Ok so as some of you may or may not know, there was a semi-heated discussion not to long ago about whether Simulators were good or bad, I personally didn’t have a side on that debate but whatever. It made me think of making this topic though. Obbies used to be very popular during 2016-2018 or something. There are still semi popular now though.
But most of them are filled with like ESCAPE THE [item here] OBBY! And I don’t what to offend anyone by making this post and saying yeah those are trash. I’m just going to be saying my own opinion here. The majority of games I’ve played that circulate around that topic are low quality stuff. And people like that. I’ve seen so many great obbies that don’t get enough recognition.
It brings be back to my main point, if I were to make a good obby that is unique, would it even matter?
I know this reply will cause alot of controversy, but this is just an opinion.
I believe that if you want to maximise the amount of players playing an obby game, it should be made for kids. I believe the majority of Roblox are kids, and kids don’t really have an interest in the quality, rather just accomplishing the obby/adventure.
However, it comes with a risk, as any game on Roblox has to handle. Kids on Roblox play the first flashy icon they see, usually in the games page, and so your ‘kid obby game’ will likely not push off the ground in an instant, or ever actually get popular.
This whole ‘Roblox kid games that take no time to make get the most revenue’ is a very long and difficult topic to debate, and i believe should be left alone. It is a very volatile community with opinions changing frequently.
My game i made a long time ago (which was absolute garbage) was a failure, due to the risk that i accepted which then took the better of me. It wasn’t recognised enough.
So my answer isn’t necessarily yes, because of the ‘risks’ i talked about above, but if your game were to be recognised (perhaps with sponsors) it would have a high chance of success.
There is more on this topic, i have barely scratched the surface. As stated before, the community is very volatile and the topic is very difficult to debate, so i wouldn’t recommend digging too far for your answers, or you’ll get lost.
Unique obbies (or any parkour based game) haven’t really got recognition that the specific game deserved.
Obbies target audience (or just the audience in general) is mainly kids so they don’t appreciate how games are made - they just play whatever they ‘enjoy’. If they see games like, “Escape the Toyshop Obby”, they’ll most likely click on it.
Although, some unique parkour/obbies have made it far.
Such as:
Yeah thing is I’m not looking to target kids in the obby I’m trying to make, which sucks cause like you said kids are more likely to click to their things that are more colorful. But yeah I get what you mean.
I don’t think a currency and rebirth system automatically turns any game into a simulator, but they are clearly something players like to work towards with the perks they can get out of those things.
Adding them to the obby idea would most likely increase player engagement.
I think it is, as mobile players LOVE simulators and obbies. Most of Roblox’s player base are on mobile devices and most mobile players are of a younger age demographic. If you created a colourful obby with a relevant theme and features such as pets that kids liked, yes, it would be worth creating an obby in 2020.
It really seems that obbys like those 1000 stages obby that have simple parkour are more attracted. Unique obbys with interesting new mechanical features are typically not recognized in the community that much. There may be controversy, but I settle that obbys are still relevant. They grow lots of attention in the community, and some obby games got famous youtubers to where they are now.
Kids usually don’t really care if there’s quality or not. They play free modeled games that are low-quality and stuff. If you were to make a game with the title “SLIDE DOWN 999999999 MILES” and a game with the title “Slide down Roblox history” They would choose game A. If you were to make an obby game such as Tower of hell or Obby King Remastered then those would be worth making since people who aren’t really kids would enjoy the uniqueness.
I think making obbies is still fine in 2020. Making an obby more interactive is definitely my only tip. For example: Tower Of Hell, you’re able to get powerups and points by winning or advancing.
Yes it is worth it, I recommend making an obby that would attract your audience. The most frequent players of obbys are 1st grade to 3rd grade (6-8 yrs) so I would recommend creating an obby that attract those audiences. If you want to have older audiences, I recommend you create a little more of a harder obby.
On Roblox, theres sort of like a community of people that like really hard obbies. Theres also a trend of “Difficulty Chart Obbies” which is an obby that goes from green (easy), yellow (medium) orange, (hard) red, (difficult) dark red (challenging), black (intense) pink (remorseless) blue, (terrifying) white, (catastrophic) and grey (nil). Some of those games get hundreds of players.
Obviously you need something to appeal to children, as they’re the ones that are the main demographic playing games such as obbies.
However, due to the sheer amount of obbies, and demand/ competition in this category of games, I’d probably advise to:
Build up an audience prior to making the game, but don’t build an audience that would be disinterested in the game
Make sure advertising is bright and flashy, but also shows the core elements of the game
Add a unique twist (all be it, not deterring for young kids) to draw in attention, or make the premise of the obby around a certain mechanic.
Obviously, you may just get a hit straight out of the bag, or not succeed at all, but that’s the risk you take with most games, but especially with games like obbies, that have such high densities of users trying to succeed in that category.
If it’s just the basic Roblox platforming we’ve been seeing for the past 12 years, no. lava jumps and whatnot are played out to death. you might get some players, but that kind of following is fleeting.
now if you do something original, like I am (VR open world obby game)… maybe.
the thing is, the word “obby” is really just a fancy way of saying “Roblox platformer”, but with it comes expectations, such as lava jumps. that’s why my VR platformer game is not going to be called “VR Obby” or whatever. It’s a platformer on Roblox, so it technically fits into the “obby” categorization. but it’s not what an obby is expected to be.
