I recently got the chance to play some Shockwave Mini games on a Motorola V3 Razr and I have some obvious criticisms. Rather than review each individual game I played, I thought it better to write an editorial piece with some general statements regarding Shockwave Mini games.
Shockwave Mini games are a series of mostly one-button games where you can pay per game or pay by subscription to have access to multiple games. Each game is meant to be short and simple, providing the user with a quick and enjoyable experience. This is a great concept but there were some flaws in the way the games were developed.
The games are too simple:
I love the idea of making flash games simple and enjoyable. That is exactly what is needed. These games are just a little too simple. One of the games, Carnival Madness, is a one-button game where you shoot slow moving bullets at moving targets. There is nothing more than that. The game is just simply boring.
The gameplay for many of the Shockwave Mini games I played rarely increases in difficulty. As the game progresses it should get more difficult right? Different elements should come into the game to make it more challenging and interesting. This is a fundamental element of game design that many of the Shockwave Mini games lack.
Too much repetition:
It is a great idea to be able to jump from game to game but there is a lot of similarity between games which makes me wonder what the point in jumping between games really is.
This would be a rant of a review if I didn’t offer some suggestions to improve the games. Below you’ll find some suggestions that I think would make the games more fun.
Tweak the games for difficulty:
Small games that are fun to play is definitely the right direction but the current Flash Lite games are a little on the extreme side of this. The games need to be tweaked a little to make them enjoyable. For example, one of the games requires you to stack things on top of each other as high as possible. The game doesn’t ever change and it would be nice to have some variation in the game play. For example, as the player stacks higher, wind affects the tower making it more difficult to stack. You have to stack on either side to compensate.
Combine games into packs to justify repetition:
This is an easy solution. Just combine the games. If I’ve paid for two games that are the exact same I’m going to be angry. But if I pay for a game that includes multiple variations of the same game I’ll be happy.
I have been corresponding with John W. Osvald, Product Manager at Atom Entertainment, Inc. He had some good points to add to my criticism:
“When games are similar we do not offer them both for sale in the Mini Arcade, where users spend credits to own games. We do feel ok if two [similar games] are in the unlimited subscription. Likewise, a game without repeat playability (Can’t Touch This) isn’t offered for individual sale.”
Reasonable guy, yes? Overall, I would say Shockwave Mini games are going to be a great addition to the mobile content business. Just be careful of the games you purchase and try and get a review from us first.
The two versions of minis available are:
Shockwave Minis Unlimited: $3.49/month for unlimited access to all games. The current catalog is 31 games, and they’ll be adding 2-3 every month.
Mini Arcade by Shockwave: Users buy credits redeemable for ownership of single games. 1 credit free, then $3.99 for 3 credits, $4.49 for 5 credits, and $7.49 for 10 credits. Currently, all games cost 1 credit.
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