Keep players addicted: 8 tips to improve the virality of mobile games

Many people may know that Nguyen Ha Dong, the developer of Flappy Bird, once earned more than $50,000 in daily advertising revenue from this free-to-play game, and Angry Birds has many peripheral products and animated films.

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However, for every FarmVille or Angry Birds game, there are already tons of similar games in the app store, but the number of downloads per day is very limited. Although each blockbuster has unique features, special challenges and characters, there are actually some common points in creating these viral games, such as the following 8 aspects:

1. A compelling story

Your game story doesn't have to be particularly deep, as long as it has a certain depth and is interesting enough that players have more motivation to find out what happens next or what the outcome of the game story is. This is just like what good filmmakers do: give the audience a reason to look forward to it.

Do some research to see what your users are interested in or what they like, and then adjust the storyline. Remember, people's desire to know the outcome is what drives them to continue playing. A good game story can not only make players full of expectations, but also make them willing to keep coming back to the game.

2. Don’t set the entry barrier too high

In game design, you should follow the principle of making the game easy to use and easy to experience, but also let the players feel a sense of accomplishment after mastering it. Few players are willing to encounter very difficult AI opponents when they enter the game. In the first few levels of the game, it is very important to let players gradually get started through game tutorials. Let players get familiar with the game environment, help them learn and master game skills through not too difficult levels, and then introduce some more challenging levels.

3. Stimulate curiosity

Any game that makes players think encourages their desire to explore and their curiosity, such as asking them to think about where to click next, what super weapon will appear if item A and item B are combined, etc. This is what you need: let your players try new things and reward their curiosity and need to explore. These surprises and rewards will keep players coming back for more.

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4. Encourage players to get higher scores

Nothing is more interesting to players than high scores or personal bests, so give them the opportunity to beat their best scores. Even if they have completed a level, they will probably try again to beat their best. For example, you can encourage players to beat their best by adding social media to share their best scores.

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5. Players need to vent

Some games add bombs, which are features that allow players to have a certain range of impact with their actions. Fruit bombs in Candy Crush Saga are a good example. Add one or two features that have a slightly greater impact to your game, and your players will invest more time in it.

6. Don’t force players to make IAPs

On the one hand, IAP is one of the ways for developers to make money, but on the other hand, you don't want to base your game's revenue on forcing players to spend money to get the core gameplay experience. For players, games that can only be experienced by paying will quickly lose their appeal, because many players who don't have the need to pay will quickly leave. I can tell you for sure that if you can make non-paying players love your game, then paying players will soon buy it.

7. Exploration should not amplify frustration

Players don't need a lot of frustrating levels, especially when they need to complete the next goal or task. It's important to make the game challenging, but it's not so good to turn the game difficulty to "hell mode". Provide in-game clues and power-ups to reward players for careful exploration. Your game needs to be predictable to a certain extent so that players will feel more accomplished after overcoming difficulties.

8. Encourage players to spread the word

If you want your game to spread like wildfire, you need to find a way for them to invite their friends to join. Although some players are reluctant to accept push invitations and find it very boring.