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I have never been a fan of computer games, consoles and not even mobile games. However there have been periods of my life where a single game has created a bit of addiction. I still remember days spent playing Ogame or Pro Evolution Soccer on the first console I have ever had, the Playstation 2. SmashHit seemed to have created that same addiction that I now have for another game, Clash of Clans.
While SmashHit was a challenge for a few weeks, Clash of Clans is a game that is supporting the keys that we found in the most successful games of the past years. This game is a never ending one, there is no end, no limit and it keeps you addicted 24/7, just like Ogame used to do. The aim of Clash of Clan is to build a village, start being a capitalist by accumulating gold and elixir and fight against other villages.
The concept is pretty simple and the fact there are millions of people who are competing against you, it keeps you on your smartphone in a never ending experience. Yes, the addiction is not due to the game itself, but in the way it is structured. A few days ago, I was updating the Town Hall, which is the point of reference for the entire village, and the update was four days long. Every single upgrade or action you do takes time and that’s why you are waiting most of the time, instead of playing.
This game incorporates what the Age of Empire discovered a decade ago, the ability to let the user arrange what they want in the way they want. You have a max of units for each upgrade of the Town Hall, but you are free to structure your own village in the way your prefer. It’s just like creating your own small world, which from time to time, sends you notifications regarding things built or people attacking you.
Yes, the worst thing is waking up in the morning and finding out someone attacked you. Instead of checking my emails, the comments on the website or any other important thing that may have happened during the night, I have started checking how my village is doing, collecting gold and elixir, and planning to attack other people.
The success of this game, which counts more than 100M downloads on Google Play, is based on those principle we have underlined more the once. The game doesn’t finish and that’s why people keep being engaged. The possibility of having a never ending game encourages you to compete with the other players and raise your score, instead of trashing it as soon as you have completed all the levels.
Further the game is extremely simple. Even though there are several different concepts to be learned and things to be built, this game comes from a well defined generation, following Age of Empire, so it feels natural to play with it. What the gamer can also do is interact with the online users, get into a clan and start fighting with other clans.
Coming from Ogame and having played Age of Empire, it seems to me they have combined these two games, an online experience and an offline one, in a single game on a smartphone. That’s what has probably made them successful. People are not stopping to use their laptops, but if you are looking for more engagement, it’s more likely you’ll find it on a smartphone, because in a game where you have constantly to check how your village is doing, you need a fast and easy way to do it.
Clash of Clans is one of those games that has opted for a freemium model, with in app purchases, and free download. For the company, this is supposed to be much more beneficial, in terms of revenues, but for the user experience is bit of a “problem”. If you spend money, you’ll move quicker, you’ll get stronger and you’ll probably be one of the best players. This is what ruins the gaming experience, but they were obviously forced to find a way to make money out of the game.
Although this game belongs to a niche market, I think the ability of being on a smartphone has helped them a lot. That’s why a lot of people who don’t belong to this niche are playing it, because it has moved to a platform that we all share “in some way”. I’d recommend to give it a try, not because it’s the best game I have ever played with, but because they have got 100M downloads and if you want to be entrepreneurial, you also have to understand the things that surround you.
