I often think about a question: what kind of game can be considered as a good game? Some people say that fun is a good game, which is the answer of players, and making money is a good game. The answer is absolutely the answer of businessmen, so what is good or bad? Alas, it's really troublesome. It's more difficult than evaluating a woman?

        A friend in the game circle told me so that we were enlightened. According to him, The mediocre games that lack the market often fail, the good games often fail, and the excellent games rarely fail. These ideas caused more controversy than I expected. There are two common reactions to this. One is: "Who decides the standard of excellence? Isn't beauty in the eyes of the beholder?"
        So I think it is necessary to clarify what it means to create an "outstanding" game through this article, and list some practical application guidelines as a reference for our daily development.
        The other common reaction is: "Ordinary games can always earn millions of yuan!" This leads to an open thinking question: why can we label games as "ordinary" without controversy, but the definition of outstanding games needs to involve abstract philosophical fields?
        If we objectively judge that a game is bad, can we also objectively judge that a game is outstanding? Are there any detailed goals and standards in our pursuit of outstanding games? Or do we just need to raise our hands and shout, "Do your best and love what you do!" and hope that others can like the works we create?
              Before going deep into the analysis, I want to make clear the fact that everything is said to regard games as a business.      

      The author once again declares that blog is just for self entertainment, and the author also has his own daily work. Chatting casually is just to talk about opinions, which is irrelevant. The author is very interested in the academic definition of "outstanding", but the author also wants to make clear in the practical business perspective: what kind of game will players think is really valuable? The reason why I would say that creating outstanding games is the first task of developers is because only such games can give more meaning to most businesses and make them more satisfying.
   


Let's explain in detail.
      What is a good game?

      From the perspective of games, I think "good games" are actually a kind of trade between games and players. In other words, the existence of the game is to let the players feel, so it is a real success only when the players can feel its excellence in the process of the game. Some people may disagree with this statement, but perhaps this basic definition can help us get rid of the philosophical field and return to the practical work discussion.
          Stephen Totilo (editor in chief of video game blog Kotaku) recently claimed that the difference between "excellent games" and "bad games" is that the former master interesting choices (this is also Sid, the father of Civilization Meier's repeatedly quoted opinion). Later, he added that an excellent game also mastered "Merihari" - a Japanese word translated into rhythm, balance and distribution. However, it was soon pointed out that games such as Guitar Hero have few choices, but they still have great appeal. So I think even though Stephen's idea is reasonable, it is too one-sided. Although "meaningful choice" is a feature of high-value games, it is not a basic feature, nor is it the only critical feature in the game.

        What makes me curious is whether there are no basic features in excellent games. Do all outstanding games need interesting choices? That's not true. As we pointed out earlier, popular games like Guitar Hero have few choices. The same is true of Rhythm Runner.

        What about usability? Neither: Minecraft is not so easy to play, but all players think it is a very excellent game.

yes Gorgeous images? Of course not.
challenging? I don't think so, although this is a very powerful feature.
        For any feature, some people will always point out that the game does not have this feature, but many people still believe that it is the main feature of creating an excellent game. So what do high value and excellent games have in common?
        Without exception, these games can always highlight some of the things you are really good at. And we can easily identify these high-quality game features, which have amazing similarities. For example, compared with other games, Minecraft is very good at providing players with various choices and exploring secrets. It provides players with an infinite world that can be modified indefinitely. Half Life is good at adjusting rhythm, optimizing challenges, creating technical ability, and telling stories. Some people may say that "the whole is greater than the sum of all parts", but it is these "excellent" features that make this excellent game.
        The key is that no one will think that a game that does not highlight any characteristics is excellent. If a game really highlights some characteristics, it can effectively make up for its other secondary characteristics, and ensure that these elements that are not well represented will not unduly affect the player's game experience.
        From the above, you can understand what is the standard to measure a good game?
A

Choose the elements that your game is really good at. Don't just be satisfied with doing very well, but try to be prominent in similar games. However, we should act according to our ability. We should not let the team blindly try to be strong in areas where we are not really good at, but we should not belittle ourselves and think that the team has not performed well in any field.

B

Think about other valuable high-quality features, and select some features as secondary goals - or to measure the performance of the game.

B

Maybe you will find a critical area that you have never thought about, or you will probably perceive a feature that you are very good at. At this time, you need to ask yourself how to develop these characteristics, so as to make your game more valuable.

C

Never make games with the blind idea that others will like their own games. You not only need to know what you like to play and create, but also need to know what others expect from your game. Developers around these two points are likely to succeed - but one is more intuitive and easy to implement, while the other is not only complex, expensive, and difficult to implement.

D

Common features of games, I will list some features that we, as players and developers, have discovered in the game (in no particular order). Don't put them all into your game. You need to treat them as a list of potential features and judge their usability based on your own pursuit.
        Features can help your game attract a wider range of users; Some features can help you attract users in the market segment; Some features can help you better attract media attention; Some features can help you make profits more easily; Some features can help you better occupy the mobile platform.
There are also some art and business elements here!
1. Ease of use - allows players to play games easily without additional instructions.
2. Technical achievements - the game can make players sigh: "How did they do it?!"
3. Aesthetic resonance - can your game remind players of their childhood or daily life? Or just create some abstract elements that have no meaning for players at first?
4. Game play resonance - can players recognize your game mechanism and goals? (For example, the slingshot of Angry Birds and Trucks& Which slope mechanism of Skulls can resonate with you more?)
5. Rhythm - do you display the game elements reasonably? Is there always something new in the game?
6. Intensity management - does your game have peaks and valleys, and is your management method effective?
7. Fun - There is no denying that this is very important. But do you really feel fun when you play your own games?
8. Social - for example, does your game have chat room or level sharing function?
9. Competition - Can your game measure the skills of players by their competition?
10. Addictive - This is also subjective, but it is also a good measurement method. How long does the average player spend playing the game and how long does it take to return to the game?
11. Visual attractiveness - do you like the appearance of the game? Or do you always comfort yourself by "at least mastering interesting game playing methods"?
12. Sense of humor
13. The best challenge - can players easily complete the game? Do you get bored easily because the game is too simple?
14. Frustration. This is an element I added after I tried Spelunky. I think games can affect players through difficulty, and take this as a useful feature if these mechanisms are the same and have learning significance.
15. Uniqueness - If this is critical in terms of PR and first sight attraction. Can your game provide players with feelings they have never felt before?
16. Various visual effects
17. Diverse player actions
18. Expressiveness - can the game allow players to express themselves in some way?
19. Creative gameplay - does the game allow players to use various methods to solve problems in the game?
20. Longevity - how much time is a player willing to spend in your game (without being bored)?
21. Simple - for example, can players play games with only one finger (if it is a mobile game)?
22. Mastery - If players master enough skills, can they "master" the game and do better than novices?
23. "Storytelling"
24. Randomness - if used properly, this is a major advantage, and will affect the life of the game, challenges and other elements.
25. Emergence - Does the game element appear in an unexpected or unpredictable way?
26. Fairness - has your game ever failed those players who performed well? (This will cause players to feel "bad" frustration.)
27. "Compactness"
28. Emotion - Are there any characters or elements in your game that can induce players' emotions?
29. Interesting choices - can players make choices in the game, and the "right" choices are always different?
30. Use rhythm
31. Using Conditional Reflexes
32. Use puzzle solutions - do players need to think about how to solve problems in the game?
33. Ability to use memory
34. "Optimization" - This element is vague, but rich development experience helps to achieve this.
35. Please add
        The author expects you to treat your game more objectively. Of course, like beauty, "outstanding" also applies to the principle that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", which has no clear definition.
        But if we really want to create a game worth talking about, worth buying, worth remembering and sticking to for 10 years in the game, we need to be clear about the truly outstanding high-quality features of our game.