2004 Web and Downloadable Games White Paper 

IGDA Online Games SIG 

argued  that  we  should  assign  penalty  points  for  any  invalid  click  (that  is,  any  click  that  doesn't 

result in the removal of a chain of blocks) in order to discourage wild, random clicking. 

GameHouse,  however,  was  unhappy  with  the  second  part  of  this  proposal,  since  there  are  no 

negative  points  given  in  free 

Collapse

,  and  GameHouse  wanted  the  user  experience  to  be  as 

similar as possible for the free and cash versions of the game, and because there were actually 

situations  where  it  was  strategically  advantageous  to  make  invalid  clicks.  A  compromise  was 

reached where  wild  invalid clicks were distinguished from  non wild  invalid clicks, and only the 

former were assigned penalty points. Wild invalid clicks were defined as the third or more invalid 

click made during a 600 millisecond period. The penalty was low for the first such wild click, but 

would escalate rapidly, thus strongly discouraging this luck based strategy. 

Cheating is a bigger issue in cash games than it is in free games. WorldWinner has a number of 

proprietary techniques that we use in our games, including 

Collapse

, to deter cheating. This was 

particularly important for 

Collapse

, a game whose design lent itself to automated play. Although 

these modifications are invisible to the player, they also represent a large portion of the effort of 

modification of a free game for skill based cash play. 

The  cash  version  of 

Collapse

  was  deployed  on  the  WorldWinner  site  in  mid August  2003.  It 

immediately became one of the two or three top games on the site. The anti cheating protections 

have  worked  well,  invalidating  slightly  more  than  1%  of  cash  games  of 

Collapse

  (one  of  the 

highest rates of any game on the site). 

It should be clear from the above that many of the same issues facing developers of console games 

(budget, project management, etc.) exist for developers of web/downloadable titles as well. However, the 

specific nature of these issues can be significantly different, as a result of differences in scale and 

business relationships. 

E. 

Risk Management 

Most downloadable games are self funded and therefore developers are not beholden to an 

investor/publisher. However, without distributor buy in and promotion, there is little chance of profiting 

from this development. Given that the time and costs involved in building a web/downloadable game are 

much lower than for a typical standalone PC or console game, risks are not usually managed as 

assiduously here as in other areas of game development. 

Developers should be careful not to let the 

illusion of reduced risk lull them into a sense of complacency in their risk management.

1. 

Play testing 

Perhaps the greatest risk facing a game developer is that players will not have fun playing their game. For 

this reason, play testing and beta testing is a critical risk management technique and should be an 

integral part of every developer's process. At the early stages of development, developers can utilize their 

network of friends and colleagues to get feedback about playable prototypes via email. As the game 

matures, a larger group of play testers should be tapped, with greater consideration given to the 

questions they are asked in order to elicit feedback. Allowing testers to play the game and respond via 

the web is a great way to collect a high volume of feedback, but should not be used as a substitute for 

watching over the shoulder of a play tester as often as possible. Each of these approaches should be 

used throughout the development process to identify problems with the game play or game interface, 

common frustrations or areas of confusion, and tuning and balancing issues.  

Keep in mind, play testing is a soft science and is most useful in its role as red flag raiser and dialogue 

starter. Developers who are reluctant to make refinements to a game once the project is underway, often 

need only watch a tester struggling in frustration to find the motivation they need.  

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