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Do Any “Social Games” Actually Have Good Gameplay?
Posted on | November 17, 2009 | No Comments
Just read about this on Inside Social Games – a soccer RPG. Sounds pretty cool, until this bomb that dooms every social game:
This leads to annoyance #2. Each game is simulated in real-time. Sounds cool on paper, but there isn’t much to really see except some pictures moving about a soccer ball and scrolling text. And, guess what… you can’t skip it! Yes, you have to sit there for five minutes, or however long it takes, before you can see the results and move on.
The problem isn’t that you can’t speed through the simluation – the problem is that it’s simulated! This is the same thing in Challenge’s games, the Zynga and Playfish games, etc. It seems like focus is on making games social completely overshadows the need to make games fun.
Maybe challenging or strategic gameplay limits the market. These social games aren’t challenging; there’s a straightforward reward to engagement, not performance. And there are more people that want to be entertained than challenged. Still, gaming should be an experience, and these companies that are whose “games” are really just simulations or dominoes are leaving something on the table and are vulnerable to up and coming companies that offer social features and quality games.
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