Hi everyone,
I’m sorry if this is the wrong category, I couldn’t seem to find any other category that fit, please correct me if otherwise.
So, I was wondering, what makes a lobby interesting to players? Is it the visuals? The map? The stores? UIs?
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I’d say it mostly depends on the game theme and the people you are trying to target.
Let’s say that you are making a FPS (like Phantom Forces) or survival game (like Apocalypse Rising), then the lobby will mostly focus on UI and customization of the character or weapons and maybe even add things in the background that relate to the theme (worn down houses, forest or abandoned town for example) However a game aimed mainly at young children where they, let’s say, work in a bakery, then it should focus more on the visuals and map since you want everything to be simple and easy to navigate through.
You just need to think of how they would like to experience the game, whether you want a lot of UI options where you have many maps, levels and customization, or maybe just one huge map where it’s easy to go around, play with your friends and figure stuff out.
This is all in my opinion so there can be people that disagree with me, but overall it all comes down to the type of people that play the game and what experience they get from playing it. Hope this helps.
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Good points, thanks for the feedback.
But say, you made this FPS game and worked on the menus and the UIs a ton but the lobby was pretty terrible. Wouldn’t that discourage players? Or, another instance, working in the bakery, the visuals are fantastic but the game itself is no fun.
I’m just keeping the discussion going 
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Imo, it would be something the player waits in and do whatever they need to do as they wait for the time to pass by. I usually see normal lobbies for minigames, deathmatchs, etc have one similar thing, an area to stand and wait.
Imo, I find them quite boring at most times since you may not need to upgrade anything at some times or you want to get imminently to playing. I believe the best lobbies are the ones where the player can interact with the game early on and have a short span of entertainment as they wait for the game.
This way, you can entertain the player rather then having them wait for 50 seconds to get into 1 game, by that time, they’ll probably leave. Giving the players to do something in a lobby to wait for the game allows for more interacting and entertainment overall.
Of course though, there are some cases where you’d want something different. If the intermissions are short and quick and or the player can immediately play, you’d want to have the “play” button more blatant or an easy way for the player to get into the game. You can set up shops as well for a way the player to upgrade their items,toys, etc.
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Indeed, good point. So how, as a game creator, would you keep players entertained while they wait for the current game to end?
If you create the lobby like a forest/city then there will be more areas to explore and making the players more interested in exploring the maps for: secrets,hidden areas,nature. It completely depends on the builder who is incharge of creating the lobby.
- But I would say a city lobby would make it the most interesting depending on the size/extension of the lobby.
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Thank you, this has been very helpful insight
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Like he said, something to keep them entertained is very important. You NEVER want your target audience bored with the game. Some things to keep them entertained could include a small obby, easter eggs around the map, a voting for next map (if this applies), and even interactive shops around the lobby.
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Thank you all for answering my questions, this is good stuff to know.
Personally I like to put myself in the mindset of someone trying to entertain the target consumers when I am developing games, so in cases like lobbies/loading screens etc, I highly suggest interactives to be the main focus, visuals, UIs, map and stores should be top notch by default.
The main focus is to not have them wait there and get bored / lose interest, rather to provide the tools/interactives for them to get absorbed in while waiting for the main gameplay.
Just always put yourself in your consumer’s shoes, if your lobby / loading screen begins to bore you, it probably bores them too if not faster 
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I think a good mix of each will do. If you put too many UIs on the screen the player will get annoyed as if they are on mobile they could accidentally click it. The lobby needs to look good and there needs to be enough space for all the players so it is no crowded.
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Details in the most unexpected places and little activities to do while they wait for a new round or something or an update board showing all the newly added stuff.
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