Game Design for Time-Management Games Nick Fortugno Co-Founder/CCO, Rebel Monkey

The Time Management Genre Born from "twitch" gameplay Essentially about clicking on the screen, and managing the timers of various game objects

The Time Management Genre Whack-a-Mole

The Time Management Genre Tapper

What Makes a Good TM Game? Flow State Must be fast Speed allows players to get out of conscious decision-making Fast doesn’t mean frantic Use level rhythms to manage flow state

The Time Management Genre Sally’s Salon

What Makes a Good TM Game? Flow State One-Click Intuitiveness Game MUST have simple controls You can have complex decision- making… But that cannot interrupt the quick- clicking

The Time Management Genre Cake Mania

What Makes a Good TM Game? Flow State One-Click Intuitiveness Complexity in Level Design If clicking is simple, rich decision making comes from where to click Not about forcing players to think; rather, make the next action not obvious Example: two valuable but mutually exclusive places to click

The Time Management Genre Diner Dash

Ornaments for TM Narrative Level Progression Often control a character anyway Of course, new narratives mean new gameplay Level Progression Any twitch gameplay needs break Use this to dole out variety

How to Differentiate your Game Find a New Narrative Not all TM games need to be service jobs! Concentrate on Meaningful Choice It’s not just about how fast you click. Work the Progress Model Find reasons for players to want to progress from level to level