News from the trenches

[Sparks]

Hi folks !

Thought maybe You'd be interested, I had a little conversation with a female "casual gamer" today, she is a self-proclaimed fan of break out games.
I let her play Incadia, Jewel Quest and Ricochet to see if she likes those.
Here's a little resume:

1.She doesn't like the cursor keys, strictly mouse or nothing
2.Colourful rules.She didn't like the first impression of Ricochet, she said its too dark, she also had trouble finding the ball sometimes due to a lack of contrast.
3.She didn't read the instructions of Incadia, so she played the game for some time without even knowing that the right mousebutton could be used to cycle the stones/colours.She found it challenging nonetheless !
4.She didn't like the time restrictions of the demos.She would prefer a level restriction.
5.She didn't especially notice the sounds and musics in any of the three games, they were there, thats all.
6.She saw the screens of later levels of Ricochet and found that it would have been better to start the game with the more colourful and bright levels.
7.She liked Jewel Quest because of the fancy effects, the nice pictures and the overall challenge it offers.
8.She seemed to prefer Jewel Quest to Incadia because with Jewel Quest, all the items where already on-screen, unlike Incadia where they drop from above.
9.She could play break out games for *hours* literally.Her favourite is good old "Cybersphere" (1996, Shareware, Psycon Software).


So, thats it, I found it pretty cool to talk to her, because as a developer, You are *so* accustomed to certain things that a fresh objective opinion is very helpful.

[Spaceman Spiff]

5.She didn't especially notice the sounds and musics in any of the three games, they were there, thats all.

I wonder if she would have noticed a complete absence of sounds. Hmm...


Well, that's good feedback. We're taking it heart here and redesigning our Post-Apocalyptic horror-shooter to better target gamers like her....


Seriously though, it's always good to get a better understanding of the audience out there. As Developers, we always have to the fight the too close to the trees syndrome.

[DanMarshall]

Wait. Girls play games? Huh.

[Sparks]

Ups, I forgot, she is about 45 years old, single and works for the gouvernment.
Thats our mass market :)

[Sparks]

I wonder if she would have noticed a complete absence of sounds. Hmm...


Well, that's good feedback. We're taking it heart here and redesigning our Post-Apocalyptic horror-shooter to better target gamers like her....


Hey, if its colourful and has break out elements, I am sure You can sell her a copy ;)

[lakibuk]

Thanks Sparks!
That's some valuable research work.

[Sparks]

Sharing is caring :)

[ggambett]

Thanks, that's interesting feedback. And it's hard to find someone who understands so clearly why does she like or dislike the game! Any chance to suggest her to play Wild West Wendy? :D

[Sparks]

Well, she wasn't very specific at the beginning, until I asked specific questions, like "How did You like the graphics ? Did You like the controls, what didn't You like ?" etc.
I will ask her if she would play WWW, I just hope that her english is good enough :)
Oh, btw, she prefers localised games or games that don't require much reading.
Note: as I said, she didn't read the instructions for the games I gave her, its "turn the key and take the ride, no dumb reading !" for her, she don't want to read instructions in her free time.

[Bmc]

it's sort of interesting ... some of it should be common knowledge by now (prefer mouse, not reading instructions) :)


4.She didn't like the time restrictions of the demos.She would prefer a level restriction.


I think if most people had their way they wouldn't want any sort of limits at all.

The only thing that really matters with the limit is which one leads to more sales.

It would be interesting (and usefull) to know why she would prefer a level restriction, if she would be more likely to buy and why (as opposed to the time limit)


5.She didn't especially notice the sounds and musics in any of the three games, they were there, thats all.


Many people do end up turning the music off, but if you do not include music in your game I guarantee you will be perceived as "cheap" and people will complain.

[Sparks]

She said that she is not very good at games actually, although she likes playing them for hours.
Thats why she prefers level restrictions, so she can have as many attempts as she wants.
She is that kind of player who actually doesn't mind playing the same level over and over again, as long as she finds it fun to play it in the first place.

[Savant]

Has anyone ever experimented with offering the user the limitation of their choice? Meaning, at install time you ask them if they'd rather be time or level limited?

[Sparks]

Hm. Now this sounds like one of these "Damn, why has nobody thought of this before ?"-ideas :D

[Bmc]

Has anyone ever experimented with offering the user the limitation of their choice? Meaning, at install time you ask them if they'd rather be time or level limited?

I think gamefiesta might do that, of maybe they just use both (whatever comes first number of tries, or time limit)

[Ricardo C]

Has anyone ever experimented with offering the user the limitation of their choice? Meaning, at install time you ask them if they'd rather be time or level limited?

Wouldn't they then choose the scheme that satisifies them the most for the longest time, and content themselves with it thus never purchasing the product?

The customer isn't supposed to LIKE the way in which the demo is crippled ;)

[Sharpfish]

She said that she is not very good at games actually, although she likes playing them for hours.
Thats why she prefers level restrictions, so she can have as many attempts as she wants.
She is that kind of player who actually doesn't mind playing the same level over and over again, as long as she finds it fun to play it in the first place.

I did something similar a few weeks back with a "casual gaming colleague" (a 30 year old woman @ work)... though I didn't get as much detail as she already thought I was a bit strange ;)

Anyway, I found her unrepresentative of the "general" casual market as she actually rarely BOUGHT games.. but oh did she play the demos!!!

So, you should ask your player - do you ever buy the full versions? Would you buy Jewel Quest? etc..

Her displeasure at the time limit may reveal that she fits into the massive camp of "will try anything for free - but rarely buys". There is nothing wrong with those people, there are a lot of them around but we need to get clarification on a test subjects attitude towards purchasing before anything else can be regarded as valid. Not that I am dismissing your "research", as a player she knows what she likes and they are all good pointers (if some already well know), it would be interesting to question (grill) people more who are heavy "casual games" or "indie games" buyers to see what motivates them. I would imagine it is most of the above, but there are some grey areas with the demo restrictions as noted above which could do with researching.

It is very tricky, on the one hand you don't want to alienate a possible customer by limiting the demo too much, or making the process seem painful - on the other hand you can't really leave them happy just to play the demo for months and months and not actually buy. Which is why time limits are used I guess.