Hi Cara, That makes sense, and you are absolutely right that the short attention span issue is a very important one for many gamers. Many people want a game that is able to be picked up, played for a short while, set down, and picked up again with ease. there are many games like that which are hugely popular for that reason alone.
I'll take my personal favorite Blackjack as an example. Its one of those games that is fairly simple to play, doesn't require in depth mechanics, and is great for playing when someone doesn't have a lot of time or just can't focus on a game for very long. I might be sitting in a waiting room for a few minutes before an appointment and fire up Blackjack on my laptop precisely because it is a game I can play 10 to 15 rounds, put down, and come back to it any time. Its not too involved and yet is fun to play for short stretches of time. Your point about having a longer game with many shorter levels is a good one. It allows someone constantly on the go or with a short attention span the ability to make quick and relatively painless achievements while not having completed the game itself. So instead of having 10 very large levels it would be better to have 20 smaller levels that would make it easier for gamers to get through the game quicker, to make quick achievements, while keeping the over all time to complete the full game the same. This makes sense as at strikes a balance between quantity of game while making it feasible to get instant rewards for playing. Cheers! On 5/20/14, Cara Quinn <caraqu...@caraquinn.com> wrote: > Hi Thomas, > > Thanks to you and Dark and others for this really great topic. > > Thomas, I personally think the attention span concept is a very important > issue here. A significant amount of gaming is now done on mobile platforms > which harkens back to my mention of games which can be played for a short > time, put down, and then picked back up again later with ease. If one has a > short attention span, a game like this can work well. > > I say this because most games of this nature are designed in such a way as > to be able to allow the player achievements even if only played for short > stretches of time and then put down again. This is specifically meant to > enable people who may be busy during the day to play a game, move ahead in > that game and then have it be possible to let it sit for a while before they > pick it up again. > > Even the mobile games which are designed to be played in one sitting are of > a shorter variety than some of the audio games we have seen here. > > The more long-form mobile games have shorter levels but more of them, so > that people can play for a shorter time, accomplish something and then come > back to it later. > > The constant stream of new available levels keep people coming back and the > shortness of each level keeps the gameplay conducive to quicker sessions. > > So this works both for people on the go as well as those with a shorter > attention span. > > Thanks! > > Cara :) > --- > iOS design and development - LookTel.com > --- > View my Online Portfolio at: > > http://www.onemodelplace.com/CaraQuinn > > Follow me on Twitter! > > https://twitter.com/ModelCara --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
