I am trying to get a higher engagement rating on my game. When I advertised my game I noticed the servers would rapidly fill up and empty out, and when I checked the analytics I found out why.
The average session time of my game is around 4 minutes and about only 20% of users are continuing to play after 5 minutes.
The game is Gears RNG [2x LUCK🍀] - Roblox
I don’t really understand what I did wrong, I tried to follow common tips such as adding a daily rewards system but it does not seem the help.
There are a couple of reasons that I can think of off the top of my head:
Firstly, your game’s title blends into the already saturated RNG genre of games, which have also declined in popularity compared to their peak. The styling of your thumbnails and images also copy a format that is also outdated. Try advertising your game and make your front cover more unique. Also try making your game title something different; there are already games titled something similar, making it harder for your game to be the top result.
Secondly, there doesn’t seem to be anything flashy visually or audio wise, making it seem bland and boring. This is even worse when rolling more rare items, they are treated the same as common items. Try adding more visual and audio effects to the rolling to make it more satisfying. To add more competition, make it so the items display their rarity for everyone to see. This will encourage other players to roll so that they could get a similar rarity item or something better. Making items appear as scarce or limited increases appeal.
This problem is also enhanced by the fact that since it is a relatively new game, there is going to be little active players to start out with (this is normal). This low player count can make the combat aspect of your game nonexistent, removing the main reason to get better weapons, to beat other people. Make it so that they could also fight NPCs or make it so they could use their weapons in some way to get an advantage.
Note that my Roblox is a bit buggy right now, so I may have missed some details about your game.
Thanks, I did a numerous amount of changes to the change now (including changing the name of the game). Though when I averaged the play time increased but was still low, would you recommend advertising the game or is there another way to get players that may be more interested since I don’t know if its a demographic issue or just another issue with the game.
Advertising would get you more players which could have a slight impact on average playtime, however, there are some other things you could try doing:
Add some upgrades that can make things easier, especially the rolling. I think being able to make the roll time shorter would help the whole process a lot.
Add more popups with sound to your game. People love seeing their numbers actively become bigger. Plus, since the stats are in the bottom left corner, users have to keep diverting their attention there, making them have to temporarily look away from the action. Make sure the sounds are relatively satisfying as well; it makes it more pleasurable to earn more.
Adding more content is a good idea as well. Add more weapons, trails, maybe pets or some other extra. Add temporary boosts such as potions. The more content there is, the more likely someone will stick around to discover it.
Add playtime rewards to encourage people to stay. Since this usually resets after someone leaves, having better rewards for more time spent in game will incentivize them to stay.
And don’t be afraid to look at other games of a similar genre for inspiration. See what features you are naturally drawn to and try to implement them in your game.
As for demographics, you will have to find that out through your analytics and research. Every game is different and tend to have different player bases, it just takes time to figure it out.
In general, add more content, making getting rewards feel more rewarding, add ways to make the gameplay experience easier through progression. Be patient as well, not everything works the first time and it takes a bit of experimentation here and there.
Edit: Try to ensure you don’t add anything too complex though, your game is more for players who prefer simpler games.
