If you are starting a career as a mobile game designer, you will surely have read information about how to make a fantastic game. But have you stopped to ask yourself what kinds of mistakes are commonly made? It is just as important to know about things game designers get wrong as much as it is to know about things they get right. So, check out these four mistakes you should avoid.
Going Overboard with Features
Too many game designers use too many features. While an abundance of features might look good on paper, in reality, too many features complicate a game and can lead to player frustration. Too many features can not only ruin gameplay. They can also cause you to waste your valuable time and resources.
It is better to abandon excess ideas and instead spend your time finely-tuning the game’s main elements. Study other mobile games to see how they fail or succeed in using features. There are plenty of online gaming platforms where you can find all types of games, from RPGs and fighting games to puzzles and platform games. And if you are designing casino games like slots, roulette, and table games, check out an excellent online casino like Casumo to study casino game features.
Ignoring the Target Audience
At the very first stages of game development, you must determine the game’s genre and target audience. Many game designers make the mistake of thinking that a game they like to play will be a game everyone likes to play. By identifying your target audience, you can design game elements that align with your target audience’s needs. Nobody is interested in a game that is created for everybody. And although there are examples of mixed genre games out there, you will find it very challenging to market a mixed genre game. If you want people to play your game, stick to one genre so you can identify your target audience easily. Ask yourself questions like:
- Who am I building this game for?
- What are their principal interests?
- What activities besides gaming do they participate in?
- Can the target audience afford my game?
- What mobile operating system does the target audience use most?
By discovering answers to questions like those, you can correctly identify your target group. It can also help you to design functionalities and designs around your target audience’s preferences.
NPCs Not Repeating Vital Information
If you are a keen gamer, you will undoubtedly have played a game at some point in which a non-player character gives you information but refuses to repeat it. For example, a wizard could tell you where to find the next item you need to retrieve on your quest. But after exploring an area, you have forgotten what the wizard said. So, you retrace your steps to talk to the non-player character again only to find that he refuses to give you the same information again. Instead, he offers a useless piece of dialogue.
As a game designer, you may think it is fun to include extended dialogue for NPCs. But the truth is, it can ruin a game when scenarios like the one mentioned happen. Most players do not take a screen capture while they play games, so it is vital you enable non-player characters to repeat vital information if you are designing a mobile game with NPCs.
Cutting Off Text Too Quickly
Text is a crucial part of many games for telling stories. But too many games cut off the text before players have had the chance to read it. Dark Souls is a good example. The game displays fascinating text for players to read during loading-screens. But it makes the mistake of cutting out when the game is finished loading.
Regardless of whether the text is a non-vital piece of information, like an interesting piece of folklore, or a key element to the gameplay, you need to ensure players have long enough to read it. Indeed, it is best practice to have no time limit for reading text. Instead, design it so that the player simply needs to push a button when he or she is done reading.
