Jeremy Kang, King

Creating for Casual

(White Nights Conference Moscow 2017)
The official conference website — http://wnconf.com

Transcript

2. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Creating for Casual Designing for Bite-sized Brilliance Page 2 Jeremy Kang | jeremy.kang@king.com
3. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential About Me • Principal Game Designer at King, Stockholm. • Life-long gamer for 30 years. • 10 years in the industry: from Triple-A to Indie to Mobile. • Lived in 3 countries: Singapore, Berlin, Stockholm. • First game and favorite games: Mario and Zelda. Page 3
4. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Key Questions Page 4 When do Players play? How do Players play? Why do Players play? What keeps Players playing?
5. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Why do Players play? Who are our Players and why do they play?
6. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Page 6
7. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Page 7
8. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Page 8
9. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Candy Crush has been played for more than… 1,000,000,000,000 times (1 trillion game rounds) Time Spent in game is over… 5 million years Page 9
10. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Page 10
11. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Page 11 STRONG VISUALS
12. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential When do Players play?
13. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Console vs. Mobile Gaming Page 13
14. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential When do Players play? Page 14 “Bite-sized Brilliance”
15. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/JeremyKang/20150605/245258/A_Method_Acting_Approach_to_Designing_Casual_Games.php
16. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Night When do Players play? AM PM Noon Page 16 Players play 10-15 rounds of Candy Crush Saga a day.
17. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Mobile Game Loops Page 17
18. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Magic Numbers 3 30 24 7 Page 18
19. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Magic Numbers 3 30 24 7 Page 19 Day Progression Hour Retention Minute Game Sessions Minute Game Loops
20. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Designing around Game Sessions 20 3 -5 Minutes 30 Minutes (6 x 5 mins) 150 Minutes Recharge (6 x 25 mins) 7 – 14 Days
21. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Planning Player Progression Page 21 3 - 5 5 3 7 Minutes Game Rounds Times Daily Days
22. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential How do Players play?
23. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential How do Players play? Page 23 Do I want to wait that long for this reward? I guess I could play a few games of Candy Crush? Wait, what was I supposed to do again? Yeah, I hear you – you know the other day..
24. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Designing around Negative Space Page 24 Core Casua l
25. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Cognitive Load Page 25 “Cognitive load refers to the total amount of mental effort being used in the working memory” • Pick-up and Play • Interrupt-able game sessions • Should be as easy to pick up AND put down • Clear objectives • Plays should ALWAYS know how to achieve the goal. • K.I.S.S – Keep It Simple, Stupid.
26. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Candy Crush Saga Game Modes Page 26 Move Levels Timed Levels Mixed Objectives
27. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential What keeps Players playing?
28. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Page 28 What Keeps Players Playing? Time-Waster Routine Unfinished Business
29. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Building a Saga Page 29
30. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential • Progression-based Retention driver • Linear Progression. • Up to 1000s of levels. • Light Social elements • Send Lives. • See friends on Saga Map. • Continuous content for casual players • New levels every 1-2 weeks. • 15-20 episodes per release. But this means… • We need lots of levels! Page 30 Fun Fact: Candy Crush Saga will hit 3000 levels soon! The Saga Envelope
31. • Design levels and progressions. • Create content at a regular pace. • Own Episodes for release • New levels every 1-2 weeks. • 15-20 episodes per release. • Involved in designing new gameplay content as well. • Tweaks and Modifies levels based on player data. Level Design at King
32. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Mechanics to Dynamics Page 32 Candy Crush Saga uses: • 18 blockers • 6 Game Modes To create ~3000 levels.
33. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Level Design Process Page 33 Level Concept Level Layout Level Creation Level Balancing Testing
34. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Tools | Building a Saga Level Creation Process Page 34 Level Conce pt Level Layout Level Creation Level Balancing Testing 1 2 3 4 5 Level Layout Set Objectives Place Game Objects Place Blockers Test Level
35. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Testing | Tweaking and Iterating http://candycrush.wikia.com/wiki/Level_65/Versions Page 35 Level 65 “This level sucks and there isn’t any nicer way to describe it…Really, it’s not you. This level just sucks.” http://www.stirrup-queens.com/2013/09/advice-to-pass-along-level-33-level-65-and-level-97-of-candy-crush/ “This used to be one of the difficult levels until it was modified and now it is one of the fun levels.” http://candycrushsagaallhelp.blogspot.de/2014/06/candy-crush-saga-most-fun-levels.html “Sure, there were other levels that were on the most dreaded list, but 65 bubbled up to the top as the most dreaded board.” https://geekdad.com/2013/09/hardest-level-candy-crush/ “18% of people answered that 65 was the most difficult level. https://geekdad.com/2013/09/hardest-level-candy-crush/
36. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Testing | Tweaking and Iterating • Difficulty keeps the player challenged in a level. • Level Balancing 1. No. of Objectives. 2. Balancing Moves. 3. Mastery Star values. 4. No. of colours in the level. 5. Balancing no. and level of blockers. Adapted from Game Level Design by Ed Byrne Page 36 Difficulty Level Conce pt Level Layout Level Creatio n Level Balancing Testing
37. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Adapted from Game Level Design by Ed Byrne Level Design Principles Difficulty Rhythm Flow Hooks Page 37 Making Levels Different Keeping Players Challenged Keep Players moving towards the Goal Varying the Player Experience
38. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Thought| Level Design Principles Level Concept Examples Page 38 Utilize Mechanics New Gameplay Dynamics Create (Emotional) Moments Gameplay Modifiers Level Concept Level Layout Level Creation Level Balancing Testing
39. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Page 39 Live Operations
40. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Page 40 The Future…? 2012 2014 2016 Another 5 Million years???
41. © King.com Ltd 2017 – Commercially confidential Questions? Jeremy Kang | jeremy.kang@king.com
42. Thank you!