dirty word. Designers see themselves as creators with a vision, not mathematicians with a formula. It's true that there's no secret quantitative formula for making a great mobile game or any game for that matter. But there are certain things we can infer from data and analytics to avoid making obvious design mistakes. Different by design The hotspots where gamers give up, or instigate communication with another player (or fail to do so where it would improve the experience), or, indeed, spend money, are all measurable with analytics.
Monetisation there's another dirty word. Guess what? The numbers don't know. Learning by Analysis « #AltDevBlogADay. As my last post turned out to be not as controversial as I’d worried that it might, I thought with this one I would return back to the main brief I’ve set myself: to try and bring my understanding of the role of a senior designer out in, hopefully, a way that’s interesting to read and gives a few insights as well.
So today’s post is about learning how to analyse not just other games but yours as well, with the main aim to be to make it better. One of the best skills you can learn as a designer is the ability to deconstruct another game, to be able to see through its patterns and understand what makes it tick. From there you can analyse the rules behind the game, which can then help you reflect on the game you’re making and reverse the process.
This analytical skill exists in all businesses, and many creative industries revel in writing – and reading – retrospectives on how something was achieved. Ben Chong's Blog - Indie Game Analytics 101. The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community.
The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company. Call it designer ego, but I think the world owes me something when I release a game. I mean, I spent like 5 months making this thing from scratch and now it's SO pretty and therefore everybody including my hero Jordan Mechner should be playing this. Ignore everything I just said. Obviously the first version bombed and I went back to drawing cute levels on my napkins. Shiny new term I heard about this new thing they call analytics. I googled for "game analytics" and found this free cross-platform service called Playtomic . Background of my game Private Joe is a 2d platform shooter. Features - Scary Game Findings: A Study Of Horror Games And Their Players. This study was undertaken by usability and user experience studio Vertical Slice as an internal investigation. As this piece was not for commercial use, and used games that have already been released, it seeks to determine which Xbox 360 game is the "scariest," and is not intended to be a criticism or full analysis of the games in question.
Using some of Vertical Slice's unique approaches to user research, the study used a number of methods including interview techniques, think-aloud, researcher/participant post-play analysis and biometric feedback in order to evaluate the player experiences with each game. ValveBiofeedback-Ambinder.pdf (application/pdf Object) Opinion: Pacing Graphs And Tips From A Combat Designer. [Netherrealm's Mike Birkhead explains why combat pacing graphs should be for entire teams -- not just designers -- and offers advice on creating effective graphs in this #altdevblogaday-reprinted opinion piece.]
Every time you create a chart, table, or graph, you are attempting to visualize and communicate important information, but more often than not, people approach the task with a careless and blase attitude that leads to a muddying of their message, which ultimately leads one, even with the best of intentions, to chart the wrong course. There is no greater beneficiary (and culprit) of clear communication than the Pacing Graph. Pacing is one of those designer concepts that you just don’t order from the local design store: “Uh, yes, I’d like to order two units of good pacing please.” Features - Pacing And Gameplay Analysis In Theory And Practice. [Starbreeze Studios level designer Filip Coulianos shares a method for analyzing the pacing of games, and applies it to two superhero titles -- X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Batman: Arkham Asylum -- to see how differently-paced games can create very different results in players.] We have always asked ourselves what great stories are made of; as a consequence, many refined methods for analyzing and creating good stories in traditional media have been developed.
As the video game medium is only a toddler, no reliable toolsets exist yet. However, the question remains: what makes great games?