| For those having a hard time getting to the article. <copy> 1. Watching friends screw up is fun This is genius. Draw Something combines the benefits of asynchronous gameplay (easier to play with friends instead of strangers because they don’t have to be online) with the benefits of synchronous gameplay: watching the action in quasi-realtime. Watching your friends painfully draw a crude Tom Hanks stroke-by-stroke is just good ol’ fashioned fun. Even better, this acts as an indirect communication channel for users to write messages and clear the screen before starting the actual drawing. 2. There isn’t a freaking back button When you tap on a game to have a turn, there is literally no way back. You are forced to complete the turn before you can view your other games. Given most players have a lot of games on the go, they are keen to get back to the home screen and see who is ready to play. If you play Words With Friends, how many times have you tapped on a game, not thought of a move then tapped back to try another game? Draw Something forces you through the turn which keeps the whole machine ticking over faster. 3. Play for seconds or hours The amount of time you want to dedicate to playing is completely variable. If you are waiting in a queue you can spend 10 seconds drawing a quick move on a single game. If you really want to knuckle down, you can slave over every pixel for 20 games and spend hours playing it. This is vital for a mobile casual game to fit into all sorts of time-killing / entertainment situations. 4. Natural encouragement to start new games You just finish 5 moves and are waiting on everyone to have their turn…what do you do? Start another game of course! Why wouldn’t you when you can see all those other fun Facebook friends are ready to play? 5. Cooperative playing where scoring actually doesn’t matter Most game developers spend a huge amount of time trying to tune scoring systems and get the balance right. In Draw Something it’s all kinda a bit vague…and that’s a good thing. If you are really into scores, you can dive into it. Most regular players just have fun guessing drawings from their friends (and maybe getting a decent streak). You are essentially working together, which can be a lot less intimidating for people who are worried about not being good at games. 6. Virtual ice breaker with Facebook crushes Seriously, don’t tell me you didn’t start a sneaky game with that guy/gal you don’t really know but thought “why not”. Given the tight Facebook integration, it makes it socially acceptable to start a game with someone on the outer edge of your social circle. Because there isn’t a chat option, it forces you to communicate purely through drawing which can be far less awkward. 7. Words are taken from pop culture Rather than just ripping a bunch of words straight from the dictionary…you end up drawing things like Lady Gaga or Dubstep. Far more stimulating! </copy> |