The book of lenses
I first started to read Jesse Schell's book when I started my design of galactic gladiators. I can't believe that was 4 years ago. Time really flies.
In grade school I learned how to make games and activities for kids. The years working in daycare really improved my knowledge of games. Although I was not always aware of it, my subconscious slowly made this web of game aspects. Game after game I started to learn what worked and what not.
In grade school I learned how to make games and activities for kids. The years working in daycare really improved my knowledge of games. Although I was not always aware of it, my subconscious slowly made this web of game aspects. Game after game I started to learn what worked and what not.
I had no idea how to start the design of the first person shooter. So I just started reading and adjusted my design along the way. It took at least 3 months to design galactic gladiators, but it was worth it.
The art of game design really was an eye opener. All the things that we did in the daycare suddenly became much clearer.
The art of game design really was an eye opener. All the things that we did in the daycare suddenly became much clearer.
Video game genres are used to categorize video games based on their gameplay interaction rather than visual or narrative differences.
A few days ago I looked at the games and the game genres in the google play store. My conclusion was that these game genres seem to make no sense at all. Temple run is a adventure game? Shouldn't there be more to the story then? Isn't an adventure game a combination of actions and puzzle solving like Tomb raider or oddworld?
I can hear you thinking: "Who cares."
Well I care.
If I want to make a strategy canvas for my game and my competitors I need to know all the aspects/features and the value of those aspects/features to make a difference. So knowing all the dominant aspects of a game genre = knowing the average strategy canvas of that game genre.
A few days ago I looked at the games and the game genres in the google play store. My conclusion was that these game genres seem to make no sense at all. Temple run is a adventure game? Shouldn't there be more to the story then? Isn't an adventure game a combination of actions and puzzle solving like Tomb raider or oddworld?
I can hear you thinking: "Who cares."
Well I care.
If I want to make a strategy canvas for my game and my competitors I need to know all the aspects/features and the value of those aspects/features to make a difference. So knowing all the dominant aspects of a game genre = knowing the average strategy canvas of that game genre.
So far I selected 31 aspects out of the 112 lenses. They are based on the 4 elements of a game; story, technologie, mechanics and esthetics. Since this is my first attempt to make a strategy canvas, I highly doubt they are immediately correct. Also, this list doesn't contain aspects like monetization, players motivation, theme, experience and so on. It's merely a list to improve the game itself.
- Story:
- storyline
- indirect controle
- the world
- characters
- technologie:
- fundamental technologie
- decorative technologie
- mechanics:
- time
- levels
- objects and attributes
- actions
- modes
- rules
- fisical skills
- mental skills
- social skills
- luck and chance
- surprises
- choices
- rewards
- punishment
- complexity
- puzzles
- goals
- interest curve
- multiplayer
- esthetics:
- feedback
- user interface and feedback
- detail
- style
- 3D or 2D
- audio
charts
So we got our aspects to make up a strategy canvas, now it's time to choose the game genres that will be our primairy, secundary and tertairy markets.
So which do we choose?
Localizedirect has a good article about the popularity of game genres. But I wonder how accurate this article is because Distimo and Statista show different things.
Consulgamer, Gamesindustry, Apptopia, Mobile World Live and Academia have articles that are showing interest by gender which is more interesting for us.
Now let's pretend we take the puzzle genre as our primary market. That means we attrack the group of players that prefer the puzzle aspect in a game. Blue ocean teached us to look for noncustomers.
So which do we choose?
Localizedirect has a good article about the popularity of game genres. But I wonder how accurate this article is because Distimo and Statista show different things.
Consulgamer, Gamesindustry, Apptopia, Mobile World Live and Academia have articles that are showing interest by gender which is more interesting for us.
Now let's pretend we take the puzzle genre as our primary market. That means we attrack the group of players that prefer the puzzle aspect in a game. Blue ocean teached us to look for noncustomers.
Combining game genres
Players in the current market and TIER 1 actually have the same interest. TIER 1 players might have stopped playing because they are getting tiered from all the match 3 games. Because they share the same interest, making 1 persona for these two groups sounds logical. This persona would likely be a middle-aged female.
TIER 2 players are not that into puzzles. People can quickly inclined to take a middle-aged man as our second persona. But I think it's better to let our second market decide what our second persona and TIER 2 really are.
TIER 3 is a big mystery to me. They might be businessman that never have the time to play games, elderly people that didn't grow up playing video games, ...
So what about our second market, TIER 2 and the second persona?
I'm not sure about this but you're best bet would be a lesser popular game genre. RPG, racing, education, card or board game genre. A less popular game genre usually has more noncustomers right?
Of course you can always try to go for a puzzle/action game and add an educational theme to it. Don't try to stuff to many game genres in 1 game. An action/adventure/RPG/racing/puzzle game just sounds absurd.
TIER 2 players are not that into puzzles. People can quickly inclined to take a middle-aged man as our second persona. But I think it's better to let our second market decide what our second persona and TIER 2 really are.
TIER 3 is a big mystery to me. They might be businessman that never have the time to play games, elderly people that didn't grow up playing video games, ...
So what about our second market, TIER 2 and the second persona?
I'm not sure about this but you're best bet would be a lesser popular game genre. RPG, racing, education, card or board game genre. A less popular game genre usually has more noncustomers right?
Of course you can always try to go for a puzzle/action game and add an educational theme to it. Don't try to stuff to many game genres in 1 game. An action/adventure/RPG/racing/puzzle game just sounds absurd.
packing all the things
- pick 2 or 3 game genres
- analyse all aspects of the competition and build the strategy canvas
- make 2 or 3 personas according to your competition and game genre analysis
After this you can start designing your game. Remember to look at the noncustomers to and focus on the things that they have in common with the customers.
Like BOS stated:
"By focusing on key commonalities across these noncustomers and existing customers, companies can understand how to pull them into their new market."