Simple Games that sell a lot of copies

Mammoth

As Im building my games I continually want to put more features in each game. Typically this is what the public wants. Stuff like high scores and achievements.

However, are all of these features that you add in completely necessary? What if you had a great game with few features?

The best example of this would be the impossible game.

It is our instinct as developers to put more and more into our games. But when does less become more?

Jamwithno

I think if you have a great game that people get very sucked into you don't need that stuff you could one or two if they finish the game early but once you have made a great game then you can say I don't need achievement but you might as well do it.

tenrdrmer

I think the impossible game is free. so really it doesn't work for your example. its hit or miss man. just put everything you got into it and see where it goes.

scitunes

I think that the trick is to have as many achievements, high scores, unlockables, etc. without letting them get in the way of the game experience. So for people like me who usually don't care too much about those things can just play the game while the achievement junkies can easily get to a screen that shows the high scores and achievements. So to me it is all about how you setup the menu screens, pop-up screens, etc.

Mammoth

What would be a good way to set up the menu screen

scitunes

Mammoth said:
What would be a good way to set up the menu screen

I don't think there is one standard way to do it. I would recommend looking at popular games that have lots of achievements and study how they do it. The decide if you like the way they do it from the player's point of view (try not to think of it from a developer's standpoint).