Note: The following is aimed at both aspiring and experienced game designers.
Mobile gaming in the free to play space is still in its infancy, so it's understandable that developers in the mobile space are borrowing successful yet often unpopular tricks from one another as they try to at least break even in their budgets after spending months or even years working on their games. There are a few standout developers however that break away from the pack to forge new ground. Supercell is one of those developers. Here are the top design principles that I think resulted in Supercell creating not just one of the highest grossing mobile games yet, but also one of the most original.
- Simple on the surface with incredible depth
Whether you're in the battlefield playing against another player or viewing your deck of cards, there is always an understandable and limited number of things you can do with loads of strategy hidden beneath. While in the midst of playing against another player for example, you can drag cards out onto the battlefield to attack the other player's base. Simple. But there's a tremendous amount of depth in this system as well. This isn't a CCG purely about countering and attacking - the POSITION of where you place your card makes a big difference, as does the timing of when you place it. A card that works perfectly as a counter in one situation might be the worst possible card to play in another situation. Timing and placement location can win or lose you a battle.
- Diminishing returns
Diminishing returns are a great f2p mechanic. Mobile games really need players to keep playing your game for months or even years. Why? Because only around 1% will ever pay for anything, and the longer people play, the more likely they are to eventually buy something. For this reason, it's important to encourage users to play shorter sessions so that they don't become exhausted or feel too much of the very intentionally placed grind that exists in the game, while doing it in a way that makes the player feel like they chose to leave as opposed to the game saying "okay, stop playing now". Clash Royale does this really well through their chest reward system. Every time you win a battle, you get a small amount of currency and a chest... but you can only hold up to 3 chests at once. Once you've filled all three chests, you can continue to play to fill the Crown Chest - a more special chest that requires you to win around 10 battles (my memory might be wrong, but I think that's about it). After you fill that Crown Chest, you need to wait for the next Crown Chest to become available to grind towards, so you can then pursue the secondary currency rewards and trophies. This is a great example of diminishing returns. The first priority as a gamer in this case is to fill those chest slots, then get the crown chest, then earn a few currency rewards if you really feel like it. The game gently loses your interest as you fill those chest slots, making you feel like it was YOUR idea to stop playing when you did.
- Short sessions
The core of Clash Royale's gameplay lies in it's PVP mode. When in a battle, a game is likely to last somewhere around 3 or 4 minutes. Some designers mark this as the perfect length of time for a session.
- Allowing players to demonstrate their competency
Players are made to feel good about their skill in the game by literally showing them off to other players in real time on the battlefield. You can see that player's name, how they're countering your own cards or attacking you, their level (if they're really good they'll be a level or two UNDER you and still proving a challenge to beat) and you can even replay your battle with them to see how they beat you. Given the game's vast depth, it's also the perfect game for posting tips for on youtube or other social media. Everyone who has played this game for a significant time can give advice to other players, and that's how this game allows players to demonstrate their competency.
- Autonomy in everything
Choice is important. Having a choice in how you do even the simplest things opens the door to strategy. Clash Royale not only allows you to choose which cards you take into battle, but WHERE exactly on the battle ground you place them (which by the way makes a huge difference!) and WHEN you place them (which again makes a huge difference to the outcome of your fight). Not enough? You can choose which cards to upgrade, you can choose which chests to open (a 4 hour chest is best opened in the morning or during lunch, while a 8hour or 12hour chest is best opened before heading off to bed)... which in a way leads back into competency because it allows players to make the most of their time and streamline their progress.
- Simple yet hugely rewarding CCG mechanics
There are some CCG titles that have long rule sets and descriptions for their cards. This isn't one of those games. The cards in Clash Royale are usually ground based, flight based, melee, or projectile. On top of this, the use of elements such as ice have a consistent 'slow down' effect on enemies. Players learn very quickly the simple rules of their cards, and are rewarded for continuing to upgrade them to power them up.
- Readability
The UI is clean, the characters are clean, and the effects are clean. Everything is clear and easy to read. The game screen doesn't scroll during a battle, and you don't even have to tilt the device on it's side in landscape mode to play. You have three very clear towers to defend, and the enemy has the same. On the main screen there's a big 'start' button down the bottom to take you instantly into a battle. A lot of UI artists out there could learn a little something from Supercell's simple visual design.
- Meaningful social integration
Clash Royale launched with very little social integration, but a lot of people always felt that tournaments and challenges weren't far away. I argued when the game first released that it wouldn't really need any more than it had - I believed the clans and replay sharing would have been enough. Well, they've built upon that simple social system to incorporate a variety of tournament based games... all of which seems to be popular with the fans.
- Excellent implementation of risk reward mechanics
Risk reward mechanics are important to a lot of game designers. Some would argue games are likely to fail without good use of them. In Clash Royale, while on the battlefield, one example of risk reward really grabbed me - you can go all in and push to take out their middle tower (defeating the middle tower wins the game instantly for you) or play it a bit safer and take out the two outer towers first and then push towards the final tower. Let me know in the comments if you can find more examples of risk reward in this game - there are at least a handful of other examples worth talking about!!
- Sound design
From the moment you tap into the Clash Royale app, you fall into it's wonderful addictive world. The letters fill the screen to say SUPERCELL as a loud jingle plays, drawing the attention of anyone around you. You can usually even tell the type of card a player has brought out onto the playfield by sound alone (anyone who has played Clash Royale for more than a couple of hours should be able to hear a witch spawn without even looking at the screen!) It's this clean sound design that beautifully matches the game's clear graphic style to create characters and game elements that communicate very clearly to the user. Who here finds that they play better when they leave the sound on? I know I've watched Nick At Nyte play and he demands the volume be turned up so he can get the most out of his game.
So that's my list! Did I miss anything?
More random rants of game design coming soon!