MGF 2012: NaturalMotion's Torsten Reil on 15 ways to make a successful iPhone game

"We are living in extraordinary times," said NaturalMotion's CEO Torsten Reil, kicking off his talk Creating successful iPhone games: 15 Lessons Learnt.

Harking back to spurt of evolution in the Cambrian Explosion, just like the weird animals that evolved but went extinct, 'We have to think about making games that are lasting and companies that are lasting', Reil explained.

"I think we'll look back to 2010-2015 as really formative years for the industry."

1. Be unique

There are a lot of zoo games out there. "With My Horse, we worked very work hard on the graphics to stand out from the crowd," Reil said.

Also, you don't want to be competing for players.

2. Let them snack

Think about how people play games. They might play for long periods in a day, but in many, small bursts.

3. Play together

Phone and tablets are social devices, whether on-device or pass-around. But synchronous play probably isn't best due to point 2.

4. Know you audience

Most iPhone gamers are casual gamers. Don't developer helicopter sims.

5. Simplify

Simplify to a point where it's almost counter-intuitive. With Backbreaker, even looking at buttons can put people off. Adding a tutorial to My Horse increased one-day retention from 38.5 to 44 percent.

The casual audience likes a challenge but not too much of a challenge.

7. Click!

You have to find the magic point where your game just works. It might take a long time.

8. Polish

If it's not ready, don't ship it. Focus test it. Polish it.

9. Then polish it more

10. Optimise

NaturalMotion uses a lot of analytics, even testing the colour of buttons. Blue buttons got 15 percent more clicks than red buttons, apparently.

11. Get featured

If you have followed numbers 1-10, you have a good chance of getting featured by Apple, or vendors.

12. Name of the game

NaturalMotion compared My Real Horse versus Stable Friends, Stable Story but My Horse was best.

13. Icon is your packaging

You have to stand out on the store shelf. "I think good icon design can double your downloads," Reil said.

14. Go viral...

The old fashioned way. Create a moment in your game that people want to show their friends.

15. Be ready to adapt

Everything is changing so be prepared to experiment. These points work well now, but they might not in 6 months time.