I play browser game Marketland on Facebook. It is fun, and I find some way to improve the game design and user experience, so I wrote this article. What do you see about that? What is your opinion, Please give me some insight. Thanks.

Overall game review:

This game is easy to learn, it provide a lot of items to build and sell, and give the grow-up fun.

The drawback is that it is easy to master, especially for experienced gamer. They may be bored after having learnt the main gameplay.

I think the reason is lacking of a rich variety of gameplay, a good story to engage the user, distinct but fun characters, and sociality that are the basic of social games.

Solution suggestion:

1. Story

A good story can add senses of participation and immersion of users. Why do you open a supermarket? Just for money? Yes, that is fine. But how about the customer’s lives? I think the game goal is better not only for money, but also for benefits of people. We could add story (mainly dialogues) to below Scenes.

l Quest

l Main event

l Sale event

l Milestone

l Novice teaching

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Narrative to introduce new commodities and portray characters

2. Character

To enhance character, we can build look attraction and add personal metrics for gameplay. There are a variety of people and they have different needs. They have to be meet through different tools.

Ø Enrich the attraction of character

Add name (no name no personality)

Add personal introduction (all people have backgrounds that make us fun)

Appearance differentiation (people of different hierarchy should be discern by appearance)

Ø Add personal metrics

Prefer item: The items which people prefer, including commodities, wall papers, doors, coin ups, and decorations .etc. Customers will add their budgets according the number of the items on store.

Move speed: Quick speed means short shopping time.

Character: means different reaction to incident. For instance, tolerant character means reduced reaction to negative incident.

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Character interface

Ø Shopping partners

When we go shopping, we sometimes go with others, and interact with each other. It is fun to include that in game.

Leave together: one person leave, others in the same group leave too.

Check out together: only the last one should check out.

Moods influenced together: one get happy, others too.

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Shopping partners (group1)

3. Incident

Like rhythms of music, incidents help to reduce boring, add depth and fun to game. According to level, incidents could be divided to below groups.

Ø Slight incidents

Thieves

Special guests

Out-space aliens (disguise in human appearance, cost eyes to discern?and player will get surprise?when click)

Naughty children (spoil goods)

Pets (spoil goods and affect customer’s moods)

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slight incident

Ø Mid incidents

Mice (move fast and in bunch, must be click-on quickly. Otherwise cause damage to goods, make customers unhappy.)

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Mice incident

Abnormal person (scare all customer to leave for a period, must be click-on for many times)

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Abnormal person incident

Cockroach (scare all customer to leave, must put drugs for some ranges)

Ø serious incidents

Power off (can’t operate for period of time, must put generator on)

Robbery (battle mode. Put security to ward off robbery and they will automatically fight)

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Battle

3. Joint operation

In reality?the supermarket also rents its counters to other brands, then collect rent fees, those counts for a big of the operation revenue. This is an important gameplay, why not bother to add on.

Ø Brand level. According to total sale revenue, brand has different level. The higher the level, the better the commodities.

Ø Rent fees. A portion of the sale revenue of the brand will come into the rent fees. Players should collect the rent fees in intervals.

Ø Sale condition. There are good, middle, bad, or very bad condition, according to the customer numbers in a given time. There will be different rent revenue in different sale condition, so the players should call for more customers for more rent fees.

Ø Auto manage. The rent counter will auto manage its commodities. The commodities will auto on shelf when the stock is below 50%

Ø Brand leave. The brand will leave when the sale condition is bad in a period of time. If you want it come back, you should buy it back again.

Ø Brand sale royalty. The more brand sale revenue, the more brand sale royalty, and the more rent fee you can collect.

Ø Loss. The brand incident loss will be compensated by player in proportion

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Joint operation

4?visit a stranger’s room

In this game you can’t visit other stranger’s market because there are no stranger’s market on display list, you have to add some friends first for visit. I think this mechanic is not very friendly. Better allowed to visit others’ market freely, because it is hard to invite friends to play games, really.

Interface

1. The Build interface is hard for choosing items, it is too small, and is below the screen. We can make it more visible and easy to change its pages.

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Original interfacce

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Modified interface

3?hover on to display thinking.

Seeing the customers thinking is necessary for knowing their moods, but you have to click the character to open a new interface to see that. It is more convenient to display the thinking when just hover on the character.

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Display thinking when hover on

A good story can add senses of participation and immersion of users. Why do you open a supermarket? Just for money? Yes, that is fine.

I disagree here, a good story doesn't make a good game.

A story is just a mechanic for games adding one in and expecting it to improve the game won't work, it's like adding in your favourite song then expecting the game to be better for it.

Also who wants to read or even watch a long story for such a simple game, imagine you had to read a page of text or watch a twenty second movie for minesweeper.

A good rule of thumb is to make the story as complex as the game.

"A supermarket chain is opening a new store, do you want to apply for the management job?" This is all story I need or am willing to read for the game.

To enhance character, we can build look attraction and add personal metrics for gameplay. There are a variety of people and they have different needs. They have to be meet through different tools.

These "characters" aren't persistent, making them complex means nothing.

What is the point if the character has a name and a back story, if the character disappears forever when they leave the store?

Is Terry's beautiful girl important if we never get to meet her?

Does my comment mean anything if you don't return to read it?

What about "freedomkiller" will that name have meaning or fade into obscurity?

A name, a face and a back story don't give value to a character, they derive there value from the character.

Also I remember that the characters did have names, the names of your Facebook friends. Still they weren't persistent.

Shopping partners
When we go shopping, we sometimes go with others, and interact with each other.

I like this idea a lot.

Hi?thanks for your comments:
1.I agree that " a good story doesn't make a good game." A good story is just appropriate when it is as complex as the game.
But I think game is better that if it add some talking or some "snacks" among its costumers or staffs. When introducing a new series of commodities like summer beach fits or new custom or the first robbery incident? we may need some plots to attract the player? not necessarily a complete story? but some scatter things.

2.Yes,adding character complexities are no sense when the costumer just appear one time forever.How about making the same character for use constantly. I mean not only the Facebook members for use, but also add permanent character(AI).