Design Today: Strategy/Simulation Games Michael Thornton Wyman CEO, Big Splash Games

So what’s cool about casual simulation games? Design Today: Strategy/Simulation Games So what’s cool about casual simulation games? Provide a ‘deeper’ experience than most other casual games genres. Open-ended gameplay means a much longer potential game experience. Core goals – to make lots of money – are easy to grok. Engender inherent sense of ownership among players; players ‘build’ something they consider their own. Unfolding of the game is not canned; can be different for each player and for each play-through. Michael Thornton Wyman, Big Splash Games

So why make a “strategy” casual game? Design Today: Strategy/Simulation Games So why make a “strategy” casual game? You yourself are drawn to this type of game. Plays to the technical strengths of your team (these kind of games are hard to make). Less crowded space than time management, hidden object, etc. Michael Thornton Wyman, Big Splash Games

“Make your game way too easy.” Design Today: Strategy/Simulation Games Design Rule # 1: “Make your game way too easy.” Tune until you feel the game is ridiculously easy, and then go back and make it 1/3 as hard. Casual players want consistent feedback and continual success, with a wee bit of challenge thrown in for good measure. A challenge: try to fail at the most successful games in this genre (Chocolatier, Build-A-Lot). Examples: Tuning of ingredients pricing in Chocolatier series. If I ever heard, from anyone, that a quest was too challenging, I went back and tweaked all ingredients prices. Michael Thornton Wyman, Big Splash Games

“Focus on the first 5 minutes.” Design Today: Strategy/Simulation Games Design Rule # 2: “Focus on the first 5 minutes.” In the try-and-buy universe, onboarding is key. This is especially true with more complicated play mechanics, like sim/strategy games. Break down the experience of succeeding at your game into discreet steps. Cover each of these steps explicitly through either an extensive tutorial or series of introductory levels. Examples: Tuning of ingredients pricing in Chocolatier series. If I ever heard, from anyone, that a quest was too challenging, I went back and tweaked all ingredients prices. Michael Thornton Wyman, Big Splash Games

Build-A-Lot series does a much better job at this than our games – really breaking the experience into discreet steps, and moving player through them one by one.

“Let players collect stuff.” Design Today: Strategy/Simulation Games Design Rule # 3: “Let players collect stuff.” Awards, recipes, ingredients, products, buildings, trophies, etc. Casual players like to see their shelves getting filled up. This is somewhat at odds with strategy/simulation type of games, so you need to work hard to integrate these opportunities into your game in a way that makes sense. Michael Thornton Wyman, Big Splash Games

There are many opportunities in our games to fill up slots, such as the awards screen, the pages of the recipe book, etc. These are never explained explicitly, but there is inherent motivation as these slots get filled up to keep going, until all slots are filled.

Standing Out in a Crowded Field Design Today: Strategy/Simulation Games Standing Out in a Crowded Field Secret weapon with Strategy/Simulation: the field is actually not all that crowded. You’ve got a leg up by attempting to crack this nut in the first place. Make a great game, and you’ll stand out! Choose content that resonates with your audience. Think hard about elements external to the core ‘business’ experience – e.g. mini games in the Chocolatier series, ability for players to customize the experience, etc. Michael Thornton Wyman, Big Splash Games

Thank you for your attention! Design Today: Strategy/Simulation Games Thank you for your attention! Michael Thornton Wyman, Big Splash Games