For the past few weeks I have been attempting to grow my game, Pong Arcade. After implementing feedback to improve engagement and reviewing the stats, I am certain that the game should be able to keep players engaged, but it is having trouble with retention, as is visible in the following graph:
The spikes in the graph are where I ran a sponsor for the game, or where we got a small streamer to play it. After the spike, the number of visits always dramatically drops. I find this confusing, however, as when we ask for feedback, players seem to like the game. If the game is fun, shouldn’t players be returning to it?
To get players coming back, I added areas with new games which require tickets to access - there are only two of these, but I don’t think it’s possible that they already unlocked both the areas and all the prizes in their first visits.
Another possibility is that some players are coming back at a normal ratio, but only a small percentage of those who play ever come back. I have been running ads at 400 robux, which is a small amount. I could spend more, but I am reluctant to spend a lot on an ad campaign which, according to the data, will likely have a sharp and immediate drop in players.
I would appreciate it if anyone has any ideas on how to improve retention, or comments on if these are normal stats that simply need more advertising.
Even if the game is fun to play, players will just go back to whatever game they normally play. How do those games keep their players? Well, they have systems in place to make coming back to the game rewarding, like:
Events
Limited time items and badges
Daily rewards
Progression encouragement to unlock new items
Updates that add an item that requires a badge or something to be completed before obtaining
If you don’t have any of these, that’s your problem.
If you get a sudden spike of players that persists for a couple of days, the algorithm will automatically pick it up and promote it (if it monetizes, of course) so you don’t have to. Ads usually take about 1000 Robux to get a game started, but if you don’t have any of the retention points, you might want to fix that first and ask for more feedback.
In response, I plan to add several more measures in my game. I am testing a feature that will allow me to start tournaments that give tickets and exclusive prizes, which will hopefully get players competing for high scores. This is still being tested for bugs, but it should be ready soon.
For daily rewards I can try giving extra tickets for joining consecutive days. I can also add some badges; I don’t know if players care about badges alone, but badge-exclusive items and areas may help. These changes will take longer, as I am prioritizing work on the tournaments at the moment.
I had thought that a shop with some items to buy would be enough to keep players in (provided that the method of getting items is fun), but maybe what is missing is the motivation present in a limited event.
Don’t limit yourself by only seeking tips in the Roblox community. Game development on Roblox is real game development with cross-applicable philosophies and strategies!
