With so many quality games coming out all the time, the bar for success has raised considerably from where it used to be. It’s harder than ever to get and keep the attention of players, especially for indie developers. Here, Josh Bycer puts together a list of what he sees as the minimum requirements in game feel, presentation, and marketing for a game to succeed in the modern landscape.
Josh Bycer lays out the concept of a “pain point” in game design - distinct from difficulty spikes or sources of challenge, pain points are sources of frustration that prevent players from engaging with the game’s core experience. They can be difficult for designers or fans to see, because once you’re used to them and willing to put up with them they become easy to ignore - but they’re important to notice and remove because each pain point a player runs into can be the final straw that causes them to abandon the game.
Players who are new to this specific game, but familiar with other similar games or the conventions of the genre.
Players who are new to this game’s genre and conventions, but familiar with gaming in general.
Players who are completely new to gaming.
Players who have played this specific game, but have put it down for an extended period and are returning - especially if it is a live-service game which may have changed considerably in the meantime.
All of these players need some amount of guidance (or at least reminders) to understand how to play the game, but the amount and nature of guidance needed varies considerably between them. One might expect games to thus present a few different levels of optional guidance to cater to each group, but it’s typical for games to design their tutorials and onboarding for only the first group, providing little help for the “new” players of other kinds.
