Breaking Down Successful Games' Designs [PWN UX]

[razgriz94]

We've started a new site dedicated to breaking down the UX of the most popular games around. Our hope is to provide inspiration and clear examples to game developers on what works best, and what can be improved.

 

We'd love to get some feedback on what developers would like to see us cover, and we will continually evolve it to fit your needs!

Check out our first post, with plenty more to come in the near future.

[austin]

The inspiration for this was http://www.useronboard.com - we wanted to make a similar resource for game devs. It takes a lot of time to breakdown what (we think) makes other games successful, and the goal is to make that breakdown easily digestible for folks.

 

Others' feedback is super important for the future of this site, so please be as critical as possible and let us know what you'd like to see.

[kali]

really cool project guys - i love stuff like this..

 

i think how ever that your write up on diamon digger saga kind of misses the ball a little bit... like you say in the conclusion .. the game (like other king games) are in no way revolutionary (not in gameplay structure or monetization) but still its is really succesfull both in terms of playability and earning actual money.. 

 

I think we can  agree that kings highly succefull games are an absolute joy to play (at least i think so).. but when you break down the game to it's single systematic components it is really really hard to understand why. in short a simple analysis of structure and gameplay element doesn't really cut it.

 

when I design and analyse games i tend to take a road like this -> http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MichailKatkoff/20131024/203142/MidCore_Success_Part_1_Core_Loops.php

 

so instead of looking at the game components and guessing about their relevanse for the player you are more

looking at the users journey through the system, paying attentien to the timing of things (how long does it take to complete a level - does this time increase when you get further along in levels ) when and how does social integration become relevant for the player and how do the utilize it - is it for bragging rights or begging for more lives like in candy crunsh ... and also the same thing for the monetization strategy - when and how does this become relevant in the overall time & structure of gameplay.. 

 

as always the devil (succes) hides in the details 

 

anyhow thats just some thoughts about the subject - thanks again for a cool initiative  

[mentuat]

This is great start and a nicely presented site but I agree 100% with Kali

 

In terms of a UX analysis I would hope for more discussion on why and how user-flow decisions were made in the design of the game - rather than a basic run-down of what the game presents to the user.

 

For example:

 

"Diamond Digger Saga goes for extreme simplicity in its start and settings screens"

- is this because of the expectations of the demographic?

- comments on button position, shape and colour for clarity and continuity within the game

- any movement/animation to draw the eye?

- what does the icon, title and start screen graphic tell the user about the type of game?

 

I look forward to seeing more articles in the future!

[razgriz94]

Thank you all for the excellent feedback! We'll definitely refine our breakdowns with your suggestions in mind. 

[lidev]

Great Job !

 

Awesome and very useful project, that will help a lot of developers

 

Looking forward for more articles. Keep Up !