Game Development: The Art and Science

Dem Front-page Games

All the games in the above image have had more than a quarter million visits. But how? With so many other games out there, why are these select few so popular? We’re going to take an in-depth look into how these games got going, so stick around.

1. Advertising

One main concept game developers use almost in every case is advertising. This allows anyone to find the game, and if they like it, they can play it. Games like The Mad Murderer and Two Player Gun Factory Tycoon constantly use this system.

The Mad Murderer ad induces a sense of fun while alluding to mystery.

2. Player Points

Ah, player points. One of the most constant things appearing around ROBLOX at this time is the good old Swordfight for player points, player points market, or player point rain. But in other cases, some games legitimately give out player points. Like if you survive a round of TMM, or catch a falling star in ROBLOX High School, or destroy someone with a minigun in Two Player Gun Factory Tycoon, or maybe be a diligent worker at Work at a Pizza Place. Sometimes, developers might increase the player points you can earn, like x100 player points in TMM (Yes, that actually happened).

3. Objectives

Objectives are commonly used to keep players online for hours at a time. When I started writing this article, I had never played Wingman8’s Armored Patrol. When I played it, I started out with almost nothing. It wasn’t until twenty minutes of trying to reach level 3 did I get off. With Apocalypse Rising, you may want to survive for a month, and you may want to win just one more time on ROBLOX’s Top Model. Objectives are a very good way to keep people playing.

4. Uniqueness

Most of the games that are front page stickers are somehow very unique. Armored Patrol features more than a dozen vehicles to keep you occupied. Apocalypse Rising is one of the only games that keeps track of how long you are alive in days, and saves your progress. Work at a Pizza Place has seven jobs that need to be filled. ROBLOX’s Top Model has the ability to completely customize your character and then try and get the best score. Players keep playing these games simply because there isn’t another one like it.

So now that you’re done with this article, why don’t you try to implement a few of these ideas into your games? Who knows where it might lead you.

-Chipio Industries, Wednesday 8/13/2014