For a player, the decision to spend for the first time is a momentous one. The game they are playing will move from being a free game to being a paid-for game. You need to think hard...

The primary advantage that freemium offers over premium is a low barrier to entry. Not just low but zero, in price at least. As Dan Ariely has shown in Predictably Irrational (and I will write up soon), we...

Being generous is ideological with me. I believe that if you are generous to your players, they will be generous to you. Call it Karma. Call it goodwill. Call it what you will, I believe that there is...

An evergreen game never reaches the point where the play can’t carry on if they wanted to. A game that is predominantly driven by narrative or by the experience will always be harder to turn into a...

The most successful free-to-play games don’t punish their players. Everyone makes progress, just by turning up. But a dedicated player, who keeps trying to learn and improve, is rewarded with increased complexity. Make sure you build complexity in...

You need to make players feel that they can “just pop in for a quick go”. Then you need to lock them in for much longer. As game designers have been doing with traditional games for years.

This is a critical consideration for any game being designed for a smartphone or tablet. If your free-to-play game is in the browser or on the console, it may be less crucial, but “short loops” remain key...