ABSTRACT

The games industry is serious business and the role of a games designer has dramatically changed over just the last few years. Developers now have to rethink everything they know about the creative, technical and business challenges to adapt to the transition to games as a service.

Games as a Service: How Free to Play Design Can Make Better Games has been written to help designers overcome many of the fears and misconceptions surrounding freemium and social games. It provides a framework to deliver better games rather than the ‘evil’ or ‘manipulative’ experiences some designers fear with the move away from wasteful Products to sustainable, trustworthy Services.

Oscar Clark is a consultant and Evangelist for Everyplay from Applifier.  He has been a pioneer in online, mobile and console social games services since 1998 including Wireplay (British Telecom), Hutchison Whampoa (3UK) and PlayStation®Home. He is a regular columnist on PocketGamer.Biz and is an outspoken speaker and moderator at countless games conferences on Games Design, Discovery, and Monetisation.  He is also a notorious hat wearer.

chapter |22 pages

Introduction

chapter |15 pages

What is a Game?

chapter |19 pages

The Anatomy of Play

chapter |16 pages

Player Lifecycle

chapter |20 pages

The Rhythm of Play

chapter |15 pages

Building on Familiarity

chapter |15 pages

Counting on Uncertainty

chapter |17 pages

Engagement-Led Design

chapter |18 pages

Delivering Discovery

chapter |17 pages

Counting on Data

chapter |24 pages

Service Strategies

chapter |25 pages

The Psychology 1 of Pricing

chapter |23 pages

Tools of the Trade

chapter |3 pages

Conclusions