Block Twist!

Game Link

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sporty.blocktwist  

Project Context

Block Twist is an original concept I conceptualised during our company's pivot back into casual, F2P self-publishing. The game is an original concept that blends traditional Match-3 gameplay with unique rules of rotating groups of four blocks, known as clusters, to form matches, or swapping clusters using drag and drop mechanics for entirely new grid configurations.

Detailed Contribution

MVP Content Design

• Defined all core gameplay design, including gameplay loops, rotation mechanics and swap mechanics

• Designed all block and grid data: total colours, points per match, grid size, etc.

• Designed all level data in-engine: Level score threshold values (randomised between a range), level Moves values per threshold (with post-FTUE generosity), difficulty curve balancing

• FTUE design: Guided animated hand big match, instructional text, FTUE target level score generosity and Moves generosity

• UI/UX design, including buttons, top and bottom bars, settings, slider designs and big match text callouts

• Sourcing all sounds, music and other audio files

Full Project Content Design

• Expansive gameplay mechanics design, including match chains (incremental score multipliers per match) and power-up design

• Detailed meta combining fog-clearing elements seen in newer Match titles, combined with asset build & upgrade meta as seen in titles such as Tetris Block Party

• Accessibility design to better cater for colourblind players. This includes a settings toggle with design that assigns symbols to colours that are readable across all degrees of rotation

• Extended core loop, session meta loop, and progression meta loop outlines

• Detailed narrative elements, including pre-game world context, world themes and world asset designs, character designs and details, plot points and narrative explanations tied into meta elements, such as post-level rewards, fog and desolate lands

• Soft currency and IAP store design

• Detailed onboarding integrating core loop, progression, store and power-up screens

• Extensive data planning, including block matches, chain multiplier values, economy planning (city element unlocks, city element upgrades, number of upgrades required to complete a world, total number of worlds required to be completed to finish core game), level completion rewards and defining daily and weekly objectives

Project Outcomes

The game entered soft launch ahead of schedule, meeting the MVP requirements for a first test: 3 weeks with core mechanics included, much to the delight of Production.

The game has seen multiple paid campaigns and, per milestone, both I and Production report on metrics to ensure we make data-led design decisions throughout each stage of development.

Metrics

Through D1 retention is currently tracking at about 10% (fluctuating across multiple tests, but averaging at about this value), an early evaluation of our first paid campaign showed significant promise to suggest that if we can improve D1 metrics, the game has life:

• 10% of users (those who stay from D1 to D4 - the test window) average 55 minutes of cumulative playtime over a 4-day period. This tells us that there is an appetite to engage in the core mechanics and systems for those who return to the game from D1

• The game has 50% D1 to D7 retention, roughly double the casual benchmark. This suggests there is appetite to not play from D1-D4, but across 7-days too (test window + 3 days)

• Block Twist has 91% Day 0 retention. This validates our alignment between UA, store assets, and technical funnelling.

Lessons Learned Going Forward

We've got a lot of work to do to improve those D1 metrics, rendering everything else almost meaningless. Tweaking level difficulty, adjusting FTUE content, scoring, and text to reiterate the USPs and onboard users more effectively ensures users have complete mastery of the game's mechanics and rules. Sitting alongside this are ongoing reactive design changes based on weekly data as we push regular store updates to give the game the best possible chance of succeeding.