Hi guys,

When designing a game, I have been taught that it is important to first do a competitor analysis. However, I'm not too sure how to go about writing a competitor analysis. I would like to know how you guys would go about writing the competitor analysis, and if there are any other things I should know about regarding this. Thanks and God bless

http://books.google....nalysis&f=false

Page 309

As you can see it is more associated with the selling of the game as a document. That said it can be a valuable tool in which you can identify common features to your game's genre as well features that can be improved on - whether the competitors or yours. I hope this helps

Hmm forgot to address the actual wording of your thread title "How to do it"

• Identify your competitors i.e. those games which fall into the same genre and if necessary the same subgenre
  
• Choose a decent selection of ranging from successful (mostly) through to failed (educational purposes)
  
• DO NOT spend several hundreds of dollars buying those games (unless you want to) - there should be more than sufficient information on the web as well youtube videos etc.
  
• You then need to determine what aspects you wish to look at i.e. reviews, gameplay, market share etc
  
• Upon deciding these aspects (they may change as your document becomes more defined) research each aspect one at a time making notes under headings
  
• Determine in what ways your game design differs from the other games - make notes (strengths and weaknesses)
  
• Go through your work and extract a summary of each game you reviewed through each aspect along with appropriate example or two - do not take a novel's worth in extracting!
  
• Write your document (please note the format/style as suggested in the link for how to frame it i.e. mini-pitch, unique features, competitors etc).
  
• Review edit amend as needed.
  
  
  Just remember you will research more competitors than you are likely to use in the document and the nature of the document being associated with the selling of the product should not selling your product short, Your extra notes , criticisms, weaknesses etc you should hold onto though in order to strengthen your own game etc

This is more of a business than game design question, so I'll move you to our Business & Law forum.

I don't think you need to use such complicated words You basicly should play most games similar to the one you are making, estimate which are good and which are bad and understand why each of these is good/bad. Then you should make a plan so your game ends up in the "good" group

Jovince,
I prefer calling this a "competitive analysis," not a "competitor analysis."

Identify your competitors i.e. those games which fall into the same genre and if necessary the same subgenre

I would expand on that. Consider the game's audience. Who are the players who'll play your game -- what games are they playing? And consider the reviewers -- what games will they compare to yours?
Your game is reminiscent of what existing games?
Now ask yourself, and write:
How is your game similar to those existing games, how is your game different, and how is your game better than those existing games?
How will your game steal market share from those existing games?

1. You should ask yourself who exactly are you aiming for with your game. Ex. hard core gamer, families, children, etc.
2. Then, find your competitors who are also aiming for the same crowd. Check to see if the genre is the same, the style of the game, and fanbase.
3. Find out what advantages you have against your competitor in impressing the crowd.
A. Ask what your crowd wants and doesn't want
B. Find out what you have that will impress others or what won't impress
C. Find out what your competitor that will impress others or won't impress
D. Find out which of these overlaps with what your crowd wants and doesn't want
4. Time to act upon your research. Try to boost what you think will impress your people, and minimize what they don't want. Reach for perfection and have your friends play it to get an honest opinion. Then try to advertize with the internet on sites like youtube or etc.