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How to make players ADDICTED to your games — Transcript

by The Ugly Goblin · 3,976 words · 580 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:10How does this make you feel?
0:12Nostalgic?
0:14Excited?
0:15The whirl of the disc board.
0:18The feel of a plastic controller in hand
0:21molding with your palms.
0:24A title screen.
0:25New game or continue.
0:30These sounds, these feelings, these
0:32visuals, they're all part of a ritual.
0:35Every part of this experience is curated
0:38to make you feel something. [music] To
0:41water your mouth before you even tasted
0:43the meal. To immerse you [music] in a
0:45world you'll never forget. The games we
0:48remember and crave are like the aroma of
0:51fresh coffee in the morning or sliding
0:53under fresh bed sheets. A familiar,
0:56comforting feeling. Bright blue skies
0:59and oceans surrounding neon green
1:01fields. The chime of collected crystals
1:04or coins.
1:06Close your eyes for a moment. What is
1:08that game for you?
1:10And ask yourself, why do you remember it
1:14so well? [music] Was it the blocky
1:16sprites or polygon companions, health
1:19bars [music] and med kits, save points
1:21and level ups, bright colors or
1:23unforgettable soundtracks?
1:25>> [music]
1:28>> You remember these games because they
1:31[music] were designed to be remembered
1:33through their carefully curated
1:35aesthetics, built to make you feel
1:38something, created to never be forgotten
1:42and feel familiar every time you return
1:46to them. What game would you go back to
1:47right now and play without a second
1:50thought? I bet it's a game you can
1:52picture perfectly [snorts] in your mind
1:54without even booting it up. Now, how do
1:57we make people feel that way about our
1:59game? When you decide to start a new
2:02campaign in a TTRPG or start designing a
2:05board game or video game, ask yourself,
2:08how do you want people to feel when
2:11playing this game? What aspects do you
2:14want them to remember? Because your game
2:16can have cool mechanics, interesting
2:19characters, or a fascinating story, but
2:21what's going to hook people on a deeper
2:23level? Are the details that appeal to
2:26their senses and psychology? Colors,
2:29shapes, sounds, textures, smells. Yes,
2:32smells. You want people to remember what
2:35your game smells like. I played World of
2:38Warcraft for an entire summer one year
2:41and burnt an orange candle every time I
2:43played it and now anytime I smell that
2:46orange scent, my mind is immediately
2:48sent back to fishing in Wow like some
2:51kind of sleeper agent. Burn the same
2:53scented candle every time you run your
2:56games or if you're playing online, have
2:58your players order the exact same one
3:00and demand they burn it during each
3:03game. Trust me on this. The immersion
3:06will be insane. And if your game can't
3:09smell like something, let sound be your
3:11smell. Music is great, but it's going to
3:14be the flip flip of a navigation menu or
3:16the click clack of meeples and tokens as
3:18a rummage through and slotted into gaps.
3:21These little details are going to be the
3:23ones scratching your player's
3:25subconscious on the deepest level
3:27without them even noticing. This may be
3:30controversial, but what is better?
3:32Drinking Coca-Cola or the click and the
3:36fizz of opening a cold can and taking
3:39that very first sip. In my opinion,
3:42nothing compares to that first sip.
3:45After I've had that, I could take it or
3:47leave it. I don't need any more from
3:49that drink. So, when you're building a
3:51game, think about what rituals and
3:53constant details you can add that feed
3:57into the overall vibe of the game that
3:59you're either planning to run or create.
4:02For example, how does leveling up feel
4:04in your game?
4:11When I think of Skyrim, one of the first
4:14things I think of isn't the combat or
4:16the story. It's this. Those deep,
4:20resonating chants that play as I see my
4:23level bar fill up. The game then
4:26launches my perspective into the skies
4:28where I'm shown 18 different skill
4:30trees. Do I choose to increase my
4:32health, mana, or stamina? And what do I
4:35spend my single level point on? This is
4:39great game design and an impactful
4:42ritual, too. Progress feels like it has
4:45weight. But, it's not just in the level
4:48up process, but it's also anytime I
4:50stumble upon a word of power or absorb
4:53the soul of a dragon. And when I do, I
4:55truly feel like I've gotten stronger
4:58because the game's clever use of sound
5:01and visuals.
5:08In BioShock, when my character injects
5:10themselves with new plasmids or vigor, I
5:13feel like I've gotten stronger, but at
5:15what cost? How has it changed me and
5:18what have I lost in return? In Path of
5:21Exile, another game with a fantastic
5:23skill tree, there's a tactile experience
5:26each time you purchase a new [music]
5:28node. You get this sudden endorphin hit
5:31that scratches your brain in just the
5:34right way, and you're left so excited to
5:37level up again. Whether it's skill trees
5:39or swapping materia or deck building,
5:42ask yourself how you can make
5:44progression in your game feel like its
5:46own sort of mini-game. How can you keep
5:49players hooked thinking about and
5:51interacting with your game long after
5:54the [music] session has ended or before
5:56any campaign has ever begun? Maybe it's
5:59deciding on loadouts in Daggerheart or
6:01pre-planning routes they'll take on a
6:03skill tree or maybe just wacky [music]
6:05combos that they'll come up with using
6:08abilities available to them in the near
6:10future. Just keep in mind that whatever
6:12system you do create, it should be fun
6:15but also simple enough to understand and
6:17not distract from the main game itself.
6:19[music] In my own TTRPGs, players
6:22progress through three classes skill
6:24trees focused on combat, the next one
6:26being on roleplay, and then finally a
6:27skill tree based on crafting. And so
6:30much conversation is had between my
6:32players and other people playtesting
6:34this game [music] about just builds
6:36alone. People are still constantly
6:39interacting with my game outside of
6:41their hours of play. But not just in
6:43potential builds, but also in monster
6:46designs and magic item crafting. I'm
6:48also planning to have a ton of
6:50mini-games in my game that just make it
6:53feel more reminiscent of the likes of
6:55Final Fantasy where you'll be able to do
6:57a whole bunch of little things like
6:59raise [music] digital pets or play
7:01volleyball or run moving bastions. So
7:04again, how can you capture this [music]
7:06feeling in your game? What little
7:09mini-games can you add that don't take
7:11away from the main gameplay, but instead
7:13enhance the overall experience? I think
7:16clever inventory management systems are
7:19also a very fun way to tackle [music]
7:20this. Think of the many times you've
7:23rearranged your inventory in Resident
7:25Evil 4 just so you could pick up that
7:27one new weapon. But do you really Do you
7:31really need that bazooka or are we just
7:33getting a little greedy? One of my
7:34favorite examples of an inventory
7:36management system that combines with
7:39level progression is in Kingdom Hearts
7:41352 and 1/2 days. What a title. In that
7:46game, your inventory is your loadout.
7:49You have these little chips that slot
7:51into a grid, and you can arrange them
7:53before each mission. And these chips
7:55represent items, accessories, spells,
7:58and even your levels. [music] And so,
8:00you have to choose if you want to add
8:03more levels to your character before you
8:05head out on a mission, or do you, for
8:07example, choose more spells or healing
8:10items instead? These are tough choices,
8:12but they're so much fun to make, and the
8:15chips are so fun to move around. And as
8:17you progress in the game, your inventory
8:19also expands, allowing to add more
8:22things [music] to your loadout. Does
8:23anyone remember this game? I I just
8:25found it so much fun. But then there's
8:28also the likes of Moonlighter, where you
8:29play as a merchant delving into dungeons
8:32to find relics to sell back at your
8:33shop. And it utilizes this whole
8:35Tetris-y backpack system, where certain
8:38items are fragile and break if you place
8:41anything on top them. Or you've also got
8:43these cursed items that will change any
8:45item they're pointing to. But everything
8:48in your bag is important. [music] It's
8:50either a new item for you to sell at
8:52your shop, a material to upgrade weapons
8:55later, or they could just be the very
8:58weapons you need to navigate this
9:00dungeon. The TTRPGs Mouse Rider and
9:03Crows accomplish this really well in
9:05their games with their little chits that
9:07you're constantly shuffling around and
9:09fiddling with to make everything fit
9:11nicely in your inventory. But then Crows
9:14has taken this a step further, where the
9:16deeper down the item is in your
9:18backpack, the longer it takes to find it
9:21in a pinch. But the king of item
9:23management, I think, has to be
9:26Minecraft.
9:41>> Just down to how everything sounds when
9:44you move it around in your inventory or
9:46collect them. That plop plop plop sound
9:48of them being sucked up into your bag as
9:50you walk past them. And then there's the
9:52multitude of crunchy sound effects that
9:55you get when breaking different
9:56materials. But what made this game so
9:59unique and fascinating to me as a kid is
10:02how you can arrange those unique
10:03materials on a crafting table to create
10:05entirely new items. If you're thinking
10:08about in crafting your games, here's my
10:10advice. Keep it simple and make it feel
10:14good. It shouldn't take more than a few
10:16moments in real time for people to make
10:18a new item once they've gathered the
10:20materials. And even then, I don't think
10:23the materials need to be all that
10:25complicated. It should be down to how
10:27your players use them creatively.
10:30Listen, I could talk about crafting for
10:32hours and how I've incorporated into my
10:34own game, but I feel like that would
10:36need its own entire video. So, let me
10:39know in the comments if that's something
10:40you want to see, if you're interested
10:42in, I'd love to know. But while we're on
10:43the topic, let's briefly look at Skyrim
10:46as an example. Again, Skyrim, yes, I
10:48know, but it does a lot of things right
10:50in its game mechanics and [music]
10:51design. Skyrim has several different
10:53forms of crafting, alchemy, enchanting,
10:56and smithing. What makes each of these
10:59forms of crafting so enticing is the
11:01sheer variety of different things you
11:04can craft and create with each one and
11:07the opportunities that these open up for
11:09you in game. Smithing requires you to
11:12specialize in the smithing skill tree
11:14and then gather the correct materials to
11:17automatically forge whatever you need.
11:19It's a solid, simple process that
11:22creates something permanent and
11:24unchanging so long as you have the skill
11:27to make it. Very reflective of the act
11:30of smithing. Alchemy then is a little
11:32more random and requires you either to
11:34experiment a bit to see what you get or
11:38have knowledge on what combos of
11:40ingredients make what potions either by
11:43having found a recipe somewhere or by
11:46eating as many ingredients as you
11:48possibly can and it makes you feel like
11:51a little weird scientist. And then
11:53finally, enchanting requires you to suck
11:56up the souls of those you've killed into
11:59crystals. And you need crystals. You
12:01need to end lives of living creatures
12:04and destroy previously enchanted items
12:08to learn how they work. This is by far
12:10the most destructive and darkest form of
12:14crafting in Skyrim. You feel like what
12:17you're doing is wrong when you enchant
12:19an item and even after all the work you
12:22put into making it, the results are only
12:25temporary. You still need to constantly
12:28recharge enchanted items with more souls
12:30by killing more creatures in order to
12:33sustain this new source of power. And
12:35these items are powerful. You can feel
12:38it just by the way they glow alone and
12:41the fact that their enchantment bar
12:43depletes a little bit every time you
12:45swing them, making them feel all the
12:48more precious. But if you ever tune into
12:50the fact that these little bars are
12:52comprised of souls of the damned, uh
12:54maybe it's not worth thinking about all
12:57that much. Just appreciate your new
12:59sword and be happy. The way things feel
13:02and sound in a game is so important.
13:06These little aesthetic choices all
13:08compound to create that addictive
13:10feeling that will get under your
13:11player's skin in the best way possible.
13:16The sound of rain in Minecraft.
13:19The way the game goes silent for so long
13:22and then all of the sudden you're hit
13:25with this crescendo of music that
13:28somehow makes you feel more alone. The
13:32unmarked maps of Elden Ring fill you
13:34with wanderlust. The Poké Ball shaking
13:36back and forth fills you with tension.
13:39The chime of gems or the slurp of
13:41gathered Wumpa fruits pushes you forward
13:44and makes you hungry to progress. And
13:46when you gather all of these little
13:48aesthetically pleasing sounds and
13:50visuals, you get something like mixtape.
13:54The music, graphics, and even the choice
13:57of menu screens in this game all scream
14:00nostalgia. There's so much character and
14:03personality to this game. Every single
14:06beat of its game design feeds into a
14:09single sensation. What does it feel like
14:13to exist in this game? Flicking through
14:16Public Access's rulebook, I get the
14:18exact same sensation. This analog horror
14:21or PG does not waste a single inch of
14:24real estate on anything that doesn't
14:26concentrate on its immersion. How are
14:29you immersing people in your game?
14:31>> [music]
14:32>> And how does your resolution mechanics
14:34or progression system immerse people?
14:36Here's a really weird one, but let's
14:38look at RollerCoaster Tycoon or like any
14:41other city builder out there for that
14:43matter. [music] When you start a new
14:45game, you're thrown into this silent
14:48void, eerie and endless, but filled with
14:52possibility. And as you add additional
14:55rides to your theme park, you'll notice
14:57something start to change. [music]
14:59The sound, the sound of small screams
15:02and laughter. Or as you build cities,
15:04possibly the sound of sirens or traffic
15:07all start to fill the space. In these
15:09games, your progression is not depicted
15:12with experience bars or achievements,
15:15but with the orchestra of sound. But
15:18there are other aesthetically pleasing
15:20ways to depict progression in games too.
15:23Vee, from my wife as the MC, often says
15:26that the real end game of Monster Hunter
15:28is character customization. When you
15:31finally unlocked all of the dyes and
15:33ways to modify your armor, you know that
15:35you're in the end game. And now you live
15:38for those visual ways to alter your
15:40character and express yourself. But
15:42throughout your entire Monster Hunter
15:44journey, you're constantly changing as
15:47you slay each creature and forge their
15:50remains into new weapons and armor. Each
15:52piece of gear a trophy and a symbol of
15:55your journey and progression. It's
15:57funny, TTRPGs are these unbridled
16:00creative spaces where you can kind of
16:02have your character look however you
16:04want. And yet, maybe even because of
16:07this, there's actually very little
16:09visual customization options open to you
16:12as you progress in games like these.
16:14Items like the dyes for your armor in
16:17Runescape or the plethora of weapons you
16:19can choose from in games like
16:21Borderlands. Most of the time, the items
16:24that we get in TTRPGs are the ones
16:26gifted to us by our GMs. And even then,
16:29we're not typically given all that many
16:32toys to play with. Or in most cases,
16:34it's pretty obvious which weapon is
16:37better than the other. And so it only
16:39makes sense to wield that one for all
16:41situations. I know it's a bit of a side
16:43tangent, but I do think that we need to
16:45be spoiled more with items in TTRPGs and
16:49have more visual customization options
16:52open up to us as we progress in our
16:54games. In my TTRPG, every time you gain
16:58a new power on the skill tree, it
17:00changes you just a little bit because
17:02the whole premise of my game is about
17:04how you slowly become these little
17:06freaks and steadily start to resemble
17:08the monsters you fight more and more
17:10[music] with each level up. How can your
17:12game award more options to visually
17:15change up their characters so they can
17:17better express their identities and how
17:19they've evolved throughout their
17:21adventures. Maybe it's as simple as just
17:23giving them more items than they need,
17:25so they can create little loadouts for
17:27themselves for different situations. And
17:30while you're at it, ask yourself, "How
17:32can I give out more useless gear?"
17:35There's something to be said about
17:37having useless items in your games. In
17:40Fallout, I find myself constantly
17:43hoarding so much crap because I never
17:46know what's going to be useful in the
17:48future. I think a lot of games today
17:51feel like they need to make everything
17:53feel useful. But by adding uselessness
17:56to items in your game, you make your
17:58world feel real. Think of how much crap
18:02is in your desk drawer right now, or how
18:05many yard sales are being held every day
18:08filled with crap that people want to get
18:10rid of, but also filled with so much
18:13potential. The beauty of having a bunch
18:16of useless things in the likes of a
18:18teacher RPG is that players will find a
18:20way to make it useful because they have
18:23that freedom of limitless creativity in
18:26a tabletop role-playing game. You don't
18:29have the restrictions of code limiting
18:32your creative solutions. Another common
18:34thing that I see in games now, like in
18:36Dragon Age Veilguard, for example, is
18:38that you have a bunch of useless items,
18:41but they're all just lumped together as
18:43things you can sell on mass. You just
18:46hit that sell button every time you see
18:47a merchant and never really think about
18:49them. And somehow, by simplifying junk
18:52in this way, it loses so much substance.
18:56>> [music]
18:56>> Now, all of a sudden, it doesn't really
18:58feel real. It's just this blue or green
19:01labeled thing in your inventory that's
19:03worth maybe a little more or little less
19:05money, but it no longer has an identity.
19:08It simply exists as a pile of coupons.
19:11And they did something very similar with
19:13gold, too, in later editions of Dragon
19:15Age. In Origins and also in Dragon Age
19:172, I believe, you'd have to earn 100
19:20copper pieces to gain one silver, and
19:23then earn 100 silver to make one gold.
19:27By the time you've earned that first
19:29gold coin, it not only felt earned, but
19:32you also now understood the weight
19:35[music] of its value in the world. But,
19:37in recent editions of games, they've
19:38removed this and just gone with gold
19:40coins for everything. And it makes
19:42sense. It certainly makes things easier,
19:45but what harm was it doing? Maybe it was
19:48taking up a bit of cognitive load for
19:50players, but each time you simplify
19:52parts of your game like this, you remove
19:55some of the texture from your world. Do
19:58this enough times, and your game will
20:00start to feel weightless. Nothing will
20:02have an impact as you have no immersion
20:05left to give. So, when deciding between
20:08simplification and complexity in your
20:11game, consider what you're losing and
20:13what you're gaining. Maybe you want the
20:15bottle caps of healing potions be
20:17[music] the currency of your game
20:19because it feels cool to have a pouch
20:21full of caps on your hip. But, now
20:23you've got to consider the potential of
20:25limiting healing potions in your games
20:27because you don't want to break the
20:28economy. Or maybe, as another example,
20:31you want this little annoying tune to
20:33play anytime a Pokémon's HP is low. It'd
20:36be pretty cool and make things feel
20:38pretty tense, but also be hella
20:42annoying. Or maybe you choose to remove
20:44the bzz bzz animation of poison slowly
20:48killing Pokémon with each step outside
20:50of battle because it was stressing kids
20:51out. But, now we don't know how close
20:54our Pokémon is to death, and so we're
20:55constantly opening up our inventory to
20:57check on them. And
20:59oh, let's just screw it. Let's remove it
21:00entirely. It's too much. It's a slippery
21:03slope. Now, you've completely lost that
21:05sense of tension entirely. All for the
21:08sake of what? For convenience? What have
21:10you lost and what have you gained? These
21:13are the questions you need to be asking
21:15yourself as a game designer with each
21:16choice you make. Because little cool
21:18features and complexities like these can
21:20really add to the overall experience,
21:23but too many can make it feel sluggish.
21:25This is especially true if these new
21:28add-ons don't add to the overall
21:30experience that you're looking to
21:32instill into your game. So, again, ask
21:34yourself how do you want people to feel
21:37when they play your game? What games
21:40have you played that made you feel
21:42something and how did they achieve that?
21:45Ask yourself, how did they achieve that?
21:48Really look into it and explore what
21:51those games meant to you, what they were
21:53doing to your psychology. How did they
21:55immerse you and leave you daydreaming
21:57about the game long after it ended? But
22:00also, why did you [music] pick up the
22:02game in the first place and why did you
22:04stick with it? I guarantee you a large
22:06part of that was because it was easy to
22:09imagine what the experience was going to
22:11be like before you even played it. And
22:13then when you did play it, it lived up
22:16to those expectations. And maybe it
22:18started to surprise you later on, but it
22:21utilized familiarity before that. And
22:24that's a final piece of advice I want to
22:26leave with you. You can make your game
22:28as weird and as wonderful as you like,
22:31but I think you need to have some level
22:34of familiarity to it. At least at an
22:36introductory level that makes your
22:38players go, "Oh, hey, I know this
22:40thing." Make them feel comfortable. Show
22:43them something familiar, something they
22:45understand, so that you can subvert it
22:48later and leave them amazed.
22:52But simply going through those motions
22:53isn't going to be enough. You need to
22:55marinate it in this cohesive aesthetic
22:57that gets under their skin. Something
22:59that scratches [music] their
23:01subconscious on a deeper level and has
23:03them coming back for more. Thank you so
23:06much for watching, folks. And if you
23:07like the sound of the game that I was
23:08talking about that I'm designing, you
23:10can check out any of these videos here
23:11on screen. And if you want to support
23:13its development as well as gaining
23:15access to its alpha and tons of other
23:17creations I've made for D&D and this
23:19game and many other things, you can do
23:21so over my Patreon. And I just want to
23:23give a very big thank you to all of my
23:26patrons, especially all of you who
23:28continued to support me during the month
23:29of September while I was away. Thank you
23:31so much to my hero goblins, Bridge on
23:33the Lake, Tom WDW, Binary Kitten, and
23:36Sam Lake. And to all my giga chads, my
23:39fancy goblins, and pajama goblins. And
23:41thank you so much for watching this
23:43video, for getting right to the end. Uh
23:45please do subscribe and hit that all
23:47bell uh drop-down so you don't miss my
23:49next video. I'm planning on releasing
23:51maybe one big whopper video like this
23:54each month now instead of the more
23:56regular smaller videos that I was doing.
23:59I just want to see if that process works
24:01for me and if you all like that kind of
24:03thing. But for now, thank you again so
24:06so much. I love you all. Have a great
24:08day. Bye-bye.

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