Hi there. I'm at the very beginning stages of designing an iphone game. I've not done it before and have myself this challenge for 2010. I want to a game that has an educational element to it, but something that's fairly simple to make. As it's my first game, I don't want to become overwhelmed. Anyway, on top of this I want it to be successful and although i've got my own pretty solid ideas about what makes a good game, i'm interested to hear other people's thoughts. So.... What makes a really great iphone game for you? That's it. Feel free to suggest anything you like from functionality to concept. All feedback is appreciated.
Well if it's score based, a lot of gamers, including myself, enjoy online leaderboards (Plus+, OF, Agon etc), it helps to make gamers want to keep coming back to try and improve their score and beat others. Good luck with your game!
Alright, I'm in the process of creating an iPhone game, and my design was based on a fairly simple premise. That's the first part of it. You want to be able to sum up the goal of your game in one sentence. Example: I want to get a ball in the goal. And you want the goal to be at least moderately fun from the get go. If you get a simple prototype working, and you find yourself grinning a little messing around with the mechanics, you're on the right track. Second part, spitball and brainstorm a lot of ideas. I mean a lot. You want to have a list of 20-30 features (power-ups, game modes, enemies). The more you have, the better chance you'll come up with a great idea. Go through all of them. Consider them in depth, then start eliminating them. Whittle down the list. Make sure those are the features you want to implement in the game. And the last step to this: do not stray from what you planned. Don't let "feature-creeper" sneak up on you. It's easy to get carried away adding all this cool stuff to the game, but without the core gameplay down, you're just bogging down progress and creating all this stuff that just won't fit into what you're building. If a certain mechanic just isn't working out, tweak it. If you have to, throw it out and come up with something to replace it. Just don't heap in too much content. It's like cake. To much icing, and it just doesn't work out. Each person has their own ways of building, creating, making, etc. These are more guidelines or tips that the rules. You'll find your own personal way of coding a game, just keep what I said in mind. And as for the education part of it, if it feels natural to add a concept like that in the game, go for it. Just don't force it or the kid playing it will whip out his PSP and delete your game. Make it subtle. Loading screens are always good for this. Good luck
Spidey, thanks for that suggestion. I hadn't really though of that yet. Kamazar that's amazing advice and I'll take it all on board. I do have a nasty habit of feature creep, but if I get this down on paper before implementation, i'll stay true to the design. I've worked on a few games (as the artist) and have to say the best ones were the ones that had a solid goal and didn't stray too much if at all from that goal. There were a couple that were changed half way through (by the client) and ended up as an incoherent mess. So I agree entirely with what you are saying. Thankyou guys.
easy, make a game, market it to youngsters and having a simple gimic like: Audible sound of the letter "A" then the child has to drag one of 5 wooden looking blocks with letters on it into a hole. Once they get the right one, it says "right!" or something like that. You could even go so far as to have pre-defined words in the game like "APPLE" and have the toddler/child drag each block until it spells the word. Go develop it! all I'm saying, is since it's your first, start small, get it done, and then move on to more complex ideas. Otherwise you'll be stuck in development forever and will more than likely have to give up.
That's a great idea and that's exactly the kind of simplicity I do need to go for. Though I do find myself 'adding' to my game ideas until before I know it, there is a mountain to face. I shall follow the rules of K.I.S.S. at all times.
a good game for me is: (in no particular order) 1) easy to pick up 2) playable at any time 3) super fun 4) creative/unique (unless it's a match three, which I just have a certain penchant for, but at least I know I'm not alone...) 5) doesn't have annoying things in it like obstacles/monsters/puzzles that take forever to get through/figure out. 6) looks pretty good luck in your venture!
I think great iPhone games are ones that don't require 100% of your attention all the time. ie. Turn-based games instead of real-time games. I love being able to look away from a game and not lose, or to be interrupted by a phone call and be able to resume right where I left off.
Besides online leaderboard, a long list of achievements would also keep players keep coming back to try and unlock the achievements And sometimes a funny but unnessary gimmick would improve players' attitude on the game. For example, does anyone have ever notice the credit page of Minisquadron? I love their introductions which makes me smile when I first viewing the credit page
yup, definitely achievements make you coming back for more. How long did people spend playing peggle i wonder? Jeebus!
I agree, that's mostly what I look for in a game since I'm only playing them when I have a few minutes or are out and about (and waiting).
I beg to differ. To me, as a customer, puzzles are anything but annoying things. While it might be true that Puzzle Games don´t appeal to the Mass Market and u´ll probably not make the quick buck, those games can still create a loyal fanbase. Having loyal followers can´t be a bad thing for your future projects after all (Think Apple), and you might profit from it in the long run. I´m not very fond of "Hit And Run" Coders. So for me it´s good to see a developer updating his game(s) regularely, even if he only implents DLC for Level Packs or something similar. Long Time Support, even if it is payed by the customer, is a deciding factor to me. DLC can be a good thing, if it is used in a customer friendly, non greedy, way. However, developers who try to stir up controversy in forums and alike to mask and sell their mediocre and shallow game (Think "100 Nazi Scalps") are a no go for me. I would never purchase any future projects from such a developer either, so this is just out of the game. I don´t know if you can put it to good use, but this are my insights as a customer so far.
Great topic! Personally I find that a great iPhone game for me is one with very simple playing-mechanics and short playing sessions. Virtual buttons and virtual joysticks don't do the trick for me with a few exceptions. Among my favorites on this platform that (seems to) adhere to these principles are: Flight Control, Doodle Jump & Canabalt.
Replayability and frequent updates ALWAYS attract buyers, as it assures them the game will go up in value, providing incentive to buy now. Plus, good graphics are a dominant feature, but people try to buy long-lasting and updating games because they get more money's worth.
You really need to think about the age you are aiming at. You say educational which makes me think of younger kids. As a parent of young kids I have to emphasise simplicity as a key. By simplicity I mean in the controls. You also need to think about the attention span of your audience. Our little girl loves playing many games, but wants to play for a few minutes and then move on. Graphics are a key element for any age group (as is humour). I have to say that for me the casual game play aspect is appealing. A game that I can play, put down and come back to is great. More importantly getting the addictive element (normally high scores and challenges) to make me want to come back. Peggle got it right with that one. Great thread btw. I like having to think about what makes a game great.
Well it just so happens that I'm interested in developing it for secondary school age range. 11 - 18. A friend of mine is a teacher and I will hopefully be setting up a meeting with her department to discuss possibilities. I figure the best first step is to decide on a topic before I start setting goals and objectives. I can then apply most of the opinions here to that topic as best as possible. I'm of the opinion it should be pretty simple and definitely with a pick up and play element to it.
There most certainly is the possibility. I can work out how best to go about this and I would like to involve the kids as much as possible during development. It could start off with a questionaire about games. Maybe grab some of the points from this topic and base questions around them. Later on, I could build a simple prototype and test it out with them. Nothing fancy, just the mechanics. That's further down the line though.
Thankyou. I'm doing research at the moment and looking at a lot of games out there already and seeing what makes them good. I'm thinking alot about the mechanics of the game. How it will be controlled and what would be the best solution. I like games like bejewelled because it's control is so simple. One swipe to make a move. So I'm trying to keep a similar thing. I'd love to make a 3D 3rd person game, but for me, the iphone doesn't quite have the control system for that. Maybe i'll find a good example and be proven wrong, but I think a 3rd person game is too big a project to take on first.
