Brand Game Development

JANUARY 21, 2019

It’s time to talk about Pandemic – one of the greatest games ever made. Pandemic is an evergreen game with a multitude of variants and legacy games. It’s also the first cooperative game for a lot of gamers. Despite being more than ten years old now, this new classic can still teach us a lot.

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Brand Game Development

OCTOBER 16, 2017

In order to self-publish a board game, you will have a lot of responsibilities. These responsibilities include marketing, sales, fulfillment, accounting, and…oh yeah…designing the game. It is a lot to organize and do no matter how many people are involved. Need help on your board game?

Games 130

Games Media Game Developer Game Development 130

Brand Game Development

MAY 22, 2017

I am thrilled that many of you enjoyed Setting Up Social Media as a Board Game Dev: A Primer Course. Marketing is a big concern for game developers, especially in the chaotic arena of social media. Need help on your board game? Reasons to Use Twitter. and Highways & Byways accounts.

Dev 130

Dev Games Advertising Point and Click 130

Game Refinery

APRIL 6, 2023

With increased competition from IDFA regulation changes and new games consistently entering the market, two of the biggest challenges facing publishers and mobile game studios are acquiring new players (UA) and keeping those players in your game (player retention). Why implement minigames?

Mechanics 81

Mechanics Puzzle Mobile Mobile 81

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 31, 2023

Unlike the years before, we decided to really leverage our fantastic community of senior games industry folks to present you with trends that will shape our industry during the year. The k-factor, which measures the virality of a game, is at an all-time low. We worked for years to get featured by Apple.

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Mobile Gaming Mobile Mobile Games 127

Deconstructor of Fun

MAY 9, 2023

Written by Laura Taranto and Ahmetcan Demirel , both senior product leaders with vast experience in casual games. Tune in to the Deconstructor of Fun podcast where Laura co-hosts the notorious This Week in Games (TWIG) segment and make sure to read Laura’s previous analysis: Royal Match - The New King from Turkey?

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Puzzle Mechanics Feature Build 69

Deconstructor of Fun

JULY 4, 2023

We’d love to know how satisfied you are with your current job. Please spend just two short minutes answering our anonymous work satisfaction survey. game industry work satisfaction survey “It’s time to admit that remote work doesn’t work. WFH Friday is a four-day work week. in 2012 for $1.2

Communications 73

Communications Data Balance Studios 73

Deconstructor of Fun

JUNE 3, 2020

This post is written by Nebojsa “Nebo” Radovic , who’s an experienced mobile marketing professional who currently heading the user acquisition for N3TWORK’s Scale Platform. Prior to that he worked in product and performance market at Nordeus and Machine Zone. But be careful.

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Games Mobile Mobile Art 52

Deconstructor of Fun

FEBRUARY 21, 2022

Most of you likely know Joakim Achren as the founder of the fantastic Elite Game Developers blog, podcast, and newsletter. But you might not know that he is also a published author , a venture partner at Play Ventures , a very active angel investor, and co-founder of the powerful Next Games. Let us know how you liked it!

Games 52

Games Build Asset UX 52

Deconstructor of Fun

MAY 23, 2023

At that point, Second Dinner revealed that their first project just so happens to be a licensed Marvel IP, which the team has been working on for six months already and is currently beginning to playtest. Fastforward to September of 2022 and the game, Marvel Snap, is finally out globally after a considerable amount of time in soft launch.

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Tile Mechanics Feature Mobile 95

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 10, 2021

Our 2021 predictions have been sponsored by Facebook Gaming. Facebook Gaming helps developers and publishers to build, grow and monetize their games. This is done through in-depth research, insights and case studies as well as innovative marketing solutions and education materials. All revenue numbers show net revenues.

Puzzle 52

Puzzle Mobile Mobile Advertising 52

Deconstructor of Fun

AUGUST 29, 2021

Full disclosure: both of the authors are decade-long fans of Supercell and their games. While our analysis may to some seem harsh, we assure you that it’s only reflective of the expectation Supercell puts on their games. This week, Supercell soft-launched a new crafting tycoon game called Everdale. Osmium is the heaviest metal.

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Brand Game Development

SEPTEMBER 9, 2019

Last week, I posted A Crash Course in Games , where I acted as a tour guide to the board game industry, covering much of the contextual information you’ll need to make games. Let’s pick up from there and talk about what specifically goes into making a game. What is board game development all about?

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Game Developer Game Development Development Game Design 130

Sirlin

JUNE 13, 2015

I want to show you some of what I'm working (Codex, Flowchart, and a Fighting game) and tell you about Patreon. Kickstarter Kickstarter is a great and useful tool to raise money for a project. Kickstarter Kickstarter is a great and useful tool to raise money for a project. Instead.it's fun. You can get to my Patreon here.

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Brand Game Development

APRIL 2, 2018

If you are a board game developer like me, you are simultaneously privileged and burdened to live in this current time. On the one hand, board games have seen a massive surge of popularity, growing about 20% every year for the last few years. It seems like board gaming just broke a billion dollars as a market.

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Internet Advertising Media Data 130

Brand Game Development

AUGUST 26, 2019

Self-publishing a board game is a long, drawn-out process. Some of this goes back to the process of creating your game, getting it manufactured, and raising funds. Yet if there were a single thing that self-publishers regularly fail at, it’s marketing. Need help on your board game?

Advertising 130

Advertising Games Media Concepts 130

Brand Game Development

APRIL 9, 2018

Following the steps in that article will definitely help you get started, but there is a lot more to marketing than drawing attention. Need help on your board game? Join my community of over 2,000 game developers, artists, and passionate creators. We have a little housekeeping to do first, though.

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Advertising Media Point and Click Games 130

Brand Game Development

MAY 7, 2018

I’ve talked about how board game developers can get big on Twitter and use Facebook to its fullest potential. Many marketers pass over Instagram because it’s not as easy to understand as Facebook and Twitter. Need help on your board game? Reasons to Use Instagram.

Dev 130

Dev Advertising Media Point and Click 130

Logic Simplified

NOVEMBER 8, 2022

Game Genre. About Scrap’em: Alien Invasion Defense Attack Strategy. Scrap'em: Alien Invasion Defense Attack strategy is a fun-packed 3D tower defense game full of action. Scrap'em: Alien Invasion Defense Attack strategy is a fun-packed 3D tower defense game full of action. Complete Project Details.

Games 57

Games Graphics Fighting Development 57

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 17, 2020

Here are the three things you need to know about ironSource: #1: They’re developing the most robust, data-driven growth engine for mobile games. #2: 2: Their secret sauce is closing the monetization and marketing loop to help developers supercharge growth. #3: The State of Arcade Games While the Arcade genre only accounts for 7.5%

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Mechanics Platformer Studios Data 52

Designer Notes

MARCH 31, 2023

Here are the games that I’ve worked on. Spoiler alert: Civilization 3 and 4 are going to come up a lot in the presentation… I also do a podcast where I interview game designers about why they make games, so check it out if you have time for 4-hour interviews. Here are some screen’s from the game’s prototyping phase.

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Tile Point and Click AI Mechanics 98

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 21, 2021

This analysis is written by my friend, Buğrahan Göker who focused on 4X games, and Yours Truly. Our 2021 predictions have been sponsored by Facebook Gaming. Facebook Gaming helps developers and publishers to build, grow, and monetize their games. Strategy games also represent nearly a half of all Mid-Core revenues.

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Mobile Mobile Cross platform Puzzle 52

Deconstructor of Fun

OCTOBER 27, 2020

And while those two titles dominate the top charts, Playrix road to the top started a long time ago with a non-assuming little game know as Township. The game was launched in 2011 as a freemium social game first as Google+ (!) Strong iPad monetization indicates that this is a game played at home by a more mature audience.

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Co-op Puzzle Games Mechanics 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JUNE 20, 2019

There are several reasons why Matchington Mansion is on our lips: Firstly, it’s because the game is raking in over $15M in net revenues a month. Secondly, it’s because the game was able to challenge Playrix successfully in their own game. That’s a lot of work for so few…. Here’s how we’re going to break it down for You.

Puzzle 52

Puzzle Studios Tile Mechanics 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 8, 2024

Why does this game matter? Well, Supercell hasn't launched a new game since Brawl Stars in 2018, so Mini becoming a hit would have an impact on the trend of the whole company. And it’s the only game soft-launched to date from Supercell’s Shanghai Studio, which was opened 5 years ago. It was not. It was not.

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Tile Mechanics Balance Content 69

Brand Game Development

AUGUST 11, 2017

Dev Diary posts are made to teach game development through specific examples from my latest project: Highways & Byways. Highways & Byways is ready for blind play-testing, and I’ll be spending this weekend setting up a plan on how I’m going to coordinate testing from this point forward. Need help on your board game?

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Point and Click Art Games Communications 100

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 31, 2022

An essential data platform for all mobile gaming studios. In this analysis, data from China, Korea, and Japan are excluded as this analysis focuses on Western markets only. This is because we don’t want to reduce the actionability of the data with games that succeed massively in what can be described as closed domestic markets.

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Cross platform Platformer Puzzle Mobile 52

Deconstructor of Fun

NOVEMBER 3, 2023

A 10-year gaming industry veteran, leading game development teams focused on free-to-play titles across mobile and PC. Worked on hit mobile titles such as Sims Freeplay, Need for Speed No Limits, Subway Surfers, and Sims Mobile. Initially, I had doubts about its potential in a market still dominated by Clash Royale.

Mobile 113

Mobile Mobile Mobile Gaming Concepts 113

Deconstructor of Fun

NOVEMBER 10, 2020

How does Supercell become Supercell, Playtika become Playtika, or EA become EA? Travis Boatman : Travis has held senior leadership positions at a bunch of major gaming and mobile gaming companies including Mattel, JAMDAT, EA, and Zynga. a mobile and PC games studio located in Southern California.

Games 52

Games Point and Click Engine Engineering 52

Deconstructor of Fun

NOVEMBER 27, 2022

Snap presents a very accessible CCG with short intense matches of ~4 minutes which involve a high degree of poker-like mind games and deception. Additionally, about 46% of the total revenue of CCG-Battle games came from key Asian markets of China, Japan, and South Korea, which tend inaccessible by Western games.

Mobile 101

Mobile Mobile Content Mechanics 101

Deconstructor of Fun

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

A 10-year gaming industry veteran, leading game development teams focussed on free-to-play titles across mobile and PC. Worked on hit mobile titles such as Sims Freeplay, Need for Speed No Limits, Subway Surfers and Sims Mobile. Initially, I had doubts about its potential in a market still dominated by Clash Royale.

Mobile 52

Mobile Mobile Mobile Gaming Concepts 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 17, 2022

Want to hear us debate Clash Mini? Xsolla has dedicated tools that will help you create your own online commerce platform, improve your performance marketing and discoverability, and expand your game business on mobile and PC. Clash Mini is one of the three Clash games Supercell announced in April of 2021.

Content 52

Content Mechanics Point and Click Mobile 52

Deconstructor of Fun

AUGUST 4, 2020

Leave it another Finnish team to build some truly innovative gameplay mechanics in their action strategy title, Battle Legion. The game released worldwide just this past month (after spending well over two years in various stages of soft-launch) and is starting to rank in the Top 500 grossing charts on iPhone. Vinayak Sathyamoorthy.

Games 52

Games Mechanics Mobile Mobile 52

Deconstructor of Fun

NOVEMBER 7, 2019

Announcing Legends of Runeterra A few weeks ago, Riot Games, creators of the megahit League of Legends, announced their new card game, Legends of Runeterra as a part of their 10-year anniversary announcement (read: Riot's 7 new games are a declaration of war against Blizzard ). Legends of Runeterra is Riot’s new card game.

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Content Balance Build Mobile 52

Deconstructor of Fun

NOVEMBER 25, 2019

AAA game franchises are in the middle of a renaissance on mobile. These games have a huge leg up in terms of organic downloads. Five days into its launch, the title's US daily revenue peaked at just over $2 million per day. Call of Duty is a penultimate franchise in the shooter genre.

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Mobile Mobile FPS Console 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JUNE 3, 2019

This was the date that the social games giant had acquired a relatively unknown Finnish developer, Small Giant. The reason for this acquisition was the success of Small Giant’s hit game, Empires & Puzzles. Especially the last twelve months the game has been thriving, raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue per day.

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Puzzle Build Feature Balance 52

Designer Notes

DECEMBER 10, 2023

Frank Lantz recently interviewed me on Donkeyspace , his excellent Substack, which generally focuses on the current AI boom but, in reality, is about his ongoing work on the human condition. If so, do bots have any role in this scene, either as part of the game or for training/analysis? I’m curious about all-human, no-AI Civ.

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