A game that’s on your side

Let’s imagine games as people.

We’d think of attributes - brash or quiet, strict or forgiving, quirky or dry, daring or safe etc… 

As game designers - what traits do we want for our game?  

Well, people tend to gravitate towards  and ,  and .  Makes sense, and there are plenty more on the list (1)

How about empathy?

In relationships,  people (2) tend to value those who are thoughtful and make an effort to consider their point of view.  

Let’s call it a game that’s “on your side”.

It could be reflected in the core design and UI, and also in various small and simple features that signal the game’s looking out for them.

Some nice examples -

In  by Machine Zone, the free speedup option let’s players shortcut timers when they fall under a 5 minute threshold:

In by IGG, when you first run out of coins you’re given extra for free to keep playing:

In Zynga’s , hero quests don’t consume the items they request, allowing you to sell them after:

The birthday gift in Supercell’s feels thoughtful and personal -
 

So are these games at their heart, altruistic?

Not at all (3).  Let’s not forget they are still free to play games that do a great job of extracting revenue from paying users, as they should.

But they do a good job of signalling they care for the players, and in the process help build attraction and loyalty.

Notes

(1) beyond the universal ones, player taste and personality matters a lot

(2) this particularly applies to  

(3) as any free player struggling with storage limits and ingredient production times in Castleville’s mid game would tell you

Other great examples? I’d love to hear -  or .