2017 TGDF Notes: Finding a Path in a Crowded Market

Speaker | Dungeon Story | Alvin Lo

Alvin Lo was the overseas operations manager at Xiamen Celadon Digital. He started in the game industry in 2003 and worked across PC games, web games, and mobile games. His expertise covers game operations, localization strategy, numeric tuning, and online, offline, and physical event planning. At the time of the talk, he led operations and marketing strategy for Dungeon Story in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.

─ Excerpted from TGDF official

These are personal notes and may not fully represent the original speaker’s intent.

Other articles in this series

• 2017 TGDF Notes: Creating 3D Japanese Animation Quality in a Small Indie Studio
• 2017 TGDF Notes: Game AI and Level Difficulty
• 2017 TGDF Notes: Finding a Path in a Crowded Market
• 2017 TGDF Notes: Making the Future Present Through Rez Infinite
• 2017 TGDF Notes: Lanota Development Experience
• 2017 TGDF Notes: Postmortem on What Went Right and Wrong
• 2017 TGDF Notes: The Art Direction of Detention
• 2017 TGDF Notes: Visual Design Notes from Qubot
• 2017 TGDF Notes: Survival Rules for Game Software Engineers

Game case: Dungeon Story

Production process, funding and completeness choices

• Project initiation: 3 months
• Gameplay adjustment: 7 months
• Overseas testing, adjustment and optimization, and launch: 1.5 years

Core design

• Improved roguelike structure.
• Maze design with different map modes, story easter eggs, and hidden events.
• Expansion systems: simulation, cultivation, and collection.
• Playful rules plus references to film, television, and anime.

Design direction

• Increase intensity in the play experience.
• Reduce boredom from repeated level clearing.
• Use familiar elements to lower player resistance.
• Avoid turning the game into pure numeric combat.
• Keep the cost ceiling low.
• Let non-paying players still earn paid items.
• Balance design intent with business mechanics.

Collection elements

• Emotional collection: player attachment.
• Practical collection: bond systems.
• Tribute collection: story references and homage.

Internal verification of results

External verification of results

Market demand optimization

Operations

• Market dynamics assessment
  • Choose launch timing carefully. Dungeon Story launched near Pokemon GO, but because the game type was different, it could serve players looking for another kind of game.
• Player preferences
  • Understand player traits and the appeal of cute fantasy strategy.
• Product positioning
  • Easy to start, suitable for light users.
  • Game theme
  • Gameplay
  • Player motivation
• Market entry
  • No VIP system
  • Respond to positive reviews and pay attention to long-term players.
  • Use player feedback.
  • Build breadth into the game.

Game production

• Players can tell whether the team cares.
  • Players notice detail work.
  • Today’s players are not naive; they can quickly sense sincerity or bad intent.
• Do not treat players like fools.
  • Be honest with players.
  • When unexpected operational problems happen, player trust and support become critical.
• Pass the team’s passion to players.
  • The team told players that 5% of Dungeon Story revenue would support independent game development.
  • Concrete action matters more than slogans.

In-game ─ A letter from the development team

Attribution

Please credit ARKAI Studio and link back to this article when quoting or reposting.