http://www.supercell.net/

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/12/26/tablet-games-developer-supercell-is-doing-super-well-revenue-

pegged-at-1-million-per-day/

Target casual and the hard core players

Art style realism/Japanese influences

Mixture of playing styles

Hard core – leader boards

Social – chat and building

Focus on tablets

Play test extensively

Scroll/tap and optimisation (frame rate)

Didn’t port, design for target platform

Well designed but short tutorial

Have a social element

Benchmark existing games in that genre and

find out how they work

Create a solid core loop and iterate

Add graphics

Polish with limited beta

Watch analytics and metrics for

feedback/retention

Don’t overwhelm the player, introduce new

features gradually

Introduce updates after extensive play testing

and balancing

Hidden depth

Extensive automated testing of new features

Simulated battles

Three major parts in core loop

Collecting Resources

Building & Training

Battles

Each player can focus on their preferred playing

style

http://deconstructoroffun.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/clash-of-clans-winning-formula.html

Automated farming mechanics

Coins & Elixir, two soft currencies in the game

To progress player needs Elixir Collectors and

Gold Mines

Resource production is automated

Resource production has a maximum cap

Need to upgrade storage facilities to continue

Rewarding to return to the game to harvest

resources at the start of every session.

Automated farming mechanics increases DAU

as players need to visit the game more often as

storage max’s out.

Everything is independent

Buildings consume coins

Troops and troops related consume elixir

Construction takes coins/elixir and time,

upgrading is essential for progress

Time increases for higher levels - Monetization!

Higher storage needs a higher level HQ

More storage costs more, needs more gold

production.

Start with 2 builders, third builder costs $5

Training troops requires elixir

Better troops require more elixir

Bigger army needs a bigger camp

Bigger camp needs a better HQ

Troops are lost in battle (not heroes)

Retention is aided by the feeling of progress

Rewards for active players/notifications

Constantly under attack means need better

defences

End goal to join a clan and beat other players

Chat feature to plan attacks

Some limitations

Get rewards

Weekly tournaments

Social and friends

No world maps

Premium characters that don’t die

Can be developed

Prices increase as you progress

ARPPU player increases with retention

Smallest purchase is £2.99

Gems can be converted to coins and elixir