Working on a released free to play title creates a lot of design constraints. Sometimes constraints help to be more creative, but sometimes core elements need to be changed to move forward. In the case of Transit King, a big economy balance and design change had to be made to potentially increase KPIs and create more opportunities for its growth. In this talk we will speak about the process of identifying core problems based on data, evaluating risks and opportunities of potential design changes and see how big alteration in core elements of the game enhanced player retention by 30% and revenue by 40 %

1. TRANSIT KING TYCOON
CASE STUDY
BE BOLD AND MAKE DRASTIC CHANGES
TOMAS KLEINMANN
AUTHOR / PRESENTER
14.10.2019
DATE

2. 5+ Years of Game and Monetization Design
8+ Years of Game Journalism
TOMAS KLEINMANN
CONFIDENTIAL

3. CURRENT PARTNERS
First Light
Games
… and more.

4. Globally launched game
Transport Tycoon vibes
Unique mechanics for mobile
Focus on delivery rather than
production
TRANSIT KING
TYCOON
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5. ● Scale the game!
○ Increase LTV
■ Increase overall ARPU
■ Increase Retention
■ Profitable UA
■ Avoid cannibalization
■ Avoid community
backlash
GOAL
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6. ● Game and Market Analysis
○ Gathering available in game data
○ Market benchmarking and competitive analysis using
AppAnnie
● Deeper Mid/Long Term Evaluation
○ Game economy and current systems evaluation
○ Monetization and special offers evaluation
○ Roadmap evaluation
IDENTIFICATION OF KEY PROBLEMS
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7. ● Progression Loop Weak
● Game Pace, Flow and
Sessioning
● Players amass Soft
Currency
● Information Overflow
● Weak monetization
● Other small/medium flaws
IDENTIFIED
PROBLEMS
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8. ● Feature prioritization
based on:
○ Impact
○ Time
○ Prerequisites Required
○ People needed
WHICH
PROBLEM TO
SOLVE FIRST
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9. ● Feature prioritization
based on:
○ Impact
○ Time
○ Prerequisites Required
○ People needed
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WHICH PROBLEM TO SOLVE FIRST
Do the fastest feature with highest impact 1st!

10. ● Feature prioritization
based on:
○ Impact
○ Time
○ Prerequisites Required
○ People needed
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NOT TODAY
Do the fastest feature with highest impact 1st!

11. CONFIDENTIAL
KEY FEATURE TO RULE THEM ALL
● Game Pace, Flow and
Sessioning
● Players amass Soft
Currency
● Information Overflow
● Weak monetization
● Progression Loop
Weak
● Feature prioritization based on:
○ Impact (High)
○ Time (High)
○ Prerequisites Required (None)
○ People needed (Medium)

12. ● Positive Feedback loop
(Progression loop)
○ Feels good! (Dopamine
shots)
○ Essential for economy based
strategy games
○ Good for monetization
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WHAT DOES IT EVEN MEAN

13. Level 1
Capacity: 1
Fuel: 18 min
Speed: 25 km/h
OLD
Loading: 2 seconds

14. Level 1 Level 100
Capacity: 1
Fuel: 18 min
Speed: 25 km/h
Fuel: 60 min
Speed: 100 km/h
OLD
Loading: 2 seconds Loading: 0.5 seconds

15. Level 1 Level 100
Capacity: 1
Fuel: 18 min
Speed: 25 km/h
Capacity: 1
Fuel: 60 min
Speed: 100 km/h
OLD
Loading: 2 seconds Loading: 0.5 seconds

16. ● Speed has its limits (huge
limits)
● Players don't comprehend
speed in big numbers
● Decreasing time costs on
small time frames does
not feel rewarding
SPEED AND
TIME
SCALABILITY
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17. Level 1 Level 100
Capacity: 1
Fuel: 18 min
Speed: 25 km/h
Capacity: 1
Fuel: 60 min
Speed: 100 km/h
20
NEW

18. CONFIDENTIAL
TOTAL TRANSPORT CAPACITY
game level 1000
old
new
(cars x car capacity)

19. CHANGE ONE STAT?… EZ!

20. ● Changing one number
creates a domino effect in
overall game balance
● Create as few changes as
possible (MVP).
● Balancing non-vital
elements will not change
KPIs
● Spreadsheet and
economy modeling time!
DOMINO
EFFECT
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21. ● What could possibly go
wrong?
○ Forgetting about
non-essential mechanic that
is economically connected
○ Collecting wrong data
○ Creating wrong hypothesis
and making game worse
○ Making community angry
MINIMIZING
RISK
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22. Minimizing risk
● Visualize relations between
balanced mechanics
● A/B test balance changes
○ Pick one change only!
○ Control VS new group (new players
only)
○ Collect data and evaluate!
● Managing community
○ New players don't know the game is
different, but their friends do
○ “Bribe” players for forced change

23. EVALUATION
OF REVENUE
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OLD
capacity
revenue
NEW
capacity
revenue
+32%

24. EVALUATION
OF RETENTION
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D1 D3 D7 D14
+3%
+8%
+13% +14%
Relative improvement of Retention:

25. ● Exponential economy enabled
multiple feature improvements that
were obsolete before
○ Better monetization options
○ Better Pacing and flow options
○ More sink options
○ Better rewards for many
mechanics
■ Daily reward systems
■ Rewarded video rewards
○ FTUE hook
○ And many more...
ENABLER
CHANGE
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26. If you have any questions, we’re available via
Slack, skype and email.
tomas.kleinmann@superscale.com
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THANK YOU