Game design secrets do what you never thought possible to market and monetize your iOS, Facebook, and Web games

**Design great Facebook, iOS, and Web games and learn from the experts what makes a game a hit!**This invaluable resource shows how to put into action the proven design and marketing techniques from the industry's best game designers, who all started on a small scale. The book walks novice and experienced game designers through the step-by-step process of conceptualizing, designing, launching, and managing a winning game on platforms including Facebook, iOS, and the Web. The book is filled with examples that highlight key design features, explain how to market your game, and illustrate how to turn your design into a money-making venture. * Provides an overview of the most popular game platforms and shows how to design games for each * Contains the basic principles of game design that will help promote growth and potential to generate revenue * Includes interviews with top independent game developers who reveal their success secrets * Offers an analysis of future trends that can open (or close) opportunities for game designers __Game Design Secrets__ provides aspiring game designers a process for planning, designing, marketing, and ultimately making money from new games. Game Design Secrets 1 About the Author 9 About the Technical Editor 11 Acknowledgments 13 Contents 17 Read This First 25 Part I: Overview 29 Chapter 1: Market Overview: iOS, Facebook, and the Web 31 Understanding Why to Choose These Platforms over Others 32 Surveying the iOS Market 34 Surveying the Facebook Game Market 35 Surveying the Web Game Market 37 Summary 38 Chapter 2: iOS versus Facebook versus the Web: What’s the Right Platform? 39 Reviewing What Works and What Doesn’t on iOS 40 What Works Best on iOS 41 What Doesn’t Work on iOS 43 Reviewing What Works and What Doesn’t in Facebook Games 44 What Works Best on Facebook 44 What Doesn’t Work on Facebook 45 Reviewing What Works and What Doesn’t in Web Games 46 What Works Best in Web Games 47 What Doesn’t Work in Web Games 49 Summary 50 Part II: Facebook 51 Chapter 3: Facebook Games: The Users, the Money, and the Major Players 53 Understanding Who Plays Facebook Games and Who Pays for Them 54 Identifying Facebook’s Big Three in Games and Three of Its Rising Stars 54 Getting to Know the Playing Field: The Genres Likely to Go Big, Do Well, or Stay Small 58 Understanding the Anatomy of a Successful Facebook Game 61 Finding Out Where the Money’s Made in Facebook Games 62 Pitching Publishers: Who Buys/Publishes Indie Games and Why 64 Summary 68 Chapter 4: Facebook Game Design: Basic Principles for Growth and Revenue 69 Gaining and Keeping Users 70 Earning and Growing Revenue 75 Chatting with Justin Smith of Inside Virtual Goods and AppData about Game Revenue 81 Summary 85 Chapter 5: Facebook Design Lessons from KIXEYE and 5th Planet Games 87 Designing Facebook Strategy Games the KIXEYE Way 88 Designing Story-Rich Facebook RPGs the 5th Planet Way 96 Summary 101 Chapter 6: Future Trends and Opportunities for Facebook Games 103 Forecasting Future (Likely) Facebook Gaming Trends 104 Forecasting Unlikely Facebook Gaming Trends 106 Summary 109 Part III: The Web 111 Chapter 7: Deep Dive into Web Gaming: Who Plays, Who Pays 113 Starting Out: An Overview of the Web Gaming Market 114 Monetization Advice for Indie Developers 120 Pitching Publishers: Who Buys/Publishes Indie Games, Why They Do, and What You Can Expect to Earn 121 Getting Your Game on Jay Is Games, the Web Game Kingmaker 124 Summary 128 Chapter 8: Web Game Design: Basic Principles for Growth and Revenue 129 Conceiving and Branding Your Game 130 Distributing, Promoting, and Licensing Your Game 133 Optimizing Your Game’s Web Presence 135 Earning Revenue from Your Game 138 Summary 140 Chapter 9: Web Game Developer Profiles: Kingdom of Loathing, Nitrome, and Desktop Tower Defense 143 Learning from Kingdom of Loathing, the Indie Cult RPG 144 Learning from Desktop Tower Defense—and What Its Developer Learned the Hard Way 147 Turning Hit Web Games into a Hit Web Game Factory, the Nitrome Way 149 Summary 153 Chapter 10: Future Trends and Opportunities for Web Gaming 155 Advertising-Based Payments and Secondary Markets 156 As HTML5 Rises, Does Flash Have a Future? 156 The Rise of Hard-Core on the Web 160 Twitter: A Blue Ocean of Opportunity on the Web 160 Google+ and Chrome: A Secondary Market Worth Watching, Especially in South America 161 Asynchronous Multimedia Sharing Integrated into Games 162 The Continued Growth of Web-Based App Stores 162 The Rise of Indie Development Funds 164 Summary 164 Part IV: iOS 167 Chapter 11: Quick Survey of the iOS Game Market 169 Surveying the iOS Market: What Players Spend, What Developers Earn 170 Purchasing Revenue from In-App Payments 174 Purchasing Advertising and the Negligible Benefit of Offer-Based Acquisitions 174 Pitching to and Working with Publishers 175 Summary 179 Chapter 12: iOS Game Design: Basic Principles for Growth and Revenue 181 Getting Started: Some Basic Concepts 182 Monetizing Freemium Games: Design Considerations 190 Closing Thoughts and Advice for Starting Out 192 Summary 195 Chapter 13: iOS Game Developer Profile: Tiger Style and Hatch 197 Learning from the Style of Tiger Style 198 Preparing to Hatch: Lessons Learned from Designing a Virtual Life iOS Game 206 Summary 212 Chapter 14: Future Trends and Opportunities for iOS Gaming 213 Surveying Upcoming iOS Trends: Experts Weigh In 214 Understanding the Future of iOS Games in China: Overview and Advice from Yodo1’s Henry Fong 219 Summary 225 Part V: Funding Your Game 227 Chapter 15: Is Your Game Ready to Get VC or Crowdfunding? 229 Weighing the Promises and Perils of Financing Your Game through VCs or Crowdfunding 230 Understanding How to Sell VCs on Your Game, Part I: Nabeel Hyatt, Spark Capital 230 Understanding How to Sell VCs on Your Game, Part II: Jeremy Liew, Lightspeed Venture Partners 233 Understanding Best Practices of Crowdfunded Games, Part I: Overview and General Advice 235 Understanding Best Practices of Crowdfunded Games, Part II: Advice from Adrian Hon, Developer of ZOMBIES RUN! 237 Summary 239 Part VI: Game Design Documents and Final Thoughts 241 Chapter 16: Game Design Documents: Tiger Style’s Spider and Waking Mars 243 Excerpts from Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor 244 Excerpts from the Waking Mars Design Documents 255 Summary 277 Chapter 17: Concluding Thoughts Before You Start Designing 279 Learning from Leading Designers—Lessons You’ll Need When You’re Ready to Design 280 Summary 285 Part VII: Appendixes 287 Appendix A: Resources for Designers 289 Where to Go Next: My Blog and Contact Info 290 How to Contact the Venture Capitalists Interviewed in This Book 290 Game Industry Analysts and Other Online Resources 291 Remote Game Developer Resources 291 Facebook Game Resources: Analytics 292 Facebook Game Resources: Publishers 293 Web Game Resources: Publishers 293 Web Game Resources: Monetization 297 iOS Game Resources: Analytics 298 iOS Resources: Publishers 299 iOS Game Resources: Chinese Distribution 299 Using Prototype Sketches, Storyboards, and Art as Design References 300 Appendix B: Design Principles 307 Best Reasons to Develop Low-Budget/Indie Games for iOS, Facebook, and the Web 308 Games That Do Best on iOS 308 Games That Do Best on Facebook 308 Games That Do Best on the Web 308 Facebook: Games That Will Do Well in the Near Future 309 Facebook: How to Determine a New Game Is Probably Successful 309 Facebook: How Many Paying Players Can You Expect? 309 Facebook: How to Find an Audience and Grow Your Game 310 Facebook Game Design Principles 310 Facebook Monetization Principles 310 Facebook Game Design Lessons from KIXEYE’s Paul Preece 311 Facebook Game Design Lessons from 5th Planet’s Robert Winkler 311 Features You Should Consider in Future Facebook Games 312 Web Games: Who Will Pay to Play Your Game? 312 Web Games: How Low-Budget/Indie Developers Can Make More Money 312 Web Game Design Advice from the Jay Is Games Editorial Staff 313 Web Game Design Principles to Attract an Audience 313 Web Game Deployment Principles to Maintain an Audience—and Encourage Them to Pay 313 Web Game Design Lessons from Developers with KIXEYE, Nitrome, and Kingdom of Loathing 314 Future Trends Web Game Designers Should Watch for and Take Advantage Of 315 iOS Games: How Large the Market Is and How Much You Can Expect to Make from It 315 iOS Games: How to Find Players and Get Them to Pay 315 iOS Games: Design Principles for the Platform 316 iOS Games: Design Principles Through Analytics 316 iOS Games: Design Principles for Monetizing Goods 316 iOS Game Design Lessons from Tiger Style’s Randy Smith and Impending’s Phill Ryu 317 Future iOS Trends Game Designers Should Watch For 317 What Venture Capitalists Nabeel Hyatt and Jeremy Liew Look for in a Game Project 318 How to Pitch Your Game Project on Kickstarter 318 Appendix C: Glossary of Terms and Acronyms 319 Index 327 Design great Facebook, iOS, and Web games and learn from the experts what makes a game a hit! This invaluable resource shows how to put into action the proven design and marketing techniques from the industry's best game designers, who all started on a small scale. The book walks novice and experienced game designers through the step-by-step process of conceptualizing, designing, launching, and managing a winning game on platforms including Facebook, iOS, and the Web. The book is filled with examples that highlight key design features, explain how to market your game, and illustrate how to turn your design into a money-making venture. Provides an overview of the most popular game platforms and shows how to design games for each Contains the basic principles of game design that will help promote growth and potential to generate revenue Includes interviews with top independent game developers who reveal their success secrets Offers an analysis of future trends that can open (or close) opportunities for game designers Game Design Secrets provides aspiring game designers a process for planning, designing, marketing, and ultimately making money from new games.