subject: Keeping It Fresh As A Social Games Developer [print this page] Social games are different from serious games because the characters involved are working to achieve goals that closely parallel real life. While in a serious game, the goal might be to escape danger or to defeat the enemy, the goal in a social game may be to build a home or start a family. Points and levels are achieved by managing day-to-day hurtles or by accomplished various career-oriented tasks, like preparing a perfect dinner if your character is a chef, or putting out a fire, if he is a firefighter. The task of the social games developer is to stay close enough to reality to satisfy the gamer, but drift far enough away from reality to keep the game interesting.
Various choices should be available to the character. For example, if the task is to find a home, he should be able to choose a flat, a town house, a bungalow, or a mansion, perhaps depending on accrued wealth or resources. The character may choose to take a spouse, or not, to have children or get a pet. In a successful social game, players have multiple paths to success.
The key in social games is to keep things interesting. There should be challenges players need to meet on their own, and some which will require collaboration with other players. Settings and environments must be rich in color, texture, and detail. The details in the settings around the characters should have an effect on the character and how he/she will solve problems, travel place to place, and so on.
As the popularity of social games evolves in the world of online gaming, and gamers all over the world use their characters, or avatars, to represent themselves in situations that bring them together, at least on a virtual basis, it is necessary for the social games developer to continue to create new and different circumstances for gamers to experience. New add-ons and patches can be added to online games, and sequels and supplemental games can be sold to go with original ones in order to keep the gaming experience fresh. It is important always to have an eye on the competitors as well, including what they have on the market and what they are developing. A successful social games developer is one who can remain innovative ahead of his competitors and ahead of his own best work.
Social games are an outstanding venue in which gamers may safely explore various worlds and ideas without danger of recoil or repercussion. For some, this may mean social situations, such as dating and meeting new people; it could translate into a venue where he can express political ideals and concerns without his true identity being revealed. Young people can explore careers in a well developed social game in which various people in different careers carry out appropriate tasks that come with that job. In the long run, social games can be educational or simply fun, but they must remain fresh and challenging in order to remain popular.
