Hello, dear reader, I hope you’re doing well. This post is going to be a little bit different. I’m guessing you’ve heard about the game Pokémon Go. If you haven’t, just walk up to a random teenager or twenty-something that seems even more absorbed in their cellular device than usual. If they stop looking at their phone long enough to chat they’ll probably show it to you. I must admit I’m a member of Team Mystic and currently rank 13 in Pokémon Go (it’s like level 13). I’ve received a few benefits from sinking my time into this game including: a tan, a shared experience with a large fan community (I probably met 30 new people the first day I played Pokémon Go), and a greater appreciation of game design. It might also help Lunar Nebula’s business in the future. Unlike some of my other articles I’m going to go into some harebrained ideas for expanding and engaging the Lunar Nebula fan base.
Game design is really interesting. It enfolds the fields of technology, psychology, business, and entertainment all into one package. I was talking with a good friend yesterday who asked me, “What’s the deal with Pokémon Go?” So, instead of throwing a Poké ball at yet another Pidgey, I took some time to think about the design behind the game.
Normally games are designed for 4 types of people: social butterflies, competitors, collectors, and explorers. The way Pokémon Go is designed hits these four psychological profiles of gamers on the nose. Using Pokémon as the franchise for the game harnessed a large existing fan base which is already used to the idea of interacting together, the designers created competition through the use of gym battles, players had a large collection of previously created Pokémon to catch, and every street corner presented the chance to be a new and exciting experience rather than the same old concrete. By getting a variety of different types of gamers to download the app Niantic created a huge possible player base. This popularity increases the likelihood of getting some of the players to purchase in-app payments to support this free game. So, how can Lunar Nebula and you, dear reader, learn from this design?
Well, what if lunarnebula.com could create personalized badges for visiting and reading web pages, or comic pages? If a forum gets created, or not, giving people some form of image or avatar as a reward for their loyalty could contribute to greater website traffic and return visitors. In theory this should cause achievement oriented individuals to read through the entire site and increase traffic statistics. DeviantArt has something similar. Users can share badges with one another depending on a variety of factors. Another idea is to gamify conventions or special events. This would depend a lot on Lunar Nebula’s future budget. The gist of the idea would be to stamp or send a confirmation email of fans showing up to convention booths. If a fan showed up to every booth we held for the year they could receive special artwork, a cameo appearance in a comic, etc. For collectors, what if we could give people who buy and download every individual Golden Pigeon comic and the omnibus a special Golden Pigeon theme for their Kindle library background? Could we work with Niantic and get a special ‘Golden Pigeon’ Pokémon or avatar only available on the map during a comic convention at our booth? These are just some starting ideas. I hope some of them can become reality. Maybe this will spark an idea for you, dear reader.
Well, dear reader, this article has at least convinced me playing Pokémon Go can have value. I like I can call playing a videogame ‘research’. Maybe ‘brainstorming’ sounds better? I wish you success on your professional and Pokémon journeys. Perhaps they can be one and the same. Have a good day, dear reader!
Game design is really interesting. It enfolds the fields of technology, psychology, business, and entertainment all into one package. I was talking with a good friend yesterday who asked me, “What’s the deal with Pokémon Go?” So, instead of throwing a Poké ball at yet another Pidgey, I took some time to think about the design behind the game.
Normally games are designed for 4 types of people: social butterflies, competitors, collectors, and explorers. The way Pokémon Go is designed hits these four psychological profiles of gamers on the nose. Using Pokémon as the franchise for the game harnessed a large existing fan base which is already used to the idea of interacting together, the designers created competition through the use of gym battles, players had a large collection of previously created Pokémon to catch, and every street corner presented the chance to be a new and exciting experience rather than the same old concrete. By getting a variety of different types of gamers to download the app Niantic created a huge possible player base. This popularity increases the likelihood of getting some of the players to purchase in-app payments to support this free game. So, how can Lunar Nebula and you, dear reader, learn from this design?
Well, what if lunarnebula.com could create personalized badges for visiting and reading web pages, or comic pages? If a forum gets created, or not, giving people some form of image or avatar as a reward for their loyalty could contribute to greater website traffic and return visitors. In theory this should cause achievement oriented individuals to read through the entire site and increase traffic statistics. DeviantArt has something similar. Users can share badges with one another depending on a variety of factors. Another idea is to gamify conventions or special events. This would depend a lot on Lunar Nebula’s future budget. The gist of the idea would be to stamp or send a confirmation email of fans showing up to convention booths. If a fan showed up to every booth we held for the year they could receive special artwork, a cameo appearance in a comic, etc. For collectors, what if we could give people who buy and download every individual Golden Pigeon comic and the omnibus a special Golden Pigeon theme for their Kindle library background? Could we work with Niantic and get a special ‘Golden Pigeon’ Pokémon or avatar only available on the map during a comic convention at our booth? These are just some starting ideas. I hope some of them can become reality. Maybe this will spark an idea for you, dear reader.
Well, dear reader, this article has at least convinced me playing Pokémon Go can have value. I like I can call playing a videogame ‘research’. Maybe ‘brainstorming’ sounds better? I wish you success on your professional and Pokémon journeys. Perhaps they can be one and the same. Have a good day, dear reader!