Best Fiends Design and Monetization Audit

1.0.4

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Oct
9th,
2014

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Contact:
tony@ant-‐workshop.com

@freakyzoid

Best
FiendsTM
©
2013
-‐
2014
Seriously
Digital
Entertainment
Ltd.

Best
Fiends
is
the
first
game
released
by
Seriously,
a
company
staffed
by
a

mobile
gaming
dream
team.

It
had
been
out
for
5
days,
is
very
polished,
has
easy
to
grasp
mechanics,
a

solid
core
loop,
and
I
was
enjoying
playing
it.
S5ll,
I
was
confident.

Why?
And
more
importantly,
was
I
right?


@freakyzoid

(Spoiler
alert:
Yup)


@freakyzoid

This
document
is
split
in
to
two
sec5ons.
The
ﬁrst
(with
green
headers)

gives
a
breakdown
of
the
game
and
its
key
systems,
for
those
unfamiliar

with
it.
The
second
(blue
headers)
contains
my
analysis
of
its
performance,

and
sugges5ons
for
improvements.

Game
Overview

Gameplay

Currencies

Core
Loop

Menu
Flow

Progression

Mone5za5on

Analysis

Download
Ranking

Grossing
Ranking

Mone5za5on

Social

Gameplay

User
Interface


@freakyzoid

Best
Fiends
is
a
“line
drawing”
Match
3
game.

Players
take
a
team
of
up
to
5
uniquely
coloured
Fiends
in
to
each

level,
where
they
are
presented
with
a
puzzle
grid,
a
progression
of

enemies
(encountered
one
at
a
5me),
and
a
selec5on
of
objec5ves

which
include
matching
amounts
of
5les
(either
special,
or
certain

standard
colours),
and
defea5ng
a
number
of
enemies.

Each
5me
the
player
matches
5les,
the
associated
Fiend
launches
an

adack
on
the
current
enemy.

Matching
also
builds
up
the
special
5le
charge
for
a
Fiend.
Once
this
is

full,
a
special
5le
of
their
own
colour
spawns
in
a
random
column
on

the
top
row
of
the
board.

Some
enemies
are
able
to
spawn
blocking
5les
on
to
the
board
at

regular
move
intervals.


@freakyzoid

Player’s
team
of
Fiends

Number
of
moves

remaining

Level
comple5on
goals

Current
enemy

Standard
5les

(Matching
Fiend
colours)

Special
5les

(Diamond
&
Mul5-‐hit
crate)

Blocking
5les


@freakyzoid

Diamonds

Gained
by

•  Matching
Diamond
5les.

•  Purchase
through
In
App
Purchase
(IAP).

•  Connec5ng
to
Facebook.

Used
by

•  Upgrading
Fiends
(when
the
player
doesn’t

have
enough
Meteor
Mites).

•  Buying
Keys.

•  Increasing
maximum
energy.

•  Bypassing
progress
gates.

Keys

Gained
by

•  Matching
special
5les.

•  Purchased
(packs
of
3)
with
Diamonds.

Used
by

•  Opening
Lucky
Dip
crates.

Meteor
Mites

(In
Yellow
and
Blue
varie?es,
blue
are
rarer
&
more

valuable
by
a
factor
of
~100)

Gained
by

•  Random
drop
when
matching
5les
&

defea5ng
enemies.

•  Lucky
dip
prizes.

Used
by

•  Upgrading
Fiends.


@freakyzoid

The
core
loop
sees
the
player
comple5ng
Match
3

levels,
and
upgrading
their
Fiends.

Beginning
a
level
always
costs
energy,
and
currency

earned
on
failed
adempts
is
kept,
allowing
players

to
grind.
Energy
regenerates
over
5me.

As
Fiends
are
upgraded
the
damage
dealt
per

adack
increases,
as
does
the
potency
of
their

special
5le.

Objec5ves
and
enemies
encountered
get
tougher

to
beat
as
the
player
progresses,
forming
an

increasing
soj
barrier
that
eﬀec5vely
forces
the

player
to
regularly
upgrade.

Upgrade

Fiends

Play

Match
3

level

Lucky

Dip


@freakyzoid

Map

Lucky
Dip

Fiend

Menu

Info
Upgrade

Fiend

Select

Loading
Gameplay

Out
Of

Moves

Failed

Passed

Splash

Return
to

Map


@freakyzoid

The
player
progresses
through
a
series
of

numbered
levels,
presented
on
an
adrac5ve

3D
scrolling
map.
The
diﬀerences
between
the

four
loca5ons
currently
in
the
game
appear
to

be
purely
cosme5c.

New
gameplay
features
and
blocking
5les
are

introduced
as
the
player
progresses.

Players
are
able
to
replay
passed
levels
to
earn

extra
currency.

Progress
is
occasionally
blocked
completed
by

a
gate.
Players
are
able
to
pass
once
their

Fiends
are
suﬃciently
leveled
up,
or
by
paying

a
fee.


@freakyzoid

The
second
area
of
progress
is
in
unlocking
and

upgrading
Fiends.

Fiends
are
unlocked
in
the
Lucky
Dip,
and
appear
to

become
available
ajer
a
set
number
of
levels
are

completed.
The
ﬁrst
5
Fiends
unlocked
are
the
same
for

all
players,
ajer
this
the
unlock
order
becomes
random.

As
the
player
upgrades
their
Fiends,
the
amount
of

damage
they
do
per
matched
5le
increases.
Every
5

levels
the
Fiend
“evolves”
in
to
a
larger
version,
and
their

special
adack
increases
in
strength.


@freakyzoid

Lucky
Dip
System

Players
are
presented
with
a
3
by
3
grid
of
mystery
crates,
which

are
unlocked
using
Keys.
They
are
able
to
buy
more
Keys
using

Diamonds.

Rewards
include
various
sized
currency
packs,
and
new
Fiends.

More
Moves

At
the
end
of
a
failed
level,
the
player
is
able
to
purchase
an

addi5onal
number
of
moves,
as
a
Tier
1
IAP.

This
is
a
standard
hot
state
mechanic,
working
on
the
player’s
belief

that
victory
is
just
around
the
corner,
and
that
to
give
up
now
would

be
a
wasted
opportunity.

As
usual
in
games
that
include
similar
IAP,
it
is
the
best
selling
item.


@freakyzoid

Upgrading
Fiends

If
the
player
doesn’t
have
the
required
number
of

Meteor
Mites
to
upgrade
one
of
their
Fiends,

they
are
able
to
pay
using
diamonds.

Energy

Every
play
of
a
level
costs
energy
(not
just
failed
adempts).

This
slowly
regenerates
over
5me,
or
can
be
immediately
ﬁlled
with

a
Tier
1
IAP
(the
game’s
second
best
seller
–
also
a
hot
state
item).

Players
can
also
spend
Diamonds
to
permanently
boost
their

maximum
energy.


@freakyzoid

The
game
fared
well
during
its
launch
week
–

when
it
was
featured
by
Apple.

Since
then
it
has
dropped
by

roughly
100
places

on
the
US-‐Games
chart,
and
has
subsequently

done
well
at
holding
around
that
posi5on.

Performance
is
similar
between
tablet
and
phone

(though
the
Overall
chart
drops
oﬀ
for
tablet).

A
recent
update
has
not
made
a
signiﬁcant
boost

to
downloads.

The
boost
during
the
week
preceding
the
update

suggests
some
secondary
featuring.

From
October
9
–
November
5.
Source:
App
Annie

iPhone
iPad


@freakyzoid

From
October
9
–
November
5.
Source:
App
Annie

iPhone
iPad

Looking
mainly
at
the
US-‐Games
curve,
grossing

ranking
is
steady
around
the
200
mark
with
a

highest
rank
of
124.

For
a
polished
game
with
these
mechanics
(match

3
and
light
RPG
elements)
it
would
be
reasonable

to
expect
higher
placing.

Again,
similar
performance
between
tablet
and

phone,
with
slightly
lower
posi5oning
on
tablet.

(Though
again
App
Annie
has
holes
in
its
data.)


@freakyzoid

My
top
100
grossing
predic5on
was
based
on
the
observa5on
that
there

are
rela5vely
few
ways
for
the
player
to
spend
their
Diamonds,
and
only

two
hot
state
purchases
(not
a
coincidence
they
are
the
top
two
most

popular
purchases).
I
would
recommend
adding
more
op5ons
for
the

player
to
buy
and
in
par5cular
focusing
on
further
hot
state
items.

“Boost”
powerups
available
to
buy
during
a
level
are
a
common
and

popular
hot
state
purchase
in
this
genre.
These
allow
players
to
directly

inﬂuence
the
layout
of
5les
on
the
board
and
the
current
enemy,
by

clearing
whole
rows
or
immediately
adding
special
5les.
(Yes,
this
is

enabling
“pay
to
win”,
but
this
is
largely
a
solo
game.)

Boosts
would
also
make
it
less
likely
players
will
get
stuck
on
a
puzzle

level.
Currently,
stuck
players
are
able
to
grind
to
increase
the
abili5es

of
their
Fiends
to
make
“defeat
X
enemies”
goals
easier,
but
there
are

no
paying
op5ons
to
lower
the
diﬃculty
of
other
goal
types.

Candy
Crush
Soda
Saga
–
King


@freakyzoid

Consider
adding
a
way
for
players
to
purchase
“premium”
Fiends

(either
directly,
or
through
some
form
of
“high
cost”
Lucky
Dip),
that

do
more
damage
and
whose
specials
charge
faster.

Give
the
player
a
way
of
mul5plying
the
number
of
Meteor
Mites

they
earn
in
a
level.
If
this
is
permanent
then
unlock
through
IAP

or
a
large
number
of
Diamonds
(similar
value
to
the
energy

increase),
or
it
could
be
op5onal
on
a
round-‐by-‐round
basis
and

paid
for
by
watching
video
adverts.

If
the
player
isn’t
using
a
mul5plier,
the
amount
of
Mites
they

would
have
earned
if
they
were
should
be
pointed
out
to
them.

Angry
Birds
Transformers
–
Rovio

Alien
Creeps
TD
–
Outplay
Entertainment


@freakyzoid

Though
I
haven’t
seen
any
special
oﬀers
called
out
in

game,
the
list
of
IAP
suggests
that
some
variable
pricing
is

available
for
the
two
larger
packs
(though
this
is
possibly

an
A/B
test
on
the
price
5ers).

There
are
only
4
packages
of
currency
to
buy,
which
is

atypical
–
many
other
high
performing
casual
puzzle
5tles

that
use
virtual
currency
have
a
6
or
more
price
points

(Cookie
Jam
has
6,
Farm
Heroes
Saga
has
7,
and
Candy

Crush
Saga
has
8
for
example).
This
allows
them
to

include
much
larger
purchases
(such
as
Tier
60
-‐
$99.99)

without
disrup5ng
the
spacing
of
their
low
and
mid-‐range.


@freakyzoid

The
game
is
lacking
a
social
aspect
–
just
leaderboards
and
friend
progress
(though
these
are
well

integrated).
Adding
features
focusing
on
co-‐opera5ve
ac5ons
would
aid
user
acquisi5on
&
reten5on.

“Friend’s
Fiend”
system.
Similar
to
Puzzles
&
Dragons,
players
could

choose
a
friend
to
take
in
to
a
level.
The
extra
Fiend
increases
the

player’s
ability
to
deal
damage,
and
the
friend
earns
a
bonus
for

being
used.
P&D
also
stops
friends
from
being
reused
by
any
player

un5l
they
have
re-‐engaged
with
the
game.
This
ensures
friends
who

want
a
lot
of
bonuses
must
re-‐engage
each
5me
they
are
used.

The
game
could
give
players
a
number
of
power-‐ups
each
day
that
must
be
gijed

out,
one
each
to
their
friends.
Players
earn
a
bonus
for
sending
all
of
their
gijs.

Community
goals,
such
as
rewarding
the
community
for
defea5ng
a
combined

number
of
X
enemies
over
the
space
of
a
week.
Everyone
who
contributed
to

achieving
the
goal
gets
a
reward.

Angry
Birds
Transformers
–
Rovio

Candy
Crush
Saga
–
King


@freakyzoid

The
game’s
diﬃculty
relies
heavily
on
puzzle
levels,
but
rigidly
created

boards
with
a
limited
number
of
moves
can
be
frustra5ng
to
play.

Cramped
boards
also
result
in
the
player
having
no
moves
available,

forcing
a
large
number
of
“reshuﬄes”.
This
is
an
unsa5sfying
outcome
to

be
avoided,
if
possible.
Change
the
5le
spawning
to
give
favourable

outcomes
in
situa5ons
where
the
player
would
have
no
moves
available.

Every
enemy
in
the
game
is
a
slug.
There
are
varia5ons
in
appearance,
but
there
is
only
so
much
visual

variety
you
can
get
out
of
a
black
splotch
with
a
face.
It
would
be
good
to
tweak
the
story
to
allow
a
greater

range
of
enemy
types
as
the
player
progresses,
as
discovery
of
new
content
helps
the
game
remain
fresh.


@freakyzoid

Some
enemies
are
able
to
spawn
blocker
5les,
some5mes
doing
this
ajer

every
player
turn.
Frequently
they
will
also
target
special
5les.
This
has
the

effect
of
“doubling
down”
on
the
frustra5on
players
feel
any
5me
they
are

forced
to
make
“burner”
moves
(poor
matches
that
do
not
make
significant

progress
towards
their
goals,
but
are
the
only
move
available).

My
gut
feeling
is
that
the
frequency
of
blockers
generated
is
high

enough
to
be
frustra5ng
rather
than
fun
or
sa5sfying
to
play
against.

I
would
suggest
A/B
tes5ng
the
rate
these
spawn,
and
see
how
this

affects
the
life5me
value
(LTV)
of
players.

When
the
player
has
only
one
move
available,
ensure
the
blocker

doesn’t
spawn
in
a
way
that
removes
the
player’s
move.
This
will

also
help
with
the
reshuffling
situa5on.

A
puzzle
layout
and

high
blocker
spawn

rate
on
this
level

results
in
a
lot
of

unsa5sfying

reshuffles.


@freakyzoid

Once
the
player
has
passed
a
level,
their
only
reason
to
replay
it
is
to
farm
currency.
As

some
are
easier
than
others,
less
easily
farmable
levels
will
get
fewer
repeat
plays.
I

suggest
adding
a
“mastery
system”
to
encourage
repeat
on
every
level,
making
full
use

of
all
of
the
game’s
content.
This
is
ojen
seen
as
a
3
star
scoring
system;
As
Best
Fiends

is
not
score
based,
players
could
earn
stars
for
comple5ng
more
advanced
op5onal

goals
in
the
level
(beyond
the
regular
pass
condi5ons).

Jelly
Splash
–
Wooga

The
“lucky
dip”
system
could
be
tweaked
to
mone5ze
more
heavily
by
showing
the
player
what
prizes
are

exist
in
the
crates
they
didn’t
open.
This
would
mo5vate
them
to
con5nue
buying
keys
un5l
they
collect
all

of
the
high
value
rewards
available.

One
way
to
do
this
would
be
to
change
the
flow
so
that
on
entering,
the
player
is
shown
the
rewards
in

every
crate.
Ajer
a
short
pause,
lock
the
crates
and
shuffle
them.
Depending
on
the
developer’s
feelings
on

skill
vs.
chance,
shuffling
could
be
done
in
a
way
that
allows
the
player
to
follow
a
crate
to
its
end
posi5on.


@freakyzoid

The
main
3D
rolling
map
is
novel
and
immediately
hooks
player
interest
and

gives
a
feeling
that
this
game
is
not
just
another
match
3
clone.

There
are
a
couple
of
down
sides:
Firstly
it
gives
me
a
slight
feeling
of
ver5go;

Secondly
it
stops
players
getng
a
good
feeling
of
how
much
progress
they

have
made,
and
also
how
many
levels
are
ahead
of
them.

The
game
has
lovely
presenta5on
of
rewards.
For

example,
winning
big
on
the
Lucky
Dip
explicitly
tells
the

player
that
this
was
a
large
prize
to
highlight
the
“feel

good”
moment.

The
currency
IAP
screens
are
great
as
well,
with
lots
of

game
characters
and
more
signiﬁcantly
all
op5ons
visible

without
scrolling.


@freakyzoid

On
the
Fiend
menu
there
are
2
budons
per
Fiend.

The
larger
one
is
to
upgrade
the
Fiend,
the

smaller
is
for
a
character
informa5on
screen.

Could
the
informa5on
on
both
of
these
screens

be
combined,
to
only
require
one
budon?

The
“Tap
to
con5nue”
requirement
on
the
level
loading
screen
is
odd
–

Asking
for
an
input
to
move
in
to
gameplay
feels
redundant.
(Could
be

done
to
allow
players
more
5me
to
read
loading
5ps,
or
has
it
been
caused

by
technical
issues?)

They
are
also
being
held
on
what
is
probably
the
game’s
most
visually
drab

screen.
It
could
be
improved
by
including
some
key
art
and
/
or
repea5ng

the
levels
goals.


@freakyzoid

One
great
feature
is
the
ability
for
players

to
earn
an
amount
of
Diamonds
by
viewing

informa5on
about
Malaria.
This
is
5ed
in
to

the
friendly
mosquito
character.


@freakyzoid

I
hope
you
enjoyed
reading
this
document,
and
found
some
of

the
ideas
I’ve
discussed
useful
for
your
own
5tles.

Find
my
design
&
mone5za5on
audit
on

Rovio’s
racing
game
Angry
Birds
Go!
By

clicking
my
name
under
the
presenta5on.


@freakyzoid

Would
you
like
your
game
to
beneﬁt
from
an
audit

by
an
experienced
designer?

Whether
it's
already
on
the
marketplace,
in
or
approaching
soj

launch,
or
even
just
an
ini5al
concept,
every
5tle
can
be
improved

with
a
fresh
pair
of
eyes.

I
can
work
to
whatever
level
your
game
is
ready
for,
from
high
level

product
scoping,
to
deep
diving
the
numbers
on
a
speciﬁc
feature.

Contact:


@freakyzoid

Best Fiends Design and Monetization Audit

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