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Evil Game Design Challenge/Casual Connect 2013

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Greg Costikyan
Greg Costikyan

Dan Rubenfeld, Ethan Levy, and I were each asked to discuss how we would transform Super Mario Bros. 3 into a free-to-play game as part of the "Evil Game Design Challenge." I took the tack of attempting to deeply horrify fans of the original game. The audience voted my presentation as the most evil.

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Online Greg Costikyan gcostik@rocketmail.com Casual Connect 2013 Evil Game Design Challenge
Target Demographic ¡ñ Middle-aged women ¡ñ IP appeals to 20-something males ¡ñ Obviously need to change to...
Super MarioX a BrosXXXXSISTERS! Image credit: Elzor_sl
Super Mario Bros.... ¡ñ Is notable for crisp controls. ¡ñ Requires precise timing. ¡ñ Fans decry modern games as 'too easy' ¡ñ In other words: Way too hard for our demographic!
It's All Gotta be Clicks ¡ñ Click to move. ¡ñ Click to defeat enemies. You know, like Indiana Jones Adventure World. ¡ñ ...swipes to jump in mobile suck. ¡ñ Annoying confirm dialog for keyboard use when entering Flash full-screen. ¡ñ Charge energy for every click ¨C Ka-Ching!
Content Creation Costs $ ¡ñ Need to spin out content for months of play. ¡ñ So we want players to grind levels repeatedly. We need: ¡ñ Mastery stars! ¡ñ Gate content: "You need 2 stars in stage 2-1 to unlock stage 2-2."
¡ñ One of the core appeals of Super Mario Bros. ¡ñ But incompatible with grind replay. ¡ñ We need: Algorithmically generated traps/enemies. ¡ñ Sayonara, careful level design... but necessary to support our business model. Careful Level Design
$ for Energy, Lives, Powerups ¡ñ Energy and lives regen on timers, but... ¡ñ "You're out of energy! Buy more for 4 gems?" ¡ñ "You died! Continue for 5 gems?" ¡ñ "A Super Mushroom would help you here. Buy one for 10 gems?" Ka-ching!
Speaking of Powerups... ¡ñ Mario can carry/use only one at a time... ¡ñ But we want to sell you lots... ¡ñ We need an inventory. ¡ñ Plus, we can sell you: More inventory slots! Ka-ching!
...And Other Permanent Stat Increases ¡ñ "One more max Life for 20 gems." ¡ñ "Triple-jumps for 40 gems." ¡ñ "Faster energy regen for 50 gems." Ka-ching!
'Course, We Need Virals ¡ñ Invite Friends (like, 20 seconds into NUF) ¡ñ Daily free gifts ¨C Energy & Powerups, inventory caps (buy but not receive above them) ¡ñ Brag shares (must uncheck tiny box or shared automatically) ¡ñ Staffing...
Staffing? ¡ñ "Ask three friends to staff your castle to unlock World 2." ¡ñ "...or unlock now for 10 gems." ¡ñ Oh, and "Maria is searching the castle for the PrincessXX. Come back in 24 hours to see if she found him!"
24 Hours? ¡ñ Only damn metrics your mgmt is going to care about in geoalpha are 1-day retention and time on site. ¡ñ So the FUE gives you 20-30 minutes of gameplay + a hard stop and call to return tomorrow. ¡ñ 'Cause we don't even get to launch if we don't massage our metrics. ¡ñ Gaming the system is Job One!
New Worlds Gated by... ¡ñ Mastery stars. ¡ñ Staffing (or pay to bypass). ¡ñ Later on, an expansion resource ¨C Rare drop, or pay to buy. ¡ñ Timer (or pay to bypass). Ka-ching!
Consumables & Bypasses Good, But... ¡ñ We need more Ka-Ching! ¡ñ Bonus Worlds for hard currency only. ¡ñ Week 2: a stage you NEED powerups to beat. ¨C We don't give you enough. ¨C MUST spam or monetize to progress.
Plus: Timed Quest Sequences ¡ñ 12+ quests, most requiring grind. ¡ñ New world, available for 2 weeks only. ¡ñ Big reward at the end: "Play as Princess Peach! She can Triple Jump!" ¡ñ Each play requires a new special resource. ¡ñ Players seeded with some, + rare drop, + ask friends for more. ¡ñ Daily cap on # you can receive.
Timed Quest Sequence (pt. 2) ¡ñ Tuned so you will NOT have enough of the special resource to complete in the available time. ¡ñ Unless you pay! Ka-ching! ¡ñ Suck the marks in with enough seeded resources... Have them invest time and emotional energy... Hold out a big reward... ¡ñ Double Ka-ching!
Plus the Usual Crap ¡ñ Hard currency/$ ratio at some weird prime, like 7, so it's harder for the marks to figure out how much they're actually spending. ¡ñ Daily reward slot machine with HC cost for more spins. ¡ñ "Get gems at 30% off but only if you act now." ¡ñ "You've got 2 extra inventory slots for the next week" (but have to pay to keep them afterwards).
Nice Little Game You Got There... ¡ñ Ah, nostalgia... ¡ñ Get over it! ¡ñ There's money to be made, boys. KA-CHING!

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Evil Game Design Challenge/Casual Connect 2013

  • 2. Target Demographic ¡ñ Middle-aged women ¡ñ IP appeals to 20-something males ¡ñ Obviously need to change to...
  • 4. Super Mario Bros.... ¡ñ Is notable for crisp controls. ¡ñ Requires precise timing. ¡ñ Fans decry modern games as 'too easy' ¡ñ In other words: Way too hard for our demographic!
  • 5. It's All Gotta be Clicks ¡ñ Click to move. ¡ñ Click to defeat enemies. You know, like Indiana Jones Adventure World. ¡ñ ...swipes to jump in mobile suck. ¡ñ Annoying confirm dialog for keyboard use when entering Flash full-screen. ¡ñ Charge energy for every click ¨C Ka-Ching!
  • 6. Content Creation Costs $ ¡ñ Need to spin out content for months of play. ¡ñ So we want players to grind levels repeatedly. We need: ¡ñ Mastery stars! ¡ñ Gate content: "You need 2 stars in stage 2-1 to unlock stage 2-2."
  • 7. ¡ñ One of the core appeals of Super Mario Bros. ¡ñ But incompatible with grind replay. ¡ñ We need: Algorithmically generated traps/enemies. ¡ñ Sayonara, careful level design... but necessary to support our business model. Careful Level Design
  • 8. $ for Energy, Lives, Powerups ¡ñ Energy and lives regen on timers, but... ¡ñ "You're out of energy! Buy more for 4 gems?" ¡ñ "You died! Continue for 5 gems?" ¡ñ "A Super Mushroom would help you here. Buy one for 10 gems?" Ka-ching!
  • 9. Speaking of Powerups... ¡ñ Mario can carry/use only one at a time... ¡ñ But we want to sell you lots... ¡ñ We need an inventory. ¡ñ Plus, we can sell you: More inventory slots! Ka-ching!
  • 10. ...And Other Permanent Stat Increases ¡ñ "One more max Life for 20 gems." ¡ñ "Triple-jumps for 40 gems." ¡ñ "Faster energy regen for 50 gems." Ka-ching!
  • 11. 'Course, We Need Virals ¡ñ Invite Friends (like, 20 seconds into NUF) ¡ñ Daily free gifts ¨C Energy & Powerups, inventory caps (buy but not receive above them) ¡ñ Brag shares (must uncheck tiny box or shared automatically) ¡ñ Staffing...
  • 12. Staffing? ¡ñ "Ask three friends to staff your castle to unlock World 2." ¡ñ "...or unlock now for 10 gems." ¡ñ Oh, and "Maria is searching the castle for the PrincessXX. Come back in 24 hours to see if she found him!"
  • 13. 24 Hours? ¡ñ Only damn metrics your mgmt is going to care about in geoalpha are 1-day retention and time on site. ¡ñ So the FUE gives you 20-30 minutes of gameplay + a hard stop and call to return tomorrow. ¡ñ 'Cause we don't even get to launch if we don't massage our metrics. ¡ñ Gaming the system is Job One!
  • 14. New Worlds Gated by... ¡ñ Mastery stars. ¡ñ Staffing (or pay to bypass). ¡ñ Later on, an expansion resource ¨C Rare drop, or pay to buy. ¡ñ Timer (or pay to bypass). Ka-ching!
  • 15. Consumables & Bypasses Good, But... ¡ñ We need more Ka-Ching! ¡ñ Bonus Worlds for hard currency only. ¡ñ Week 2: a stage you NEED powerups to beat. ¨C We don't give you enough. ¨C MUST spam or monetize to progress.
  • 16. Plus: Timed Quest Sequences ¡ñ 12+ quests, most requiring grind. ¡ñ New world, available for 2 weeks only. ¡ñ Big reward at the end: "Play as Princess Peach! She can Triple Jump!" ¡ñ Each play requires a new special resource. ¡ñ Players seeded with some, + rare drop, + ask friends for more. ¡ñ Daily cap on # you can receive.
  • 17. Timed Quest Sequence (pt. 2) ¡ñ Tuned so you will NOT have enough of the special resource to complete in the available time. ¡ñ Unless you pay! Ka-ching! ¡ñ Suck the marks in with enough seeded resources... Have them invest time and emotional energy... Hold out a big reward... ¡ñ Double Ka-ching!
  • 18. Plus the Usual Crap ¡ñ Hard currency/$ ratio at some weird prime, like 7, so it's harder for the marks to figure out how much they're actually spending. ¡ñ Daily reward slot machine with HC cost for more spins. ¡ñ "Get gems at 30% off but only if you act now." ¡ñ "You've got 2 extra inventory slots for the next week" (but have to pay to keep them afterwards).
  • 19. Nice Little Game You Got There... ¡ñ Ah, nostalgia... ¡ñ Get over it! ¡ñ There's money to be made, boys. KA-CHING!