In the last post we discussed the emergence of the social gaming industry and its catalysts. In this article, we discuss social game design more in details and how developers can tap into human psychology to increase the fun aspect of the game while taking full advantage of social channels.

Create a Playful Game Quality

Playful, game-like qualities are critical in creating a playful mood to drive usage of social games. We'll discuss the expressive part of social games in a moment. With social expression aside, we can't discount game mechanics and the fundamental aspects that are necessary to tap into. Amy Jo Kim's game mechanic principles outline principles that user experience designers should tap into to create further engagement. These mechanics range from collections to ranking to exchanges to leaderboards.

Roleplaying Games Are Still Popular

We can see skill progression as the fundamental driver of online RPG's such as Mob Wars. A player goes into the game to increase their levels by doing jobs that require energy. There is a waiting period after energy is used up that allows users to play on and off during which players can do other things such as customize an avatar (if one is available). Other motivations including immersion into the game world such as discovery (discovering a rare weapon by visiting a section in mafia wars), enjoying the story aspect (a compelling storyline such as YakuzaLords), working in a team (sending each other energy packs and having a top mafia in MafiaWars) etc.

Exchanges Create Reciprocity

Exchanges are also important as they are a form of social interaction. Sending gifts, for example, allows users to express connectivity or likeness for another user and also indirectly creates 'reciprocity' so the recipient is compelled to return the gift - thus driving interaction with the application.
It is important to note that the entire system is composed of the social network as a whole, the players and community at large. For example, now we are noticing certain applications tapping into a user's wall and the comments that user's friends leave - which creates additional opportunities for creativity (such as seeing who your most active friends are with your wall etc.) This, in turn, takes the game outside of the boundaries of the game into interaction with the social network as a whole.

Play On Social Emotions

To summarize, playing on social emotions makes a good social game. Friends interact online and social games should help friends communicate, express and enjoy themselves while playing. It is important to keep the learning curve manageable and encourage people to invite their friends.

In the next post we'll delve into 4 design drivers with regards to specific game types such as rpg's, casual mmo's, puzzle games etc., that display a framework of motivations and disposition as Aki details out in mygamestudies.com.