The "LA" in "PLAY"

Ten to twenty percent

This photo was taken at Exchange LA: Greg and I presented our game Star Catcher as part of a program for ISES, the International Special Events Society. The winner, Mario, was so proud of his 5 stars he didn’t want to take them off! Note the colorful display, tastefully arranged on his lapel. Bravo Mario!

I was reminded of this simple networking game (which can be played with a cocktail in hand) when reading this article from Gamasutra. As is the case with most posts on this blog, it is written with video game designers in mind. However, the basic principle has, I think, universal game designer relevance: there comes a point, a threshold at which your player has bought into your game. For some, it comes when the download is at 10%. For players of this game, it usually happens after they’ve collected their first star. Since it takes only 5 stars to win, completing one challenge means they’re 20% of the way through with the whole game. At that point, many people’s brains seem to start saying, Well I’m nearly done already. Might as well see this thing through to completion. That’s what we love about playing games!