The document discusses strategies for building successful social games, including starting with an engaging core game, mapping user funnels such as tutorials and leveling up, leveraging viral channels for marketing, measuring key metrics, and using design patterns like progress bars and achievements. Common user funnels include tutorials, sharing, gifting, and leveling up, and the document provides examples of metrics to measure for funnels like tutorials and gifting.

1. Building Social Games
Design Patterns & Actionable Metrics
Hiten Shah
Facebook & Casual Games Meetup • June 16, 2010

2. Creating a Social Game
• Start with a great game!
• Content is King & Creativity is the Queen
• Map the game to specific user funnels
• Create and measure each step of your funnels

3. Common User Funnels
• Tutorials (Sign Up / First User Experience)
• Sharing (Viral)
• Gifting (Viral)
• Leveling Up (Engagement)
• Virtual Goods (Engagement & Revenue)

4. Marketing a Social Game
• Cross Promotion (Free)
• Viral Channels (Free)
• Ads (Paid)

5. Cross Promotion

6. Viral Channels

7. Ads

8. Design Patterns

9. Game Mechanics
Progress Bars
Friending
Achievements
Gifting
etc...

10. Progress Bars

11. Friending

12. Achievements

13. Gifting

14. What to measure (Gifting)
• Clicks on the gifting tab
• Effectiveness of gifting prompts
• Gifting funnel
• Popularity of the gifts sent

15. User Interface and Communication
Prompts
Emails
Tutorials
etc...

16. Prompts

17. Email
vs
Use SendGrid.com for Transactional Emails

18. Tutorials

19. Bouncing Arrows

20. What to measure (Tutorials)
• Conversion rate for each step of the tutorial
• % of people who come back the next day
• Traffic sources

21. Tutorial Funnel

22. Thank You!
hshah@kissmetrics.com
@hnshah
Questions?