+ Follow

Building Big Social Games

by Amitt Mahajan on Dec 18, 2009

34,279 views

Amitt Mahajan's Social Games Seattle presentation on how to design and develop big social games that reach millions of users daily. Examples from the Facebook game FarmVille are used to illustrate ways to capture large audiences and retain them.

Presented December 16th, 2009 in Seattle

Accessibility

View text version

Upload Details

Uploaded via SlideShare as Microsoft PowerPoint

Usage Rights

File a copyright complaint

57 Embeds 3,949

http://www.amitt.com	2793
http://www.slideshare.net	236
http://goodsteven.blogspot.com	186
http://dinhdangkieuvan.wordpress.com	175
http://rachid-sefrioui.over-blog.com	91
http://ep.t3.co.kr	82
http://jokuak-pc.blogspot.com.es	51
http://www.socialgaminghub.com	46
http://nakedtokyo.typepad.com	26
http://chriscummings01.posterous.com	19
http://theevilnumber27.wordpress.com	18
http://feeds.feedburner.com	17
http://blog.bostondave.net	16
http://www.bruceonder.com	15
http://goodsteven.blogspot.tw	15
http://www.appleap.com	14
http://www.techgig.com	13
http://lifeplus.hiraki.cm2-test.kbb-id.co.jp	12
http://translate.googleusercontent.com	12
http://www.linkedin.com	11
http://jokuak-pc.blogspot.com	11
http://devilchen.tistory.com	8
http://appleap.com	7
http://bostondave.posterous.com	6
http://192.168.60.225	5
http://goodsteven.blogspot.com.es	5
http://yasu-gmor.blogspot.com	4
http://edwinfu.tumblr.com	4
http://idreamer.org	4
http://lifeplus.kyo.cm2-test.kbb-id.co.jp	3
http://obl8.com:8000	3
http://srv04.admin.over-blog.com	3
http://goodsteven.blogspot.in	3
http://goodsteven.blogspot.jp	3
http://whiterabbit.co.kr	3
http://kcity.e-portfolio.org.tw	2
http://goodsteven.blogspot.mx	2
http://kslap.ncuksl.com	2
http://posterous.com	2
http://twitter.com	2
http://socialmediachannel.blogspot.com	2
http://goodsteven.blogspot.hk	2
http://goodsteven.blogspot.ca	1
http://goodsteven.blogspot.pt	1
http://goodsteven.blogspot.nl	1
http://goodsteven.blogspot.com.ar	1
http://namwook.blogspot.com	1
http://140.115.187.41	1
http://static.slidesharecdn.com	1
http://paper.li	1
http://amitt-homepage.appspot.com	1

More...

Statistics

Likes: 211
Downloads: 0
Comments: 10
Embed Views: 3,949
Views on SlideShare: 30,330
Total Views: 34,279

Building Big Social Games Presentation Transcript

Building BIG Social Games Amitt Mahajan Lead Developer - FarmVille December 16, 2009

FarmVille is about RETENTION 28M Players Daily 80M Monthly

So how do we design games to have wide appeal and good retention?

Don’t Turn People Off

Pick themes & concepts people can relate to

The rules of how plants grow is common knowledge

No offending themes -- HARD

Build Social Value

Every time you play you build up a relationship

Replacement for having to go out of your way to keep in touch with someone

Visual Appeal Bright Graphics “ Moments of Joy”

Routine Updates and Events

Keeping your game updated is key to retaining users

No need to go complex, can be as simple as new items

Use metrics and feedback to drive product direction

Marketing is REQUIRED

We have our design, now how do we implement it?

A Bit on Code Architecture

Invest in data driven design and localization

Abstract away platform calls

Make it dead simple to use FB communication channels

Route traffic between your frontend and backend using a single point

Server (PHP) Authority on all game actions Handles all FB comm. Client (Flash) Generates “actions” to send back to server This traffic needs to be verified and reliable Plow/Plant/Etc. Updated Game State Server (PHP) Authority on all game actions Handles all FB comm.

Client Performance Long load times and sluggish framerate KILL retention Get something visible as soon as possible Stream in content, block on load for ONLY what’s needed (HUD/User Data) Adapt rendering to framerate

Server Scaling The Cloud – Autoscale! Everything is Async & Cached Parallelize all parts of architecture DB is redundant datastore only

Caching

Game should be able to run without FB api or your DB available

Profile canvas page loads – Reduce REST & DB calls to 0

One trick: Iframe that precaches FQL calls as game canvas page loads

Q&A

We’re hiring! zynga.com/jobs Email: amahajan@zynga.com

ajithdito Hi, Many Free flash Girls Games: www.dollygals.com 1 month ago

Are you sure you want to

y88games an attractive information about the game, I thought to share my interest and attention when the topic is a goal I was looking for. 4 months ago

HYCLEN 1--Boa noite amigos, Venham conhecer nossos Servidores de Mu Online season 6 O Jogando.net/mu Mu Online Season 6 Fazemos sua Diversão com qualidade,há mais de 5 anos Servers ON 24 horas por dia. Vários Server esperando por você.Venha se divertir de verdade. Venham participar do 6° Megaultrasuperhiper Evento Castle Siege Sejam benvindos ao nosso Servidor. >>Kits DIAMOND,Com asas LVL 4,os kits mais fortes e raros do servidor ,venham conferir. >>Qual o seu Time ?? Tenha o seu Time do coração no Mu Online.Sets do seu Time preferido >>Confiram a nova versão do Shild mais usado no servidor o SHILD POWER v3. >> Lançamento do NOVO Kit Fusion V2,Kit hiper top e bonito. Você só encontra no http://www.jogando.net/mu/ Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002113910611 Site http://www.jogando.net/mu/ HYCLEN Divulgadora Oficial !!! Bom fim de Semana á todos !!! 11 months ago

thvinic brazini, Adm Anunciarbr.net www.baixandojogos.net www.baixandojogos.net www.baixandojogos.net www.baixandojogos.net www.baixandojogos.net www.baixandojogos.net 1 year ago

Jeppe Kilberg Moller, Game Consultant at Kilberg Media basic logic brushed up, nice 1 year ago

Kimi Ray Hi,Amitt,how you can build the Game,the most successful game in just in five weeks? 2 years ago

Lori R Taylor (REV Media Marketing llc) at Lori R Taylor (REV Media Marketing llc) You guys are genius! Love to see a ppt on games you've tried and what DIDN'T work. 2 years ago

gloriadouglas26 Here is the world’s most excellent resource for Farmville strategy guide on

http://farmvilleriches.com/ 3 years ago

Amitt Mahajan, PM & Dev at Red Hot Labs Glad you liked it! I have a follow small up on my site with some extra notes: http://www.amitt.com 3 years ago

Abhishek Shah, Co Founder at Propberg Real Estate Advisors Hey Amit, this was infact a great learning for me... thanks for sharing! 3 years ago