Catpurse — A whisker too hard?
How hard should a game be?
Every game has a sweet spot. Just like Goldilocks and the 3 bears, a game needs to find that perfect place between too easy and too hard.
Our survey and other data shows what testers thought of Catpurse’s challenge level. Here is what the data shows:
Question 1: Is this your kind of game?
An encouraging amount of people feel that they could enjoy Catpurse, with 18% saying it was not their kind of game. This 18% is present in the remaining questions.
Question 2: Having fun?
The majority are loving Catpurse, with 18% not enjoying it as much as everyone.
Question 3: Want to keep playing?
A resounding YES! However, there is the 18% again. The telling question follows:
Question 4: How difficult is this game?
It seems Catpurse is pretty hard for some people! The 18% that have not been having a good time, also say it is too hard.
Our analytics package also shows similar trends. This indicates a good fit between analytics and user polling.
How hard should a game be?
A game should first be easy and rewarding with a little challenge.
This keeps the user playing while they learn the ropes.
The middle should be challenging, and the difficulty should gradually ramp up.
The final parts are about mastery and proof of skill for hardcore players.
Progress
We have made the first few levels a little easier, and we will continue to monitor data and listen to feedback. We will use this data to remotely adjust Catpurse’s challenge level over time.
Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment
Eventually, Catpurse will be smart enough to adjust his own difficulty to your needs. Catpurse will sense if you’re having a good time, or if the game is too hard, and automatically adjust himself to suite. To get to this level, we need to collect more data as more and more users play.
If you haven’t downloaded the update yet, do check out the latest version here. Look out for new features coming soon.
