Hi developers!
I have been making games in Roblox for a while, and during that time I have learned a lot about the Roblox algorithm, and why some games go viral and others don’t.
So in this post, I would like to give you advice on how to make a popular game, or at least how to optimize your game for the algorithm.
Before I begin I would like to clarify that this is not a magical formula, luck, like in every aspect of life plays a role, but you can still optimize your game for when the opportunity comes.
1. Everything lies in the concept.
So you probably already know that the concept of a game is very important, but, How important is it?
Well, at least in my experience it’s the most important part of a videogame.
Okay so before we look at a few examples, I would like to clarify that, in this post, I’ll be using packaging to define both the icon/title and the game idea.
Type A
So in this case the game is a completely original idea, and it’s not based on any trends/popular game styles(Like tycoons/simulators)
So this is a really good example of a great concept, after arsenal basically died, many roblox players wanted to play a good shooter, and couldn’t find one, so while this game didn’t necessarily use a trend, it found a hole in the market, and took advantage of it.
The icon is also great, not only does it stand up a lot, but it’s also really easy to change, in case the developers want to show an update(Like in Christmas when they put Santa Claus instead of the bacon)
I could also put my own game in this category, I made it a few years ago when I was at the hospital, and I realized that there weren’t any surgery games on Roblox, so I made one.
It’s not a massive success, but because it’s paid access it has made me ~70k robux, and it only took me a few weeks to make.
Type B
Okay let’s say you don’t have an original idea, well you could try marketing it creatively.
Let’s look at a few examples:
This game is quite an interesting example, the idea is quite dumb, but the packaging is genius.
The icon stands up amongst thousands of clickers because of how simple and colorful it is. It might seem stupid, but on a page where you only have a few milliseconds to convince someone to play your game, it works quite well.
So this one is quite a fun and simple game, because of the concept.
Arachnophobia is one of the biggest fears in the world, and the icon sells it instantly, and partially by being very simple, it stands up a lot.
The game was also launched at a very good moment when Piggy-like games were becoming viral, but unlike any other clones, it managed to keep getting new players after Piggy stopped being trending.
Great!
So now you know how to create a great idea, or at least how to determine if your idea is one or not.
2. Retention is key!
Now that you found that idea that it’s super fun, and created some great packaging to market it, let’s make sure none who joins can’t stop playing!
Retention is a very complex area, and there are many ways of archiving a long playtime, but here’s what has been the most important in my experience:
The “tutorial”
Ideally, your game mechanics should be intuitive enough to not need a tutorial, but in many cases that may not be possible, here´s where you want to stop working on the game for a brief moment and show it to your friends, make sure to write down if:
- The mechanics are confusing
- The goals are not clear
- The UI/map is not pleasing to the eyes
- The instructions are hard to understand
After you have these questions answered, if you´re game seems confusing to new players, it´s time to do some restructuring! Some games need a new tutorial, and other simpler controls, and some projects need to be scrapped entirely, Which is fine! Big publishers like Supercell have scrapped hundreds of projects, And they seem to be doing pretty well!
Game loop
Players should have very clear goals to complete, these goals are divided into three classes:
- Short term: Winning the next game, finishing the next level, getting the next kill… These goals are the backbone of any game.
- Midterm: Getting a new weapon, unlocking a new skin, finishing a challenge… These goals are the ones you have to make artificially through challenges and quests.
- Long-term: Finish a season pass, unlocking the best weapon… These goals are super important, these need to be both enough so the players don’t feel like they finished the game and they should be valuable enough to be worth the journey.
Goals are something every developer should look into, so make sure your game has them mastered!
Make your game satisfying!
This includes everything from sound effects(usually overlooked), to ui animations.
These are little details that help make your game feel both alive and reactive to players’ input, what does this have to do with retention? Well, one big reason players might be leaving your game very early is that stuff doesn’t react, remember that, even though it might seem obvious to you, if the game doesn’t tell the player that the enemy is getting damaged or that the house is being built, they might get confused and leave.
Create a social experience
What´s even better than getting one player to love your game? Get their friends too. When a player plays a game with friends two things happen:
- The player is less likely to leave quickly since their friends hold him accountable.
- The player is more likely to play for longer.
Everyone who plays videogames with friends knows that it´s way more fun than playing alone(Even though it might take 3 hours to make the progress you could do in 1h alone)
Many games take it a step further, by making every player interact with each other, like how many shooters, roleplay games and titles like Breaking Point, Murder Mystery, or Gunfight Arena do. This is where you really start to see the benefits of a social experience. On that point, you can sell cosmetics(Since people interact with each other, they are valuable) and people tend to naturally create a sense of competition, like in bedwars, in which almost nobody leaves a match before either winning or losing.
Daily rewards
Making sure that players keep coming back to your game is crucial, and one of the best tools you have is daily rewards. If you give the right prizes, and your game has enough content to keep players engaged, Adding daily rewards will help you a ton!
Brilliant! Now you should have enough strategies to keep your game retention high! You should now have a game where players keep joining every day to play for hours!
Keep in mind! Retention is the most complex metric to archive, so to achieve the best results make sure to read others’ articles and do some more research! I can only put so much in this post, I can´t put everything I know in less than 2000 words and I would like to keep it simple, so if you´re interested in retention, there are some really good dev talks on youtube made by roblox, and also some great articles here in the devforum.
3. Monetization.
So this is the last and most important metric, Money!
It´s no secret that roblox promotes games that make the most robux, this aspect has a MASSIVE impact on how much the algorithm promotes your game. Sadly I can´t put everything related to monetization in this post, so instead let me introduce you to:
Monetizing a roblox game 101
You can monetize games in many ways, but here’s a general guide:
1. Breaking the mentality
Once a player joins your game, they will probably have the “I’m just having fun, I’m not spending any money mentality”, so you need an excellent offer to break that mentality.
One popular method is giving a starter pack, which expires in 24hrs.
This gives the players an emergency feeling, and if we combine that with a decent deal, you will be making money in no time!
Whatever strategy you choose, make sure that it’s cheap(new players won’t spend a lot of robux in the first 10-30 minutes), expires quickly, and it’s a very good deal.
2. Making purchases regular
Great! Your player player just bought a shiny deal that you offered him!
Now we just have to make sure he keeps buying stuff!
This is where you have to find a way that truly fits your game, while a starter pack and other deals will work for the first purchase, the ones that come after need to be specially made for your game.
Even the best monetization strategies are useless if they are made for a specific different genre.
Here´s where you have to look at your game and decide what fits the best.
Obviously giving overpowered items is the easiest way to make some bank, and while I would consider it as an option, remember that cosmetics and paying to get things done faster are also great options.
3. The purchases loop
So let´s say you have already done everything I have taught you so far and your game is great at turning casual players into regular purchasers, Now what?
Well, the real big earners, the best monetized games are not the ones with the biggest player base or the most engagement, the real big games are those who have realized that while 98% of players won’t spend much money, the remaining 2% are willing to pay so much, that they could make 90% of the revenue of a game.
Now you might be thinking that I´m exaggerating, so let´s play a little game:
Which game do you think made the most money in 2020? Remember that Adopt Me had already started declining and had the same amount of players as Brookhaven, and games like Blox Fruits only had around ~15k players.
Average players are a rough approximation made with rolimons data.
So there you have it! Adopt Me, with around the same amount of players as Brookhaven made almost 6 times more money, and games like Murder Mistery 2, Blox Fruits, and Welcome to Bloxburg all rank super high for the number of players they have respectively.
And what do those games all have in common? They all developed a system that traps those players who are willing to spend a lot.
The interesting part is that all of them use different strategies!
Murder Mistery uses loot boxes, Welcome to Bloxburg cash(for the players who want to build a mansion), and Blox Fruits pay to fast mechanics.
So if you don´t want to put gambling or p2w stuff in your game, you can always do like Bloxburg and create a great balanced economy, in which you can spend robux to advance faster.
And Voilà! That´s the “secret” to the roblox algorithm!
In summary:
- Make a clickable logo and title.
- Keep players hooked.
- Monetize your game effectively.
If you do that, the roblox algorithm should start pushing your game! Now that doesn’t mean it will get popular, you also need, like I told you before, an original concept and some luck.
But if you make sure to perfect those aspects in your game, you will have a better chance at making a popular game!
Every roblox dev player would like to have a successful game, but when an opportunity, like a gap in the market or a trend, comes, only the ones who were prepared manage to get the advantage of it.
So keep trying and improving from your mistakes, and when the opportunity comes you will succeed!
This was also my first community tutorial, so make sure to tell me anything I got wrong!