How to design a suitable TV game?

I first entered the TV game industry half a year ago, after working on mobile games for three years. Compared with the booming mobile game industry, the TV game industry is definitely a blue ocean that is yet to be explored.

What I have felt most deeply during this period is the various differences in the control and usage environment of TV games. In particular, the control method is generally considered to be the key to restricting the development of TV games; and the lack of simple and direct payment methods also makes developers feel that this new platform is useless. However, my experience and intuition during this period tell me that the current bottleneck restricting the development of TV games is expected to be broken, and the next outbreak point may also be here. I would like to share some of my accumulated ideas with you, and talk about game selection, control methods and platform differences respectively.

How to choose the game type?

This is a question that needs to be considered at the beginning. What type of TV games should be produced at this stage? Based on the types of games on PC, mobile phones and consoles, the following types of games may be suitable for TV:

Console games?

The first idea was to learn from the next-generation console games on Xbox and PS, high-quality AAA games. But it turned out not to be suitable because the development difficulty, compatibility and control did not meet the requirements of the next-generation consoles. The ideal is full, but considering the initial acceptance of smart TV games by users and the current configuration of team resources, console games are not suitable for development at this stage.

Representative game: Dragon Age

Board games?

The advantages of this type of game are simple operation, low learning cost, and strong user stickiness, so it is very suitable for transplantation to TV. It can also be seen from the current major TV application distribution platforms that games such as Landlord and Mahjong occupy the top few on most platforms. With the improvement of payment channels, chess and card games will continue to shine. If you pay a little attention, you will know that many developers have already released games such as Landlord and Texas Hold'em. However, chess and card games still have limitations, such as the inability to have multiple people participate on the same screen, and the operation is slightly more complicated than the touch method on mobile phones and tablets. The most important payment problem still needs to be solved and optimized.

Representative game: Landlord

Casual games?

There are many types of casual games, but most of them have several characteristics: simple operation, relaxing graphics, clear gameplay, high user acceptance, suitable for entertainment on TV, and suitable for the whole family to participate in. From these points of view, light and high-quality casual games are still suitable for the current TV game market. After simple transplantation, casual games such as "Chicken Crossing the Road" and "Building a House" have performed well on the TV game platform, but the product stickiness is not high, and the user's self-propagation means are too single, which makes the life cycle of such games very short. Fortunately, the market competition has not yet become fierce, so it can still accumulate a lot of downloads.

Representative game: Chicken Crossing the Road

Representative game: Moving Master

Which control method is better?

Currently, the main control methods for TV games are nothing more than the following: traditional TV remote control (five-way key), somatosensory, handle, and touch screen.

Traditional remote control (five-way key)

It has the highest penetration rate and low learning cost, but due to hardware limitations, simple operation and imperfect experience, it is difficult to develop high-quality games for ordinary remote controls.

Somatosensory remote control

For example, Wii or Kinect allow users to experience various motion sensing games on TV. Due to technical limitations, most motion sensing operations can only recognize simple body language. For many games, the experience is not better than other control methods. Due to the particularity and limitations of game content, motion sensing games are not suitable as the main control method.

handle

As a control device with high user acceptance, the learning cost is not too high for heavy gamers. As the price continues to drop, it is impossible to popularize it. However, as an operating terminal alone, it still has some missing functions; and for ordinary TV users, it is still difficult to adapt to the operation of the handle. The handle is suitable for games that require operation, such as racing, fighting, sports and other games.

Representative products: ordinary remote control (Xiaomi), somatosensory remote control (Wii) and handle (Xbox)

Mobile remote control

It is a control app specially designed for TV. It is easy to install. With the iteration of software, compatibility will be gradually solved. It can replace ordinary remote controls and handles to complete basic operations. As the receiver of data, the mobile phone can also expand its functions, such as adding social networking and payment. The disadvantage is that the cost of initial user guidance and education is high. It takes time for mobile phones to cultivate user habits as a simple control device.

After understanding most of the ways to control the TV, the game control design will have a clearer idea: simple control, sliding, single click, long press, joystick, and game operations that can be completed in one or two steps are more suitable for TV games. Compared with large-scale games on mobile phones and PCs, page switching and jumping, a large number of menu selections and inputs are not suitable for TV games at this stage. Browsing various TV markets, it is not difficult to find that many games that are simply ported from mobile phones may encounter big problems when switching menus. Many products use mouse mode to help users operate, which is not necessarily the correct interaction idea.

Several of our own games are controlled by our team's HaoLian remote control. I was surprised when I first implemented it. It felt as easy to use as the touch screen on a mobile phone. The data we saw from the background also showed that after using the HaoLian remote control, the conversion rate and user stickiness were both very good. However, many technical problems are being solved now. For example, many users reported that some models could not be connected after installation. It still depends on the efforts of our engineers.

Representative products: Touch screen mobile phone remote control

What's different about video game design?

The concept of focus

The first thing to consider when designing a TV game is the focus. The TV side is different from the traditional mobile side touch screen user experience. When the user issues a control command, there should be corresponding feedback on the TV screen, that is, the focus appears at the appropriate position on the TV side at the same time, so that the user can perform the next operation.

Representative product: Focus on TV (Apple TV)

Game mode design

Based on the usage environment of TV games, TV game modes are currently divided into the following categories:

Single player games

Casual stand-alone games are simple to operate, have relaxing graphics, and have constantly updated levels. They can fully meet the current gaming needs of TV users and are the most suitable gaming mode at this stage.

Representative game: Angry Birds

Multiplayer Online Games

At present, the multiplayer online games on TV are mainly concentrated in chess and card games and some gambling games, such as "Texas Hold'em", "Fishing Master", "Doudizhu", etc. Users in different places can connect to the Internet through the TV end to enjoy in one scene.

This type of game is relatively simple to operate, and because it can be connected to the Internet, the user activity is quite high. Multiplayer online games also provide a richer gaming experience.

Representative game: Texas Hold'em

Multiplayer games on the same screen

The living room is a multi-person environment, so there is a great demand for multi-person games on TV. However, because multi-person games require more than one control terminal, there are certain requirements for the control terminal. The mobile phone remote control mentioned earlier can solve this problem to a certain extent. Multi-person games require a better interactive experience and emphasize the relationship between people.

Our experience is that when a very ordinary game can be played by multiple people, the participation rate immediately soars. Perhaps it is because humans are social animals. Compared with playing games alone, we prefer to do things with people we care about. Based on this judgment, our team emphasized multi-person interaction when developing Lian Remote Control. In the subsequent game interactions, we also made many very beneficial attempts and received a lot of praise.

Representative game: Sugar Pet Adventure

Online social games

Social games have absolute advantages on the big screen. The larger screen can bring a better experience for users to show themselves and their virtual life.

Representative game: QQ Baby

Cross-platform gaming

Why must video games be played on TV?

Why can't we use mobile devices to play in fragmented time, while the core content that requires operation and control can be completed on TV? For example, in football games, we can perform lightweight operations such as team training and trading on mobile phones, and control the team to win the game on TV.

Representative game: Battlefield 4 Commander

Summarize

In general, TV games are still in their infancy, and the user base has not really formed yet. But it is certain that the changes and growth of TV games will be faster than those of mobile games. Only by starting to verify ideas, accumulate experience, and cultivate users earlier, and focusing on experience and control, can we develop a game that users really like. I wrote this article in the hope that it will attract the help of readers. If you need any guidance, please contact me by email <[email protected]> .

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.