2004 Web and Downloadable Games White Paper 

IGDA Online Games SIG 

Any stumbling through the UI or additional steps will likely turn people away in the try 

before you buy arena.  

Core Gameplay Concept

 The core gameplay concept should be immediately obvious 

to the player. Taking ten people off the street and asking them to play your game for the 

first time, they should all be able to figure out how to play, what the objective is, and how 

to  achieve  success  in  the  game  in  less  than  2  minutes.  People  simply  do  not  read 

manuals that come along with the game; if they can 

t figure it out, you lose them quickly.  

In Game Tutorials

 These take many forms. In general a full blown interactive tutorial 

should not take longer than 2 5 minutes to complete. Anything longer and the game is 

too  complicated  and  there  is  too  much  to  learn  in  a  quick  sitting.  Consider  removing 

game elements and adding them in as the user progresses. Quick pop up help is good, 

especially when it 

s contextual and relevant. You can spoon feed the user through the 

game this way, introducing new concepts as they come up, at the start of a level for 

instance.  

Addictiveness

 This almost goes without saying, but it 

s important to remember that the 

top selling games in this space are often described as addictive. What makes a game 

addictive?  It 

s  a  combination  of  a  number  of  things:  graphics,  sound,  gameplay,  and 

ease of use. In short, it 

s a combination of all the areas of game design.  

Mouse Control

 The easiest form of control is the mouse. Every user, no matter how 

new to the PC, uses the mouse. It 

s crucial that the entire front end UI is mouse driven. 

Games with core game play that is point and click have a huge advantage in this space. 

It 

s not just enough to have mouse control, it 

s worth spending some time thinking about 

how you use the mouse. The control needs to be intuitive and smooth. It can be quite a 

challenge to find ways to use the mouse, but the payoff is well worth it.  

High Scores

 Scores take two forms, local and global. Local high scores is a must have 

with any quick paced game where scoring is the core motivator for play. The ability to 

reset local high scores is important as well. Score is a good psychological motivator as 

the player will continually try and beat top scores. Global high scores are less important, 

but a growing number of players in this space like to see how they stack up against the 

rest of the world.  

Save Games

 In many cases it makes sense to have the ability to save games. As a 

rule,  if  your  game  takes  longer  than  15  minutes  to complete, users will enjoy a save 

game feature. This is especially true of word games, jigsaw puzzle games   anything 

where it is likely you will not be able to complete in a session. It 

s also important that you 

make  sure  there  is  a  valid  reason  for  the  game  taking  so  long  because  in  general 

anything that takes longer than 15 minutes to play will not resonate in this audience. 

L. 

Building Equity 

This section covers strategies for building and maintaining brand equity in the online gaming space, 

especially from the standpoint of making games. For example, what are some of the key ingredients 

involved in making successful online game brands that are  sticky , i.e., games that are habitual, 

accessible and foster high levels of engagement with players?  

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