Game design secrets ; do what you never thought possible to market and monetize your iOS, Facebook & web games

Read This First xxiii    Part I   Overview 1     Chapter 1   Market Overview: iOS, Facebook, and the Web 3     Understanding Why to Choose These Platforms     over Others 4     Surveying the iOS Market 6     Surveying the Facebook Game Market 7     Surveying the Web Game Market 9     Summary 10     Chapter 2   iOS versus Facebook versus the Web: What   s the     Right Platform? 11     Reviewing What Works and What Doesn   t on iOS 12     What Works Best on iOS 13     What Doesn   t Work on iOS 15     Reviewing What Works and What Doesn   t in     Facebook Games 16     What Works Best on Facebook 16     What Doesn   t Work on Facebook 17     Reviewing What Works and What Doesn   t in Web Games 18     What Works Best in Web Games 19     What Doesn   t Work in Web Games 21     Summary 22     Part II   Facebook 23     Chapter     Facebook Games: The Users, the Money, and the Major Players 25     Understanding Who Plays Facebook Games and Who     Pays for Them 26     Identifying Facebook   s Big Three in Games and Three of Its Rising Stars 26     Getting to Know the Playing Field: The Genres Likely to Go Big, Do Well, or Stay Small  30     Understanding the Anatomy of a Successful     Facebook Game 33     Finding Out Where the Money   s Made in Facebook Games 34     Pitching Publishers: Who Buys/Publishes Indie     Games and Why 36     Summary 40     Chapter 43 Facebook Game Design: Basic Principles for Growth and Revenue 41     Gaining and Keeping Users 42     Earning and Growing Revenue 47     Chatting with Justin Smith of Inside Virtual Goods and AppData about Game Revenue 53     Summary 57     Chapter 5 Facebook Design Lessons from KIXEYE and 5th Planet Games 59     Designing Facebook Strategy Games the KIXEYE Way 60     Designing Story-Rich Facebook RPGs the 5th     Planet Way 68     Summary 73     Chapter 6 Future Trends and Opportunities for Facebook Games 75     Forecasting Future (Likely) Facebook Gaming Trends 76     Forecasting Unlikely Facebook Gaming Trends 78     Summary 81     Part III The Web 83     Chapter 7 Deep Dive into Web Gaming: Who Plays, Who Pays 85     Starting Out: An Overview of the Web Gaming Market 86     Monetization Advice for Indie Developers 92     Pitching Publishers: Who Buys/Publishes Indie Games, Why They Do, and What You Can Expect to Earn 93     Getting Your Game on Jay Is Games, the Web Game     Kingmaker 96     Summary 100     Chapter 8 Web Game Design: Basic Principles for Growth and Revenue 101     Conceiving and Branding Your Game 102     Distributing, Promoting, and Licensing Your Game 105     Optimizing Your Game   s Web Presence 107     Earning Revenue from Your Game 110     Summary 112     Chapter 9   Web Game Developer Profiles: Kingdom of Loathing, Nitrome, and Desktop Tower Defense 115     Learning from Kingdom of Loathing, the Indie Cult RPG 116     Learning from Desktop Tower Defense   and What Its     Developer Learned the Hard Way 119     Turning Hit Web Games into a Hit Web Game Factory, the Nitrome Way 121     Summary 125     Chapter 10   Future Trends and Opportunities for Web Gaming 127     Advertising-Based Payments and Secondary Markets 128     As HTML5 Rises, Does Flash Have a Future? 128     The Rise of Hard-Core on the Web 132     Twitter: A Blue Ocean of Opportunity on the Web 132     Google+ and Chrome: A Secondary Market Worth     Watching, Especially in South America 133      Asynchronous Multimedia Sharing Integrated     into Games 134     The Continued Growth of Web-Based App Stores 134     The Rise of Indie Development Funds 136     Summary 136     Part IV   iOS 139     Chapter 11 Quick Survey of the iOS Game Market. 141     Surveying the iOS Market: What Players Spend,     What Developers Earn 142     Purchasing Revenue from In-App Payments 146     Purchasing Advertising and the Negligible Benefit     of Offer-Based Acquisitions 146     Pitching to and Working with Publishers 147     Summary 151     Chapter 12 iOS Game Design: Basic Principles for Growth and Revenue 153     Getting Started: Some Basic Concepts 154     Monetizing Freemium Games: Design Considerations 162     Closing Thoughts and Advice for Starting Out 164     Summary 167     Chapter 1 iOS Game Developer Profile: Tiger Style and Hatch 169     Learning from the Style of Tiger Style 170     Preparing to Hatch: Lessons Learned from Designing a Virtual Life iOS Game 178     Summary 184     Chapter 14 Future Trends and Opportunities for iOS Gaming 185     Surveying Upcoming iOS Trends: Experts Weigh In 186     Understanding the Future of iOS Games in China:     Overview and Advice from Yodo1   s Henry Fong 191     Summary 197     Part V Funding Your Game 199     Chapter 15 Is Your Game Ready to Get VC or Crowdfunding? 201     Weighing the Promises and Perils of Financing Your Game through VCs or Crowdfunding 202     Understanding How to Sell VCs on Your Game, Part I: Nabeel Hyatt, Spark Capital 202     Understanding How to Sell VCs on Your Game, Part II: Jeremy Liew, Lightspeed Venture Partners 205     Understanding Best Practices of Crowdfunded Games, Part I: Overview and General Advice 207     Understanding Best Practices of Crowdfunded Games, Part II: Advice from Adrian Hon, Developer of ZOMBIES RUN! 209     Summary 211     Part VI Game Design Docum ents and Fin al Thoug hts 213     Chapter 16 Game Design Documents: Tiger Style   s Spider and Waking Mars 215     Excerpts from Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor 216     Excerpts from the Waking Mars Design Documents 227     Summary 249     Chapter 17 Concluding Thoughts Before You Start Designing 251     Learning from Leading Designers   Lessons You   ll Need When You   re Ready to Design 252     Summary 257     Part VII Appendixes 259     Appendix A   Resources for Designers 261     Where to Go Next: My Blog and Contact Info 262     How to Contact the Venture Capitalists Interviewed in This Book 262     Game Industry Analysts and Other Online Resources 263     Remote Game Developer Resources 263     Facebook Game Resources: Analytics 264     Facebook Game Resources: Publishers 265     Web Game Resources: Publishers 265     Web Game Resources: Monetization 269     iOS Game Resources: Analytics 270     iOS Resources: Publishers 271     iOS Game Resources: Chinese Distribution 271     Using Prototype Sketches, Storyboards, and Art as Design References 272     Appendix B   3 Design Principles 279     Best Reasons to Develop Low-Budget/Indie Games for iOS, Facebook, and the Web 280     Games That Do Best on iOS 280     Games That Do Best on Facebook 280     Games That Do Best on the Web 280     Facebook: Games That Will Do Well in the Near Future 281     Facebook: How to Determine a New Game Is Probably Successful 281     Facebook: How Many Paying Players Can You Expect? 281     Facebook: How to Find an Audience and Grow Your Game 282     Facebook Game Design Principles 282     Facebook Monetization Principles 282     Facebook Game Design Lessons from KIXEYE   s Paul Preece 283     Facebook Game Design Lessons from 5th Planet   s Robert Winkler 283     Features You Should Consider in Future Facebook Games 284     Web Games: Who Will Pay to Play Your Game? 284     Web Games: How Low-Budget/Indie Developers Can Make More Money 284     Web Game Design Advice from the Jay Is Games Editorial Staff 285     Web Game Design Principles to Attract an Audience 285     Web Game Deployment Principles to Maintain an Audience   and Encourage Them to Pay 285     Web Game Design Lessons from Developers with KIXEYE, Nitrome, and Kingdom of Loathing 286     Future Trends Web Game Designers Should Watch for and Take Advantage Of 287     iOS Games: How Large the Market Is and How Much You Can Expect to Make from It 287     iOS Games: How to Find Players and Get Them to Pay 287     iOS Games: Design Principles for the Platform 288     iOS Games: Design Principles Through Analytics 288     iOS Games: Design Principles for Monetizing Goods 288     iOS Game Design Lessons from Tiger Style   s Randy Smith and Impending   s Phill Ryu 289     Future iOS Trends Game Designers Should Watch For 289     What Venture Capitalists Nabeel Hyatt and Jeremy Liew Look for in a Game Project 290     How to Pitch Your Game Project on Kickstarter 290     Appendix C Glossary of Terms and Acronyms 291     Index 297     Part VI Game Design Docum ents and Fin al Thoug hts 213     Chapter 16 Game Design Documents: Tiger Style   s Spider and Waking Mars 215     Excerpts from Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor 216     Excerpts from the Waking Mars Design Documents 227     Summary 249     Chapter 17 Concluding Thoughts Before You Start Designing 251     Learning from Leading Designers   Lessons You   ll Need When You   re Ready to Design 252     Summary 257     Part VII Appendixes 259     Appendix A   Resources for Designers 261     Where to Go Next: My Blog and Contact Info 262     How to Contact the Venture Capitalists Interviewed in This Book 262     Game Industry Analysts and Other Online Resources 263     Remote Game Developer Resources 263     Facebook Game Resources: Analytics 264     Facebook Game Resources: Publishers 265     Web Game Resources: Publishers 265     Web Game Resources: Monetization 269     iOS Game Resources: Analytics 270     iOS Resources: Publishers 271     iOS Game Resources: Chinese Distribution 271     Using Prototype Sketches, Storyboards, and Art as Design References 272     Appendix B   3 Design Principles 279     Best Reasons to Develop Low-Budget/Indie Games for iOS, Facebook, and the Web 280     Games That Do Best on iOS 280     Games That Do Best on Facebook 280     Games That Do Best on the Web 280     Facebook: Games That Will Do Well in the Near Future 281     Facebook: How to Determine a New Game Is Probably Successful 281     Facebook: How Many Paying Players Can You Expect? 281     Facebook: How to Find an Audience and Grow Your Game 282     Facebook Game Design Principles 282     Facebook Monetization Principles 282     Facebook Game Design Lessons from KIXEYE   s Paul Preece 283     Facebook Game Design Lessons from 5th Planet   s Robert Winkler 283     Features You Should Consider in Future Facebook Games 284     Web Games: Who Will Pay to Play Your Game? 284     Web Games: How Low-Budget/Indie Developers Can Make More Money 284     Web Game Design Advice from the Jay Is Games Editorial Staff 285     Web Game Design Principles to Attract an Audience 285     Web Game Deployment Principles to Maintain an Audience   and Encourage Them to Pay 285     Web Game Design Lessons from Developers with KIXEYE, Nitrome, and Kingdom of Loathing 286     Future Trends Web Game Designers Should Watch for and Take Advantage Of 287     iOS Games: How Large the Market Is and How Much You Can Expect to Make from It 287     iOS Games: How to Find Players and Get Them to Pay 287     iOS Games: Design Principles for the Platform 288     iOS Games: Design Principles Through Analytics 288     iOS Games: Design Principles for Monetizing Goods 288     iOS Game Design Lessons from Tiger Style   s Randy Smith and Impending   s Phill Ryu 289     Future iOS Trends Game Designers Should Watch For 289     What Venture Capitalists Nabeel Hyatt and Jeremy Liew Look for in a Game Project 290     How to Pitch Your Game Project on Kickstarter 290     Appendix C Glossary of Terms and Acronyms 291     Index 297