What makes a video game successful?
In Sid Meier’s words, one of the leaders of the videogame industry, “a game is a series of interesting choices”.
In the videogame world, just like it happens, for example, in the world of literature, it is very difficult to find the “hocus-pocus” that makes a videogame or a novel become a success worldwide. Think about it, who is not guilty of wasting their time throwing birds around while playing the oh-so-popular Angry Birds? How many people are addicted nowadays to crushing candy on their mobile phones? Who has not heard of Super Mario? Or Pacman? What about Tetris? The question is, what is it about all of these videogames that attracts millions of people all around the globe?
Even if it is hard to find, and it is indeed, that magic combination that makes a videogame go viral does exist. And the truth is it is a combination of many different elements, influenced by the desire all videogame designers have of getting everyone’s attention, as many people as possible.
After all, videogames are designed to be hard enough that it will be a challenge for the player, but at the same time easy enough that people will not get bored, since they will accomplish things one step at a time. At the same time, there is a series of “hooks” that make users want to keep playing. That is, for example, beating the next level or the highest score, creating your own character (with the intention of establishing an emotional connection), the possibility of exploring and discovering, etc. One good example are MMORPG games, such as World of Warcraft. The idea of an “endless game” is certainly appealing.
Many people have realized that ads in India are also a very good way of promoting their videogames and sharing their own personal experience with other players. Interacting with people makes the videogame world much more exciting.