At Casual Connect 2013 in San Francisco, Making Fun's Kenny Shea Dinkin (ex of Playdom and Disney) stated that there was a simple reason why free-to-play games failed at creating these types of characters.
It's because, to quote Dinkin, "We suck at it".
Yet as Candy Crush Saga crushes on and Puzzle & Dragons draws in millions of players every day, the larger question facing mobile developers is why they should care about this.
The answer is simple: user retention.
Character witness
Put succinctly, Dinkin noted that "characters and character driven narratives are like crack" and anyone who's spent hours catching up on character-driven TV shows like Battlestar Galactic, Lost, or Game of Thrones will no doubt agree with that.
This love of characters creates an "irrational loyalty" to an intellectual property, be it a hit TV show or breakout mobile game, and keeps consumers coming back for more.
In order to translate this to success and stickier games in the free-to-play sphere, Dinkin suggests looking at how freemium games make money in order to see how characters can be integrated into existing models.
Character study
Generalising at the risk of over simplifying, Dinkin broke down free-to-play money making models to the following five archetypes:
- Easy puzzle games that monetize through energy (Puzzle & Dragons)
- Hard puzzle games that monetize through power ups (Candy Crush Saga)
- Battle games with cards (Rage of Bahamut)
- RTS-like simulation games (The Simpsons: Tapped Out)
- First episode/chapter free games (Walking Dead)
Referring back to an earlier talk, Dinkin suggests that developers can integrate meaningful characters into these five models in ways that draw players in.
For twitchy, puzzle games it's best to use these characters as progress markers and have them appear at the completion of a puzzle or set of puzzles. This helps draw positive associations between the characters and feelings of accomplishment while keeping the gameplay light.
For battle games with cards or RTS-simulation games, overt branding can be a powerful way to fill in for missing character development.
Where rich, complex characters really have a chance to shine, however, is in 'first episode free' games like The Walking Dead. If players see something compelling in a character during a free episode, there's a greater likelihood that they'll invest in the rest of the series and - in time - become a loyal customer.
