People possess different preferences for a game. Some like to play strategic games, others like puzzles and fighting games and still others intend going for girl games. Although they assess games according to individual preferences, a quality game cannot be evaluated solely on the basis of personal preferences and interests.

Social game success no doubt depends on a number of factors few of which include the originality of the game concept, full-engagement elements and the technical aspects of the game including game design, functionality, the visuals, illustrations and user-interface. In this blog, we will delve into how to come up with brilliant game concepts.

The concept of a social game means a novel and an innovative idea for making a social game a qualitative brand. With a great number of social game applications on various SNS, a fresh and novice application developer needs to have a different and unique game notion to start with.

So before you start to brainstorm, keep in mind the following piece of advice:

Stop thinking like a developer, think like a client.

Being a player, what kind of game would you and/or your acquaintances like to play? Individual preferences may vary but knowing the demand of end users makes it quiet easy for the developers to model a game that would meet the requirement of maximum social game lovers. Most developers try to imitate popular social games and although they lack originality, they do get noticed and many of them do get popularity but unfortunately, that is not the case, always.

For example, farming on Facebook started with a social game MyFarm. The second to appear was Farm Town which, though similar to MyFarm, was ranked #4 in the top 25 within its first month of launch. Following Farm Town was Farmville which earned even more fame and is ranked as #1 Facebook Social game since August, 09. All were of same themes but every latter has succeeded and ousted the former.

A shift in the trend of succeeding the formers was seen when Farm Life came into the farming contest on Facebook in August, 09. It is ranked on #24 on Appdata.com up till now. Also, in February this year, Psycho Monkey sued Zynga for copying its Mob wars game in a newer form- Mafia Wars.

Thus, an innovative and revolutionary Social game concept requires originality. Learning the human psychology can help developers outline the gameplay and game mechanics which makes up a quality social game.

Ever heard of “Tom & jerry”? You are not from earth if you say “No”. Hearing of Tom & Jerry, what is the immediate notion that comes in your mind? “Funny”, “entertaining”, “enjoyable”, “love to watch”? So what if you get to play Tom & Jerry on social networks? I know my 3 year old cousin, my 18 year old sis and my 45 year old Mom and Dad who all love to watch “Tom & Jerry” as many times as they get the chance.

Imagine playing Bugs and Daffy on SNS, or think of Sylvester chasing Tweety with you as former and your friend as the latter. All these cartoons are all-time favorites of most of the audience because of the Rolling-On-the -Floor -Laughs (ROFL) humor involved in it. So what if you play social games while enjoying the comics of cartoon characters, doing funny and hilarious stuff to your friends?

Amusing social games will truly be a revolutionary turn in social gaming industry and will be a source of user’s full involvement.

As Wolfgang Kramer said and I quote:

A good game makes us long to play it again.