Unlocking Player Insights: A Key to Successful Game Development

Have you ever wondered why you enjoy certain games over others? Can you pinpoint the exact reasons behind your preferences? Most people can't, and this presents a challenge even for experienced game developers. While players can identify elements they like, such as colors, puzzles, or characters, they often struggle to explain why these elements appeal to them. As game developers, it's crucial to understand both what players like to play and the underlying reasons behind their preferences. Several methods can help answer these questions. Traditional approaches like playtests, player surveys, market research, and in-game analytics are useful for understanding what people enjoy playing. However, understanding why a particular audience enjoys a certain type of game is more complex and requires insights into individual motivations. Fortunately, this field of study is not new. Concepts like "Meyers-Briggs," "heuristics," and "personality tests" have been used to understand human behavior in various contexts, including gaming. Terms like "player personas," "player archetypes," and "Bartle Player Types" might be familiar in the gaming industry. But how can you integrate these concepts into your game development? Here are three steps to follow: Identify your audience before diving into detailed game design. Approach this in two ways: start with a game idea and identify the target audience, or create a game for a specific audience. Use powerful market research tools like Game Refinery to analyze player behaviors and motivations. For example, when developing a new merge game, use Game Refinery to examine player motivation breakdowns for popular merge games. This can help you design your game to emphasize progressive rewards systems or puzzle-solving, rather than competitive modes. Avoid investing time in features that may not resonate with your audience; instead, focus on creating experiences that align with their preferences. Once your game is live, leverage real player data to refine your game. Analyze which parts of the game resonate with players and identify areas for improvement. Clustering player behaviors can generate archetypes or player personas specific to your audience. Player interviews can reveal patterns in each group's motivations, shedding light on the why behind player preferences. You can create your own player persona models or use third-party frameworks like Magic: The Gathering's "Timmys, Johnnys, and Spikes" model. Each persona has unique motivations: Spikes are motivated to win, Johnnys are creative and innovative, and Timmys are driven by participation and social aspects. Ensure that new features or cards cater to at least one of these player types. Proprietary models are useful but limited, as they only consider active players and don't provide insights into players' lives outside the game. To expand your audience or deepen connections, consider using data-driven platforms like Solsten, which leverages cognitive science and AI to create detailed psychological profiles. This can help you understand player motivations in gaming and real life, informing design and marketing strategies. Understanding what drives players, both the who and the why, is essential for successful game development. By applying psychographic frameworks and leveraging game data, AI, and academic methodologies, you can create games that resonate with players' motivations, ensuring greater engagement and retention. Take the first step by exploring player personas, psychographics, and relevant frameworks to create games that captivate and entertain players for years to come.