Au - Game design secrets

Acquisitions Editor: Mary James

Project Editor: Jennifer Lynn

Technical Editor: Billy Pidgeon

Production Editor: Daniel Scribner

Copy Editor: Kezia Endsley

Editorial Manager: Mary Beth Wakefield

Freelancer Editorial Manager: Rosemarie Graham

Associate Director of Marketing: David Mayhew

Marketing Manager: Ashley Zurcher

Business Manager: Amy Knies

Production Manager: Tim Tate

Vice President and Executive Group Publisher: Richard Swadley

Vice President and Executive Publisher: Neil Edde

Associate Publisher: Jim Minatel

Project Coordinator, Cover: Katie Crocker

Compositor: Kate Kaminski, Happenstance Type-O-Rama

Proofreader: Louise Watson, Word One

Indexer: John Sleeva

Cover Designer: Ryan Sneed

Cover Image: Chad Baker / Lifesize / Getty Images

Game Design Secrets

Published by
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
10475 Crosspoint Boulevard
Indianapolis, IN 46256
www.wiley.com

Copyright 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

ISBN: 978-1-118-33774-5

ISBN: 978-1-118-46391-8 (ebk)

ISBN: 978-1-118-41646-4 (ebk)

ISBN: 978-1-118-43420-8 (ebk)

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions .

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Web site is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.

For general information on our other products and services please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (877) 762-2974, outside the United States at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.

Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com . For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com .

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012944690

Trademarks: Wiley and the Wiley logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

Heres to all the game developers whove inspired and entertained me all these yearsincluding, yes, all those whose iOS, web, and Facebook games often distracted me from finishing this book about iOS, web, and Facebook games.

Ardent thanks to the lovely and beloved Rachel, whose face and thoughts were always at my periphery through this
books long march, making all the milestones along
the way worthwhile.

Wagner James Au is a writer, consultant, and sometime game designer/writer. He wrote The Making of Second Life (HarperCollins) in 2008 based on his experiences as Linden Labs virtual embedded journalist in the groundbreaking 3-D virtual world. As a game developer, he was lead writer and a mission designer for City of Eternals, a Facebook-based MMO from ohai (subsequently acquired by Electronic Arts), a writer at Outspark, an MMO publisher, and a writer on Majestic, EAs innovative alternate reality game. Hes written on gaming and tech culture for Internet Evolution, Inside Social Games, GigaOM, Kotaku, Salon, and Wired, was an industry analyst for Social Times Pro and GigaOM Pro, and has been interviewed on these topics in The New York Times and by the BBC and ABC. Hes a frequent speaker at and conference advisor for South by Southwest.

Read his gaming, tech, and virtual culture blog, New World Notes, at .

Billy Pidgeon is a senior analyst at M2 Research, a boutique market research firm covering the games industry since March 2010. With 24 years in the electronic entertainment industry, including extensive experience in research, management, and product development specializing in the PC, console, and mobile games market, Billy is an industry expert appearing regularly in print, on radio, and on television and at events as keynote speaker, moderator, and panelist.

Since becoming a market research analyst with Jupiter Media Metrix in 1999, Billy has authored dozens of market research reports, bulletins, and articles covering a wide range of game hardware, software, services, and technology. His topics include tracking and contextualizing gamer behavior, intention, and purchasing patterns, in-game advertising and microtransactions, covering sales, use and development of online and offline games, single and multiplayer games, and games designed for enthusiast and mass-market players. Billy is an advisor to manufacturers, publishers, developers, carriers, and retailers on market forecasting, business, and marketing strategy.