从业者谈制作广告游戏时需避免的50个错误

原作者：Herman Tulleken 译者：Willow Wu

即使是营销精英有时也会错用了游戏，从而无法顺利实现他们的商业目标。我们列出了企业在委托或开发广告游戏时所犯的50个最致命的错误。

如果正在读文章的你是一名开发者，那么本文的大部分内容对你来说应该是老生常谈了，尤其是你也开发广告游戏的话。

一、商业目标

错误1：着眼于短期

相较于其它媒体产品，游戏制作起来更复杂，成本也更高。因此，用游戏来满足短期目标就跟浪费钱没差。游戏可以运营更长时间，成功的游戏可以继续扩展更多的内容。

错误2：商业目标冲突

广告游戏的商业目标可能不止一个，但如果目标之间有冲突，那么游戏的效果对其中任何一个来说都会大打折扣。如果你想提升品牌辨识度，玩家数量自然是越多越好。如果你想收集用户信息，那其中一部分用户可能就不会继续游戏。所以说这两个目标就是冲突的，不应该是同一个游戏的服务目标。

错误3：在缺乏足够用户获取渠道的情况下选择广告游戏

如果你的想法是把游戏上架到某个商店，然后就会有数千人蜂拥而来，你的愿望注定会落空。就算没有可观的营销预算，你还是得要有多个的渠道接触目标用户，让他们知道你的游戏、知道哪里可以找到。

二、游戏设计

错误4：忽视趣味性

要让玩家觉得你的游戏能带来欢乐，而不只是抱着推销产品和品牌的目的。通过发行一个有趣的游戏（并向玩家提供真正的价值），你可以在品牌和玩家之间建立一种积极的联系。如果你的游戏很无聊，那谁都不会去玩了。

错误5：用你个人的想法

你的想法不太可能是原创的，也不一定能帮助公司实现商业目标、提升品牌价值，并成为一个具有凝聚力的娱乐产品。所以，交给专业人士吧。

错误6：委托一家普通的媒体公司做游戏

虽然游戏跟其它媒体产品也有共同点（比如视频），但是传统的媒体工作室并不擅长制作游戏。原因有几个，但总结来说就是他们会犯这个清单中的很多错误。别那么干。

错误7：不从玩家角度出发设计游戏

在为你的用户设计游戏时，最宝贵的资产就是你对他们的了解。要让游戏设计团队了解目标用户的信息，越多越好。其它配套的营销活动也是如此。

错误8：没有原型测试

要制作一款有趣的游戏，最可靠的方法是遵循迭代过程，并定期与真正的玩家一起测试游戏。组建一个beta小组，在公开发行前先让他们测试游戏。

错误9：盲目模仿热门产品

模仿热门产品是能给你带来一些优势，但是也有缺点：

·广告游戏通常会与原版相形见绌，尤其是在预算较低的情况下。

·做出来的游戏可能跟你的品牌有违和感，或者不利于实现商业目标。

·模仿热门游戏的人非常多，你的游戏也会被视为山寨的一员。

·老练的游戏玩家可能会对你试图利用他人创意捞金的做法产生反感。

错误10：不用KPI来评估工作成果

除了业务KPI之外，你还需要观察游戏KPI来跟踪游戏的运营状况。如果你的游戏无法在游戏市场立足，那就更不用说实现商业目标了。跟踪这些数据能帮助你持续调整改进游戏，最终也会影响到你的业务KPI。

错误11：内容收费

有时候，公司会想通过游戏付费或者额外内容付费的方式来抵消游戏开发的成本。盈利游戏的商业模式与你的不同，在推广主要业务时这样做会让广告游戏的助攻效果大打折扣。

错误12：通过广告让游戏盈利

这种做法有点像是你制作一个电视广告，又向其他公司收费，让他们的广告牌出现在视频中，一点都不合理。除此之外，二级广告也会惹恼玩家。玩家单次游戏的平均时长会逐渐减少，留存率也会跟着降低。

错误13：先注册才能玩

我们之前做的某个游戏就是这样，结果就是有一半的玩家进入游戏后就退出了，不愿填注册表。先注册才能玩，这样你就得冒着失去很多玩家的风险。另外，那些注册玩家提供的数据通常也是假的。

错误14：要求收集更多信息

只收集那些出于游戏体验考虑的必要信息。要求收集的数据越少，玩家玩游戏的阻力就越小，游戏对黑客的吸引力就越低，你需要为《通用数据保护条例》做出的妥协也就越少。

错误15：让玩家分享那些不酷的东西

如果你想让玩家分享游戏内容，那就得确保它们在玩家看来是非常惊艳的。让品牌深入人心，与消费者建立紧密的联系。游戏内容应该是独特的、制作精良、具有娱乐性的，是玩家可以吹嘘的资本。

错误16：不使用虚拟奖励

物质奖励确实是一个很好的辅助手段，但如果把其中一些奖励设置成虚拟的，你就可以获得另外的机会。

但虚拟奖励发挥作用的前提是你的游戏足够出色。

magicka(from tutsplus)

错误17：不能静音

玩家想要静音的原因可能有三：

·游戏音乐令人无法忍受。

·他们玩游戏的场所不能外放（比如工作场所）。

·他们想在玩游戏的时候听其它音乐。

如果不能关掉音乐/声音，他们或许就会放弃这款游戏。

错误18：选择与品牌价值相冲游戏类型、主题或机制

如果你想要的是非暴力游戏，那就不要制作第一人称射击游戏。如果你不希望人们把产品大卸八块，那就不要模仿《水果忍者》这样的游戏。很多品牌在决定克隆当下热门游戏时都没有考虑到后续的影响，这些人最容易出现这种错误。

有了第一个错误就会引发第二个错误：为了与品牌保持一致，删除游戏中最重要的机制。然而不能砍东西的《水果忍者》趣味全无。

错误19：选择与商业目标相冲游戏类型、主题或机制

举个例子：如果你的业务目标是传达品牌价值，博彩游戏并不能发挥有益的作用，虽说它对其它商业目标来说可能是非常有用的。

错误20：在游戏中用纯文字引导玩家

人们不会在游戏（或者其它APP）中做阅读。游戏是用来玩的，通过游戏设计和机制告他们你想表达什么。

错误21：太过依赖物质奖励

如果你想在游戏中加入奖励，一定要明白它们的真正作用。游戏本身应该足够有趣，奖励不是用来贿赂玩家的，它也不能用来弥补游戏糟糕的设计缺陷。

错误22：制作不对目标用户胃口的游戏

选择目标用户比较喜欢的游戏类型。你可以不局限于特定的年龄组，设计一个对目标用户有广泛吸引力的游戏。运动服装品牌可以开发运动游戏，汽车品牌可以开发竞速游戏，以此类推。

错误23：不理解小程序游戏和独立性游戏的优缺点分别是什么

内嵌在APP中的小程序游戏是一种提升应用留存率、沉浸度和App Store/Google Play Store正面评价数量的好方法。但是小程序游戏存在不少限制，对某些商业目标来说，独立性游戏或许会更好。

错误24：没有随时间提升游戏的丰富性

人们到最后总是会玩腻，混合内容——甚至包括你所使用的奖励手段——是延长游戏寿命并建立忠实粉丝基础的简单方法。

错误25：过于重视外围功能

涉及到外围功能（分享、记录、排行榜、成就）时要谨慎些。我并不是说你不需要重视它们，但它们应该对游戏起到支持作用，而不是喧宾夺主。

错误26：不懂得权衡平台

每个平台都有非常成功的广告游戏。如果你想在网页平台做一个主机级别质量的游戏，或者是想用Flash游戏的预算去制作一个3A游戏，通常会得到悲剧性的结果，更别提浪费了很多钱。

错误27：没有排行榜

排行榜是一种相对简单的游戏特性，但它能给玩家带来很多价值。你应该针对不同的内容推出不同类型的排行榜。

错误28：没有交代清楚游戏规则

如果玩家误解了游戏运作方式，他们会觉得游戏bug很多，或者更糟——以为你在耍人。交代清楚游戏规则是什么，你就能避开这些误解。

错误29：没玩过游戏

你或许不是游戏的目标受众，然而，光看别人玩游戏是无法真正理解游戏的运行状况的。如果你没有玩游戏，你只会把注意力放在那些看得见、听得到的直观内容上，而不是你主导游戏世界时感受和想法。

错误30：把游戏做得太复杂

好玩和复杂之间不是成正比关系。保持简单，在预算范围内确保游戏设计流畅、画面精美、音乐抓耳。技术突出的广告游戏也能在市场中找到一席之地，但只有在你投入足够的资金时它才有机会获得成功。

错误31：在游戏中做一个迷你游戏

很多人都认为这样能够让游戏更有意思，这是一个常见的误解。但是事实并不是这样，不但成本会增加，而且还有可能惹恼玩家，吃力不讨好。

错误32：基于自己对游戏特性的判断来评估游戏的可玩性

判断一个游戏特性是否有趣的正确方式是观察目标用户在体验游戏时的表情。（此方法的前提条件是玩家数量足够多，这样才能进一步采集数据作分析，由此做出更长远的决策）

三、制作

错误33：没有把品牌元素融入到游戏中

如果你的游戏是2D手绘风格，那么你的logo和产品都需要改成同样的风格。如果这跟你的品牌规则相冲，那最好选择一种不需要对logo或产品进行风格化的艺术风格。

但是可口可乐公司能做到，你也能。

错误34：没有确保游戏的技术方面运行良好

技术效果也是一种品牌推广方式。如果你的游戏有很多漏洞、bugs，品牌也会受到负面影响。跟游戏相关的技术产品也是如此，比如说用来兑换奖励的相关网站或者APP。

错误35：艺术方面投入不够

游戏是你品牌的一个延伸，如果它看起来很劣质，那么用户会对你的品牌产生同样的印象。

除此之外，如果画面赏心悦目的话玩家分享截图的欲望也会更高。

错误36：音乐和音效方面投入不够

游戏里的音乐是循环播放的，所以它就成了最容易让玩家感到厌烦的部分，音效更是如此。

错误37：不要过度使用logo

你的目标应该是打造一个以品牌为核心的世界，但不需要把logo弄得无处不在。从企业标识中挑选其它的设计元素，有节制地使用logo。这样能够促使玩家更好地沉浸在品牌的世界中。

四、营销

错误38：营销不够

如果游戏不错，它很有可能会成为你最受欢迎的营销内容。为了让更多人看到它，你需要做些营销工作：

·把游戏宣传图设置成主页的主图。

·在社交媒体上公开游戏时附上一小段玩法演示视频。

·联系游戏播主。

·使用非电子渠道：商店内张贴海报、包装宣传、印刷广告。

错误39：过度宣传

如果你把游戏吹嘘得比真实情况好很多，这会显得你很傻。营销要把握尺度。别担心，你的游戏没有必要成为史上最佳。如果推广得好，一款有趣的、与你的品牌密切关联的游戏可能会超越娱乐游戏。

错误40：游戏名字不理想

就和其它游戏一样，你的广告游戏名字应该：

·有一定的独特性

·易读

·易写

·易记

·有关联性

·能让人想到你的品牌

·便于搜索(例如，不包含非字母字符)

五、运营

错误41：无法手动给予积分奖励

当事情出现问题时，你希望能够通过某种途径解决它。如果玩家（可能是因为bug）丢失了积分，及时恢复积分就是一种留存玩家、防止恶毒评论的简单办法。

错误42：没有把游戏当作是额外的营销渠道

玩家沉浸于游戏中后，你可以把游戏当作是沟通媒介，还能通过它向玩家推送新闻和促销信息。但是要谨慎——一定要确保这些是玩家关心的信息，并获得了玩家的推送准许。如果你滥用这个渠道，玩家会毫不犹豫地卸载游戏。

错误43：游戏上线后不做A/B测试

你可以通过测试进一步提升游戏的各方面表现。你也应该A/B测试游戏的后续更改，以确保它们不会对游戏的其它部分造成负面影响或引入新的bugs。

错误44：没有为社区建立系统

有强大社区支援的游戏可以更长寿，现有社区成员会自发地为游戏宣传，因此它们能够吸引更多玩家。让玩家更容易地聚集在一起，然后进行管理。如果没有这样的系统，社区可能会脱离团队的掌控，甚至做出损害品牌形象的事。

错误45：没有反馈机制

你会参考各种相关KPI来评估运营情况。然而，KPI只是反映其中的一部分。从游戏中获得原始反馈可以让你了解到更多信息。

错误46：没有用户支持计划

游戏可能会出现问题，你应该组织一个团队，随时准备介入修复。你也需要回答用户的问题，根据他们的行为做出调整。

错误47：没有考虑作弊行为

有些玩家会作弊，破坏了其他人的游戏乐趣。作弊降低了风险，让排行榜和成就变得毫无意义。你需要一个能监测常用作弊手段的系统，并且想好怎么应对作弊行为。

错误48：没有考虑欺诈行为

欺诈就是以骗取物质奖励为目的的作弊行为。除了上一点所提到的作弊带来的负面影响，欺诈还会触及到你的底线以及影响游戏的运营。你需要谨慎思考对应策略以平衡损失、挽回品牌形象。

错误49：没有考虑到用户生成内容的缺点

有键盘的地方就有键盘侠，同理，当玩家能够自己创作内容的时候就有低俗的内容出现。思考内容创作的底线在哪里，以及如何监测、应对这些不当的内容。

错误50：没有应用合适的分析&反馈机制

分析工具能够排查转换漏斗的薄弱环节。为什么人们不愿意注册接收游戏的最新消息？是因为那他们打不开那个页面吗？或者是他们在中途就退出了？这些信息对游戏设计团队和很有用，他们可以在此基础上调整游戏，进一步提升玩家留存率和沉浸度。

错误51：没有讲清楚游戏的调整变化

玩家喜欢新内容，但他们并不喜欢开发人员改变已有的游戏特色(特别是涉及到现实的奖励时)。因此，你应该避免改变游戏规则。当你不得不这么做的时候，一定要讲清楚改了什么，不然你会迎来一堆玩家的强烈抵制。

错误52：没有为游戏退市、保存做打算

游戏比其它媒体产品更难保存，有很多几年前才发行的广告游戏现在已经不能玩了。思考游戏在运营结束时该何去何从，你可以阻止这种命运降临到你的游戏上。

六、结论

设计一款合适的广告游戏再加上使用得当，你就可以收获显著成果。避开本文所列的错误，给自己最佳的成功机会。

本文由游戏邦编译，转载请注明来源，或咨询微信zhengjintiao

Even savvy marketing people sometimes misunderstand how to use games properly to accomplish their business goals. We made a list of the 50 biggest mistakes businesses make when commissioning or building an advergame.

This is a condensed version of the original article. The original gives a bit more explanation and includes three resource links for each tip.

If you are a developer reading this, most of this will be old hat to you, especially if you have made advergames yourself.

Business Goals

Mistake: Thinking short-term

Games are more complex and expensive than other media to produce. Therefore, using games for short term goals is a waste of money. Games can perform over longer periods, and successful titles can be expanded with more content.

Mistake: Going for conflicting business goals

It is possible for an advergame to have more than one business goal, but if goals work against each other, the game will be less effective in accomplishing any of them. If you want to raise brand awareness, you want as many players as possible. If you want to collect information, some consumers will not engage; these goals are in conflict and should not be the purpose of the same game.

Mistake: Using an advergame when you do not have sufficient channels to reach the required audience

If you upload your game to a store and expect thousands of people to play it, you’re setting your project up for failure. Without a huge marketing budget, but you need a sufficient number of channels to reach your target audience, to tell them about your game and where to find it.

Game Design

Mistake: Ignoring the fun

Use your game to delight your customers; not just to promote your products and brand. By making the game fun (and providing real value to players), you can create a positive association with your brand. If the game is not fun, no-one will play it.

Mistake: Using your own game ideas

It is unlikely that your idea is original, supports the business goals and brand values, and works as a cohesive entertainment product. Get the experts in.

Mistake: Using a plain media company to build the game

Although games share some aspects with other media such as video, traditional media houses are not good at making games. There are several reasons; in short: they are prone to many of the mistakes on this list. Don’t do it.

Mistake: Not using your customer insight to inform game design

When designing a game for your audience, the most important asset is your knowledge about them. Prepare as much of this knowledge as possible for the game design team. The same background that goes into your other marketing activities must also shape the game; otherwise, it will miss the mark.

Mistake: Not prototyping

The most sure-fire way to arrive at a fun game is to follow an iterative process and test the game regularly with actual players. Form a beta group, and get them to test the game before you release it to the general public.

Mistake: Blindly cloning popular titles

Cloning existing popular titles has some advantages, but there is a downside:

The advergame will often compare poorly with the original (especially when it has been made on a lower budget).

The game may be ill-suited to your brand or business goals.

Popular games get cloned al lot, and your game will be perceived as a “me too” product.

Sophisticated gamers may frown on your attempts to capitalize on the success of others’ creativity.

Mistake: Not using KPIs to measure the success of the campaign to reach the business goal

In addition to business KPIs, you need to look at game KPIs to monitor the health of the game. You are not going to achieve your business goals if your game does not perform well as a game. Monitoring these will help you adapt and improve, which will ultimately also affect your business KPIs.

Mistake: Charging for content

Businesses sometimes try to offset the cost of developing an advergame by charging for it or additional content. Monetizing games is a business different from yours; trying to do this while trying to promote your main business reduces the chances of your advergame being effective.

Mistake: Trying to monetize your advergame through advertising

This is a bit like making a TV ad and charging other companies to have their billboard displayed in the ad. It does not make sense. Besides that, the secondary ads will annoy players and reduce the average session length and retention of your game.

Mistake: Making players sign up before letting them play

In one project we did, half the players that entered the game exited the game instead of moving through the signup form. You risk losing a lot of players by making them sign up first (and often those that do sign up provide false data).

Mistake: Asking for more information than you absolutely need

Ask the minimum information you need to give the player the best experience. The less data you ask, the less friction there is for users to play the game, the less attractive your game is for hackers, and the fewer hoops you have to jump through for GDPR.

Mistake: Trying to get players to share things that don’t make them look cool

If you want players to share game content, make sure it is the coolest thing in their feed. Keep branding light and relevant. The content should be unique and entertaining, and allow the player to brag. It should have high production quality.

Mistake: Not using virtual rewards

Physical rewards are great to help you get ahead in line with all the other things that interest people. But you are missing out on an opportunity if some of the rewards are not virtual.

Virtual rewards only work if your game is cool enough.

Mistake: Not making it possible to mute sound and music

There are three reasons why players may want to mute sound or music:

·It drives them crazy.

·They are playing in an environment where they cannot play sound (such as work).

·They want to listen to other music on the device they are playing on.

If they cannot switch off the sound or music, they may stop playing altogether.

Mistake: Choosing a game genre, a theme or mechanics that conflicts with your brand values.

If you want a non-violent game, do not make a first-person shooter. If you don’t want your products sliced up, do not make a Fruit Ninja clone. Brands are especially prone to fall into this trap when they decide to clone an existing popular title without considering the implications.

The first mistake leads to the second: removing the most important mechanic from a game to correct the incongruity. Fruit Ninja without slicing things up is not fun.

Mistake: Choosing a game genre, a theme or mechanics that conflicts with your business goal

For example: if your business goal is to communicate your brand’s values, a casino slots game will not be effective, even though it may be very effective for other business goals.

Mistake: Using text inside the game to educate customers

People do not read inside games (or other apps). Games are for playing, not reading. Show what you want to tell players through game design and mechanics.

Mistake: Relying on physical rewards too much

If you want to use rewards with the game, understand the role they play. The game should be fun enough to play without needing to bribe players to do it. Rewards cannot make up for bad game design.

Mistake: Making the wrong game for your target audience

Choose a game type that is popular with your target audience. Beyond demographics, appeal to a common of your target audience. Sports games are a good fit for sportswear; racing games for cars; and so on.

Mistake: Not understanding the pros and cons of embedded versus standalone games

Games embedded in your apps are a great way to increase app retention, engagement, and positive reviews in the App Store or Play Store. But embedded games have many limitations, and for some business goals, standalone games may make more sense.

Mistake: Not adding variety over time

People get bored with anything eventually. Mixing up content and even the rewards you use is an easy way to extend the lifetime of the game and build a loyal fanbase.

Mistake: Making peripheral features too important

Be stingy when it comes to peripheral features: sharing, recording, leaderboards, achievements. I am not saying you should neglect them, but they should support the game, not overshadow it in their complexity and production value.

Mistake: Misunderstanding the platform tradeoff

There have been advergames that were very successful on every platform. The problem is when you try to make a console-level title in the browser or try to use a flash game budget to make a AAA title. The result will typically be poor, and you will waste a lot of money.

Mistake: Not implementing a leaderboard

Leaderboards are a relatively simple feature to implement and provide a lot of value to players. You should include different leaderboards measuring different things.

Mistake: Not communicating game rules clearly

If players misunderstand how the game works, they will think the game is buggy (or worse, that you are trying to trick them). By communicating clearly how your game works, you can avoid these misconceptions.

Mistake: Not playing the game

You are probably not the target audience for the game. However, you cannot really understand how it works from looking at how other people play. If you don’t play the game, you will focus on things you can see or hear, instead of the feelings and thoughts you have as you navigate the game world.

Mistake: Making a game too complex for the technology or your budget

Fun is not proportional to complexity. Keep it simple, and spend to budget to make sure the game design is slick, the art pretty and the music catchy. Technically advanced advergames have their place, but they only have a chance to succeed if you spend enough money.

Mistake: Making a mini-game inside a game

It is a common misconception that this will make a game more fun. It won’t; it will increase the cost and annoy the player.

Mistake: Evaluating the fun of a game in production based on your judgment of the features

The correct way to judge whether a feature is fun or not is to watch the faces of players from your target audience. (This is true until you have enough players so that analytics kick in and you can make further decisions based on data.)

Execution

Mistake: Not stylizing your brand elements to fit the game

If your game is a stylized 2D drawing style, then your logos and products need to be stylized 2D drawings. If this goes completely against your brand rules, it is better to stick to an art style that does not require stylizing the logo or products.

If Coca-cola can do it, so can you.

Mistake: Not making sure the game works well technically

Technology is branding. If your game is glitchy, it affects your brand negatively. That also goes for any technology that surrounds the game, such as a web site or app used for redeeming rewards.

Mistake: Not spending enough on art

The game extends your branding; if it looks tacky, so will your brand.

Besides this, players are more likely to share screenshots when the art looks great.

Mistake: Not spending enough on music and sound

Because music inside a game plays on a loop, it is one of the things that most easily irritate players. Sound effects can be even more grating.

Mistake: Don’t overuse your logo

Aim for building worlds that radiate your brand without your logo needed everywhere. Use other design elements from your corporate identity, and use your logo sparingly. This will help keep the player immersed in the brand universe.

Marketing

Mistake: Not marketing the game sufficiently.

If the game is decent, you may easily become your most popular marketing content. To maximize the number of people exposed to it, you need to market it:

·Make it the hero image on your home page.

·Announce the game with a short video-clip showing gameplay on social media.

·Contact streamers.

·Use non-digital channels: in-store posters, packaging, printed advertising.

Mistake: Overhyping the game

You will look like a fool if you pretend your game is better than it is. In your marketing, be measured. And don’t worry, your game needs not to be the best game to do well. A game that is fun and tied in with your brand in thoughtful ways, can outperform entertainment games when promoted well.

Mistake: Choosing a poor name

Like all names, the name of your advergame should be:

·Reasonably unique

·Easy to pronounce

·Easy to spell

·Memorable

·Relevant

·Evoke the brand

·Searchable (for example, not include non-alphabetic characters)

Operations

Mistake: Not having a mechanism in place to award players with credits manually

Things go wrong, and when they do, you want to be in a position to correct. If a player loses credits (perhaps by a bug), restoring the lost credits is a simple way to keep them playing and prevent a nasty review.

Mistake: Not using your game as an additional marketing channel

Once a player is engaging with your game, you can use it to communicate with the player and the game can be a great vehicle to deliver news and promotions. Push notifications or an in-game dialog or newsfeed are the typical strategies. But be careful — make sure it is relevant and with permission. If you abuse it the player will simply uninstall the game.

Mistake: Not doing A/B testing to optimize the game once it is live

You can improve the performance of the game by doing tests once the game is live. You should also A/B test changes to the game during the campaign, to ensure that you do not harm the game’s performance or introduce bugs that affect conversion.

Mistake: Not putting a system for a community in place

Games that are supported by strong communities live longer; they attract more players since existing community members will be advocates for the game. Make it easy for players to get together, and then manage it. If you don’t, the community may get out of hand and hurt your brand.

Mistake: Not providing a feedback mechanism

You will measure the success of your campaign with whatever relevant KPIs you identified. However, KPIs show only a partial picture. Asking for raw feedback from within the game gives you an opportunity to learn much more.

Mistake: Not planning for supporting the game

Things can go wrong. When it does, you should have a team ready to jump in and fix things as soon as possible. You also need to respond to customer questions or implement changes based on their behavior.

Mistake: Not thinking of cheating

Some players will cheat and spoil the fun for all the other players. Cheating reduces the stakes and renders leaderboards and achievements meaningless. You need a system to detect the most obvious forms of cheating, and a way to respond to cheating and perceived cheating.

Mistake: Not thinking of fraud

This is cheating with the purpose of getting physical rewards. In addition to all the problems with cheating stated above, this actually affects your bottom line and the effectiveness of the game campaign. The actions you take need to be considered carefully to balance loss against your brand image.

Mistake: Not considering the downsides of user-generated content

Where people can type, someone will put a dirty word; where they can build something, someone will build something vulgar. Think about where the line lies between acceptable and unacceptable content, and how you will detect and deal with unwanted content.

Mistake: Not implementing suitable analytics and feedback mechanisms

Analytics point out trouble spots in the conversion funnel. Why are people not signing up for the newsletter inside the game? Are they not reaching that page? Or do they quit the level before they finish it? The information will also be useful for the game design team to adjust the game and improve player engagement and retention.

Mistake: Not communicating game changes clearly

Players love new content, but they despise existing features changing (especially when there are real-life rewards involved). Therefore, changes to the rules of the game should be avoided. However, when you cannot, you need to make what is happening obvious to players, or you will face a lot of negative backlash from them.

Mistake: Not planning for retiring and preserving the game

Games are harder to preserve than other media, and as a result, many advergames made even a few years ago are not playable today. By thinking about the fate of your game when the campaign ends, you can prevent this fate from befalling your game.

Conclusion

Advergames, when made and used right, can have spectacular results. Avoid the mistakes listed here to give yourself the best chance of success.

Did we miss any? Please let me know in the comments.

（source: gamasutra.com ）