Did you do a lot of research on already existing social games before you built “School Vandals” or was a lot of your development trial-and-error?
Absolutely. We took all the lessons we’ve learned from other games we’ve developed. What their strengths and weaknesses were. We also did a lot of research on other games. What was working? What wasn’t working? It’s a lot of analytics. There are great tools and services out there that can give you deep insight if you just look.
There are too many clones of certain other games saturating the market right now though. We don’t want to be just another one of those. We want our games to be creative, to offer a unique experience players aren’t getting elsewhere. So there’s a lot of trial-and-error in taking the models we know work and applying them to something different. It’s a lot of iteration. We try to release early and involve the players [and] incorporate their feedback.
Did you design your game first and then figure out a way to monetize it, or did you start with an idea for a system for virtual goods and currency and build the game around that?
We started with both. We took the idea, this camaraderie concept, from our pool of game ideas and paired it with a virtual goods and currency system from a pool of monetization models. There’s a lot of mix-and-matching you can do. There are a lot of models people are trying right now. It’s a very interesting time to be a game designer. The important thing is that you pair them well from the beginning. If you start with the wrong model and try to build that on top later, it’s never going to perform as well. You have to build it into your story. Keep the player engaged and immersed in that story, in that world, on that emotional high that you worked so hard to build up to. Make it fun. Games and shopping are supposed to be fun. Remember that.
Is the present version of “School Vandals” your first iteration of the game?
The general concept, yes. We put a lot of thought into it when designing the game. We’ve learned a lot from previous games we’ve done using other models. We’ve made a lot of iterations since launch, but most of those have been copy or design changes to improve conversion rates. To deliver a better value message. What does the player get out of buying this currency or item? What’s the value to them? That’s an important question you have to answer.
How does your game engage its players?
“School Vandals” is a game of camaraderie. It’s the classic story of school rivalry building a social bond between classmates who are united by their common enemy. We designed the game around that concept. That social bond is what keeps players engaged. Our job is to provide the game mechanics to encourage that and the tools to facilitate it. It’s really about creating or strengthening friendships between your teammates. Everyone has their own skin in the game so you have to learn to work together.
What keeps your players coming back?
It’s the social contract between teammates that keeps them coming back. When you’ve made that connection and you know the rest of your team is counting on you, you can’t let them down.
How do you get your userbase to grow?
The game is built around camaraderie. You really need a team to help carry you to the end goal. That sort of inherently grows itself as players are always looking to strengthen and grow their teams. It’s not like a lot of the other social RPGs where you just add friends to a roster to unlock new jobs. In School Vandals your roster doesn’t help you, your classmates do. You’re part of a real team and can only be on one team at a time.
What is your virtual currency? What is it used for and how is it integrated into the game so as to make the players need/want it?
We have a dual currency system of coins and extra credit. This helps us keep the checks and balances of inflation in place since we can control and adjust the exchange rates as necessary. Users can earn extra credit and redeem it for more coins. The main objective of the game is to tag (graffiti) rival schools. To do that you need to buy art supplies like crayons, permanent markers, and spray paint with coins. The longer a tag lasts the more school spirit you earn. So there’s an incentive for your rivals to remove it to prevent you from earning more points. For that the need to buy cleaning supplies like erasers, sponges, and bleach.
Some of your direct payments packages are pricey– approximately $100-$200. Do your users really buy those?
We have a wide range of packages to suit different types of players. That’s sort of the beauty of the virtual goods and currency model. That you can accommodate different customers with different needs and means. Some players have more time than money and vice versus. You don’t have to set a fixed price point that caps your revenue potential at either end. Those with more time on their hands contribute valuable social context to your game. That’s important. The economically endowed provide your profits. Just as equally important. It’s a naturally balancing eco-system.
Given the state of the economy and national unemployment rates, why do you think people are willing to spend so much money on a game?
People are looking for more value. They want more entertainment for their dollar. Games offer that. You can spend the same amount of money on a game and get a week’s or a month’s worth of entertainment out of it as you would on a single night at the movies.
I think there’s also a sense of reflection in down economies. People look towards the things that really matter. Their core values. Things like friends and family. Social games offer them a way to engage with their friends and family. To spend time together doing something fun. They provide social context and help take your mind off the troubling economy.
In your game, the incentive to buy (or do offers for) virtual currency is pretty strong for new players because it enables them to level up faster (more cleaning supplies and tags = more school spirit faster). How do you keep that incentive going for the players after they’ve started to level up?
As students and schools level up in the game they unlock new items with greater rewards at greater costs. With the higher status comes stronger rivals. You’re sort of forced onto this level playing field where you can’t rely on cheap items anymore because your rivals are going to use the good ones. You’re not going to be a good match if you don’t learn to save and spend wisely. When your rivals come at your strong you have to put up a good defense. If you’re ill-prepared there’s a strong incentive to buy because your reputation, your school’s reputation is at stake. You want to defend it.
What’s the ultimate goal of your game, if there is one? (is the game ever “completed” for a user? if so, is it possible or is there incentive for that user to come back and start a brand new game?)
Our game has both personal and team progress. Each has its own milestones which players and schools progress through. As you level up you unlock new items and rooms in your school. You could say there is an end game, but we’ve seen a lot of players switch teams mid game. You can always go back and enroll in a Pre-school and start again with a different team which offers a very different experience.
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