Proven Ways to Make Addictive Hyper Casual Games
Games that gain millions of downloads, that spread at the speed of the virus and that cause a real addiction, despite their apparent primitiveness – it’s all about them.
But here it is important to understand that only the worthiest are on the top of the podium. Millions of other games claiming laurels will sink into oblivion due to poor mechanics, bad ideas, boring visualization, or ill-conceived monetization. Yes, hyper casual games must be monetized: since they are free to download, it is necessary for their further development and scaling.
So, you want to create a game that will literally blow up the Play Market and App Store. Great ambition. Then let’s figure out what a hyper casual game design should be and what you need to know in order to properly convey your idea to a video game artist.
Attraction Point and Target Audience
What kind of point is this and why is the audience not in the first place? Everything is very simple: popular hyper casual games are often a mass phenomenon that does not focus on certain categories of people, but covers a huge layer of players of various ages and interests. The wider the boundaries of the game and the larger the audience it can reach, the better. In this case, this strategy really works.
But to ensure the interest of a large number of different people, you need to make them such an offer they can’t refuse. So, we move in the reverse order of our subtitle from the audience to that mysterious attraction point.
Hyper casual games development requires a solid foundation, the choice of which will be your main make-or-break decision. Almost everything will depend on it. So, get well prepared and take a deep breath.
First, you need to choose a win-win theme that appeals equally well to players of different nationalities, cultures and interests. Focus on universal topics known, accessible, familiar and understandable to everyone: food, ordinary life, work, sports, animals, and more. This will definitely work.
You can approach the matter on the other hand and completely eliminate the factor of real life. Think of geometric games like Tetris or tile-matching options and see for yourself that players love such simple, yet addictive games.
Straight Through Gamer’s Attention Span
Do you know that now a person has less attention span than a goldfish? It is 8 seconds. Therefore, the procedure for loading the game and getting into the game cycle should not exceed this period. Every extra second, during which the player is poking around in the game menu and looking for how to start playing as soon as possible, will distance your hyper casual game from success.
Make sure that the hyper casual game development takes into account the aspect of the need for speed. Do not slow down for a second. Test the game and make it possible to get into the gameplay from a couple of taps without looking at the screen of a mobile device. Gamers will appreciate it.
Another feature associated with maintaining attention is the need to ensure a constant focus on the game. This should not be the case when one can distract, yawn, drink coffee and return to the game without causing any damage to the game process. No, your game should not let the player go until the end of the next game cycle. To do this, you need to work out measures that punish the player for inattention: the death of the main character or general defeat. The player perceives the loss as his or her personal failure and will try not to repeat this sad experience.
Constant focus and short game sessions will lead to player satisfaction at the end of each level. A game that is not too tense, but that also does not allow you to completely relax until the end of the next game loop, is exactly what gives the player the greatest pleasure.
Beauty in Simplicity
Why does the word “casual” appear in the name of these games? Because here we are talking about elementary games that do not require serious involvement and time. People play them in transport or waiting for their order in a cafe. What they need least is complex gameplay and intricate graphics.
If casual game design implies simplicity and comprehensibility, then hyper casual game design is simplicity elevated to the tenth degree. The evidence of its gameplay, functions and controls should be so seamlessly woven into the game that the perception of the player does not come across any obstacles during the next game cycle. This is the main difficulty: it should be neither too simple nor too difficult, otherwise, players will ruthlessly get rid of the game that did not live up to their expectations.
What can be done to keep players? It is necessary to competently build up complexity. Time or resource restrictions, special barriers, new enemies and locations can help maintain interest. Choose methods of complication depending on your hyper casual game ideas, but do not go too far: always look for the right balance and do not make players doubt their choice.
As for hyper casual game art, it’s up to you. The color palette, hyper casual game UI design, characters and icons are all products of your imagination, which directly depend on the chosen theme. Remember that the game must be beautiful and juicy. And even though beauty is a subjective concept, nothing prevents you from looking at the design examples of other popular games and roughly sorting out what attracts players the most.
Let Monetization By
We cannot lose sight of one of the most important aspects of hyper casual game development. You need to consider how you are going to monetize your product. Usually, this is video advertising that pops up at the most inopportune moment and offers to perform a certain action for it to disappear. Another option for monetization is the so-called in-app purchases, which make it possible to acquire various elements that complement the gameplay well. But since people are not often inclined to make purchases in games of this type, it is better to focus on video ads.
Hyper Casual Conclusion (Short and Simple)
That’s all folks! Of course, one can delve into the details and discuss the options for mechanics, but this is a completely different story. The important thing is that now you know what you need to do to create an addictive game. So, go ahead and may the hyper casual force be with you!
