I'm asking this question as a kind of market research. Kind of like a survey but you are free to state whatever you like. All I ask is that you post whether you are a developer or a gamer. or both.
I think to make a game fun you need to balance challenging the player (through hard jumps, battles, whatever) with rewarding the player (through cut scenes, achievements ). You also need to make your game both visually appealing and pick up and playable (no steep learning curve. Most people who play flash games are looking for some fun. They do not want to read the instructions. Unless forced to.)
This is just my opinion and you may think that I'm wrong.
well, I think its a big mix of different things, and it also is different for each player, for me personally, it's doing something different and standing out from the crowd, while still keeping some strong gameplay elements, but the second biggest factor is re-playability. is it addictive? will it keep me coming back? something like indestructo tank 2 did these things with an awesome addictive gameplay setup, a story mode, achievements, and high scores, and bubble tanks 2 had a cool style, tons of different tanks, an arena, Arcuz offers a really long story, tons of different options, and its surprisingly accessible and addictive. so, just learn from the best games on the site!
For me to consider it a very good game it: -Must have replayability, so no unlocking everything on first try. -There must me more than 1 way to play, several preferred. -Should give you a since of accomplishment, not that you just wasted a bunch of time. -Give you choices, so not just making same decisions each time or whatever, i want to be able to effect outcomes in the gam
This was one of the quandaries of when I went to school for gaming. "If you can figure out the equation for fun, you'll become very, very rich." Everyone looks for something different, and tastes change over time.
Things I tend to look for~ Gameplay - You can throw in controls under this category. A game has to be able to be smooth and operable. Difficult controls, play angles, small screens, unresponsive actions, or overall unengaging gameplay are reasons alone to deter people. Variety- This can be in regards to difficulty, extra content, enemies, levels, or equipment/upgrades. This by itself adds a feeling of being rewarded, and can even help the replayability and player spawned challenges. "Maybe I wanna play through the entire game with the suckiest equipment and die in one hit!" Victory - When a player accomplishes something difficult, there should be a reward in relative compensation. This can either be given in the form of story progression, extra content, an acheivement(see later) and most anything else. "Oh man, that boss was so insane? Wait, my reward is a smidgen of experience? Laaaame" Graphics - Graphics by no means have to state of art. See Infectonator and SushiCat. But graphics do need to be pleasing on the eye. This can usually be avoided by taking your time with it. Yeah, those characters on Infectonator were made with squares/pixels, but they were put together with thought rather than hastily. Music & FX - helps create immersion into games. Terrible bg music and sounds will turn me off any day, especially when there is no option to turn it off(other than speakers). If you can't listen to the music while making the game, then people will most likely not be able to play the game with it. "Let's play Bobcat or Bjork" 'nuff said. Achievements - A modern ideal. Achievements are exactly what they need to be. A 'medal' for accomplishing some task. Whereas many build achievements as an active part of the game, achievements allow replayability and a sort of knowledge of how expansive the game is and they can know when they're completely 'finished' with a game. Achievements as a general rule, should expand from easy to difficult to capture as many people as possible. Pick-up&Play - another modern ideal. My generation started on the Atari and Nintendo. As with most of us, we don't mind turn-based combat, or sparse action here and there, or even loading screens(insert joke about Sonic for the 360). But kids these days, I gotta tell you. If they can't kill something withiin 2 minutes, they get bored! Killing aside, it's always nice to be able to click a shortcut and have your fave game waiting for you when you're bored
Of course, there are always exceptions. Avid Gamer
I'd have to agree completely with Degazon on most of his points.
It seems like most people enjoy games which have a high replay value, or enough content to enable long term playing options. This is one of the most important aspects of a game for myself as well.
Different game modes, ways to win (or lose), and choices for the players to make that effect game progression, multi-player modes the likes of Exit Path all make for great replay value. On occasion something that has an stimulating concept (love me), or an engrossing story and atmosphere (Alice is Dead ep 1 & 2) can make a player come back for another jaunt through the flash realms.
I don't mind less intensive graphics as long as all of the other game components are well done.
Game music is somewhat important to me, and I think that all games should come with an option to mute the sound. If game music is good, I may visit a game for that reason alone. For instance, I didn't particularly care for Spelgrim's "Them Coconuts" as far as game play was concerned, but I'll open it up and leave it running just to hear that fantastic song.
Ok thanks for the information. I am going to try and include these in my first flash title. I will also try and encourage people to look at this if it becomes a useful resource for developers and the community.
I would like to add that another way of making a game a lot more fun is with multi-player. Gamers love to have fun with their friends.
Games should be able to be played different ways to conform to the style of the gamer.
That said, games should still require the gamer to adapt a thoughtful strategy.
Games should make winning feel like a victory, but please, no more achievements (thanks to kong and xbox live for starting the achievement craze.... not). If players legitimately need an achievement sign to pop up in their face just to feel a sense of accomplishment, then the game isn't good enough by itself.
Good gameplay obviously, different for each genre of game ofc.
Games should make winning feel like a victory, but please, no more achievements (thanks to kong and xbox live for starting the achievement craze.... not). If players legitimately need an achievement sign to pop up in their face just to feel a sense of accomplishment, then the game isn't good enough by itself.
I don't think achievements are all that bad, particularly if the achievement rewards the player in some way. In Protector 4, for example, there are achievements to be earned, and each one gives a bonus to the player - stat improvements, damage increases, shop cost reductions, etc.
It definitely depends on the game, but generally speaking it's a "goal" to work toward that adds replay value- so maybe I finished the game, but I could go back and replay it to get the achievements which would either enhance my game play experience in some way, or unlock additional content.
need an achievement sign to pop up in their face just to feel a sense of accomplishment, then the game isn't good enough by itself.
I believe that achievements are not just getting those pop up things. I believe that everything the gamer achieves should be rewarded. Maybe in a slash em up. After a boss fight you gain a sword. This I believe is important as a gamer does not want to kill 10'000 zombies just to run out of ammo or something.
