Shulou(Shulou.com)12/24 Report--

It has been two years since the release of the casual game "Going Balls", but it still appears frequently in the top 10. According to data from data.ai in November 2023, the game has become the second most downloaded super casual game and ranks 19th in the full category. At a time when some people think that the super-leisure model has declined, why does "Going Balls" still have a strong momentum and continue to attract a large number of players? What has its release team, Supersonic from Unity, done to make the game enduring?

Stefan Filote and Ionut Iftimia from Going Balls's production team Pronetis recently shared the creative inspiration and development process of the game, and how the team has worked with its release partner Supersonic from Unity to keep the game alive and become an everlasting game over the past two and a half years.

Q: please introduce the production background of "Going Balls". Is this game inspired by a certain game or type of game? What is your goal when developing this game?

The story of making "Going Balls" can be traced back to our previous game "Gyrosphere Trials" for moderate players. The game performed very well, showing excellent user retention in the past, but gradually lost its vitality over time. The game's screen design is niche and challenging, so while it has a strong appeal to a specific audience, it limits its influence among a wider range of users.

Inspired by this game, we tried to launch a sequel for core players, but instead, the sequel failed to continue the success of "Gyrosphere Trials". We realized that it was time to launch a more popular ball game to attract a wider audience. This is where our super-casual game journey begins.

In the next few years of developing super-casual games, we realized that a successful super-casual game is not just about development and distribution, but to create a game experience that continues to resonate with a wide audience. This is a long-term process and will not stop after the game is released.

Therefore, we decided to carry out a comprehensive transformation of "Gyrosphere Trials". We know that the core game cycle of this game has a lot of potential, but it is too difficult, so we have taken different approaches to create levels that are easier to use, more interesting, and visually more attractive to people of all ages and skill levels. Over the next six months, we worked hard to attract new users, testing and fine-tuning the game until we were satisfied with the results.

Q: what kind of game do you think is an excellent super casual game? Will super leisure gradually decline or will it remain popular forever?

Because of its attractive and easy-to-understand way of playing, almost anyone can quickly get used to super casual games. In addition, super casual games have a short development cycle and can be quickly tested by real users, thus avoiding the risk of investing months or even years in the development of unproven concepts. This makes ultra-leisure an ideal type of game for small teams like us. However, the simplicity and ease of learning of super-casual games also pose a challenge to its longevity.

This is why we combine the concept of super leisure with the mechanism and depth of moderate games when developing games. We regard the release of the game as a proof of concept of the game, and from the date of release, we continue to iterate and improve based on user feedback and data, and continue to add content throughout the life cycle of the game. This approach allows us to maintain the participation of players and establish long-term relationships with them, so that our game products can be on the list for a long time.

Q: what methods did the team take to keep "Going Balls" in the top 10 for a long time? Do you have any suggestions for other game developers?

In order to continue to attract players and provide them with more experience, we continue to develop and test new mechanisms and content. By carefully evaluating the test results, we decide whether to retain or convert the content to ensure the continued attractiveness of the game. Our additions include competitions, game modes, and more levels. Each update introduces new challenges and strategies that allow players to constantly explore new experiences in the game.

Our advice is to try more new things as quickly as possible and keep a close eye on player data.

In addition, it is important to choose a partner who shares your views or thinks more clearly. In our game development process, without the support of the Supersonic from Unity team, we could not have gone so far. They not only encourage us to adopt experimental design methods, but also help us constantly adjust and improve the game through comprehensive A / B testing and in-depth data.

Q: what are the advantages of working with Unity for your game development? Like speeding up development? Is the version updated and easier to deploy?

First of all, the Unity engine has many obvious advantages. Its ease of use, strong and cooperative developer community, performance optimization for mobile devices, and many other features all help to reduce the difficulty of daily development work, which in turn helps us to maintain a fast pace of development. If the work is undertaken by us, the process of game production may never go smoothly.

Then there is the Unity Resource Store, which can be said to be a treasure trove of tools and content. We can use the resources to quickly prototype and test new concepts in the game, and only after the data proves that players agree with these concepts will we start to create a final version of the content.

For example, we are currently adding some skeleton-themed levels, which can be entered from the main game process and are somewhat challenging. Preliminary tests show that this is very attractive to some players, but some players give up this level. In testing how to reduce players' withdrawal from the game due to frustration, we used the Unity Asset Store to quickly build gates, limiting the number of attempts. It is only after testing the victory group that we invest time in producing customized content.

Q: what other plans do you have to make Going Balls a sustained success?

We plan to make a lot of exciting improvements and additions. We are developing new quests, more game modes, and more levels that players have been asking for.

Q: are there any new projects or plans to launch in the future?

There are unlimited possibilities for game creativity, and we have been coming up with new game concepts. But for now, we are devoting all our energies to "Going Balls". For this game, we still have a lot of ideas and plans to achieve, our goal is to keep the game popular!

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