I’ve been working on my game Dedoxed for over a year now and I’ve poured my soul into it. I’ve gotten amazing feedback from hundreds of people but the one question nobody can seem to answer is, “Why won’t it stick?”.
At the moment, the only way Dedoxed gets any traction is through the featured sort, and after that, the player count drops like a rock and sits around 60.
I’m not sure what needs to be changed, I’ve tried pushing out new content, game modes etc but it doesn’t seem to make a difference.
I really need some constructive and deep criticism in order to really get my head on top of this.
I would assume it’s because it’s basically Flee The Facility, but with game modes. Also, maybe because you haven’t been advertising enough or not spending enough on individual advertisements.
I think it won’t stick because it’s confusing. I gave it a play and I was really confused about what to do, what does what, and where to go. I also think it might be too hard for someone just starting out, judging by the badges.
There is a flashing tip button and objective button thats supposed to guide you as you play, did you happen to notice them at all? How could I make them a little more noticeable if you didnt?
I agree with the others here, maybe for first timers, ask if they want to play a quick tutorial? Maybe teleport them to a different place with AI opponents and such to teach them the basics.
The game was pretty fun, I played two games of it. Sort of gives me watchdogs vibes with the UI and avatars a bit! (and the tablet thing lol) I won MVP my first game but I had no idea what I was doing. The second game, I was CEO and I absolutely hated it. The game felt so long as CEO, I wanted to leave. But for the sake of the game continuing I didn’t. I was going to play a third game, but I was in the menu opening a crate and it didnt send me into game, so I got mad and left. I suggest making the games shorter, buff the ceo’s speed/ give them a ranged item. The game was actually fun! Might actually give it another try!
You may consider adding a few mechanics to encourage players to return and keep in touch, stuff like daily rewards, joining your dev group for a free item, join your discord, etc. These kind of things are helpful for building a steady community. Also consider adding custom analytics to determine if your fixes are improving your daily returns and time spent in game.
To be honest, the way how games stick is pure luck, you cannot control it in any way. I know people may disagree with me, but that is the way games work, including outside of roblox
So what you’re saying is that empty baseplates have just as much chance of retaining their players as games with a lot of work and thought put into them?
I disagree with you entirely, it’s hard getting something that sticks, but it’s not pure luck. You gotta nail down and market your audience as well; who’ll like your game. If you’re aiming on Roblox I’d focus on simple yet fun games, as that seems to be the main reason a lot of people including myself play games at all on Roblox.
You can’t just make a game you find fun and expect others to do the same, it entirely depends on who you’re marketing too, and Roblox as a platform seems to work best with games you can just hop into and find simple and fun. You’re not playing a Roblox game to get dedicated to something at first, you gotta pull them in if you want a dedicated playerbase and keep them pulled in. If you manage to keep them pulled in chances are they’ll bring friends along for the ride as well.
I believe that is is a culmination of a few things.
Immediately on joining, I was dropped into the character customization. This is quite nice. Immediately I felt control over myself and a growing investment as a player into the game. Unfortunately the system is very confusing. I am not sure what UI correlates with which other UI. And simple character customization does not seem possible without buying currency and opening crates. Having clear and accessible options for players customize their character right off the bat will allow them to get invested into the game.
Much of the UI is hard to visually interpret. The style is fitting and edgy like the game, but it is hard for me to figure out which UI is correlated to what. Often multiple menus or interfaces will be open at the same time and it’s just hard to distinguish what I am doing or looking at.
The currency and shop system is extremely confusing. Starting with the character creator, I am told that I do not have currency and that I need to open crates. When opening the tablet afterwards, I noticed tons of icons. That was a little overwhelming. I did find the shop and was happy to find that I have 1 crate to open. When I attempt to open it, I am given a message that I need to have more space first. I have no idea what this means. I was not able to find out how to open the crate, or where to gain more inventory space. While probing around I noticed that there are multiple currencies gating me from getting familiar with the systems. What a headache.
Purchase prompts are everywhere. I feel pummeled by up selling.
Round based games with downtime turn players away pretty easily. When a player enters the game, they have no direction, and don’t exactly know what they should be doing. A bold and clear UI stating the current status of the round and when the new round might start will go a long way. Even a simple static message when the player joins to tell them to wait for the next round will help give the player re-assurance that they need.
Overall, I’d suggest polishing up the design of UI in the game to make the relevant information for a first time user very clear. That doesn’t mean adding a new UI to point at the relevant info, it means hiding or tucking away non-relevant interfaces.
I’d also redo the character system so that a player can unlock and build a character that they can relate to, and then have clearly rare items that require purchase with robux or a singular currency. Right now your progression and unlock system is not fun or rewarding. I’d consider gutting it since it contributes to the information overload for new players.
The loading screen is too long (I checked, and only 1 asset was downloading). Most players (especially younger people) just want to click play and instantly get in
Don’t stick me in a character customizer that I can’t change because I have no currency as soon as I join.
Rounds are too long. I understand if that’s necessary to the game, but you could possibly run more games in one server, or have a button that attempts to find a server that’s close to ending or is in intermission
I find it interesting that the loading takes so long for you guys (you + @wravager). The pre-load usually only takes a few seconds but is essential to the primary gameplay. Ill see if I can add a timeout where its only allowed to load for a max of 20 seconds or so.
I told you people were gonna dis-agree with me, but I was told that from a community that the games on the front page were from luck. (And totally not paid to be on the front page.)
So when you come back to a game are you honestly just going to tell me it’s “pure luck”. When you run into an advertisement or get told about the game via a friend, is that pure luck?
No, that’s called a game having a good marketing machine. If you fail to make a game entertaining for the audience it’s aimed towards, high chance it’s going to fail, rather than be the next big hit. There’s a reason people are paid to design intricate marketing schemas, paid to help market a game.
There’s a painful amount of planning that goes into making a game marketable. Often times there’s a good marketable idea,original or not, and it explodes on Roblox.
