Life is free to play - a blog about the business of life and games

Setting up a startup is as easy as drinking a glass of water, as hard as chewing a bar of steel.

The post below (pardon the video, I couldn’t resist the meme) is an actual email I sent to my Team-mates and co-founders before taking the final step and incorporating our startup, Cute Attack. We were supposed to be 5 founders. We are now 4.

Gentlemen,

We are nearing the next most exciting point of our project: incorporation. Cute Attack will be OUR company, with OUR products.

It is a most simple, but also most serious business, incorporation.

Incorporation means that the company founders form a bond of mutual trust, commitment and dedication. The fact that this bound is ratified by law makes it even deeper. It also means everyone needs to take decisions for the good of the company, before one’s own immediate professional satisfaction (i.e. doing the shitty work when needed).

With the current, hyper-competitive mobile gaming market it also means that, if we don’t give it our 110%, if we don’t find time and energy where there is none, we most probably won’t have a chance to succeed.

On the flip side, it also means we can move together as one and avoid corporate madness. It means, whether we succeed or fail, it’s on us. It means, if we succeed, the benefits are for us.

It it now time for each one of us to look inward and ask oneself: Is this what I want? Do I trust these guys? Do I not dislike any of them? Do I want to take this burden? Is this adventure what I am really looking for?

If – as I hope – the answer is yes to all of these questions, then shit just did get real and the adventure can start.

Good luck with your moment of self-reflection.

Giuliano

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One thing I never learned is to quickly get over the death of those rare, larger than life individuals that have an aura.

When people with an aura die, whatever that aura is – power, ego, beauty, sex, strength, skill, madness, creativity, aggression, often a mix of many of them – I feel my own life become suddenly heavier.

It’s the slow, crushing feeling of the inevitable demise that awaits all of us. That awaits me.

It happens rarely, since people with an aura are rare.

It happened last night, the night that Steve Jobs died.

Last night, at 2 am, I learned of Steve Jobs’ death from the mad flow of news and sharing activity over the internet. I slept quite badly after that, and not only because of my toddler’s restlessness. I slept with the wispy breath of death circling me, reminding me of its presence.

For the whole of today, that feeling of weight, of gravity, that shroud, has been oppressing me. The words of Steve Jobs’ Commencement Speech at Standford University – now risen to the status of online gospel and meme – have been floating around in my head, teasing and testing me, the knowledge of myself, the love of my work.

Like a stern but wise taskmaster, like a ronin – a masterless samurai – of his own existence, during that speech Steve Jobs presented – in the form of stories – his three core Tenets, centered on Life, Love and Death.

The purpose of this post is – apart from exorcising this dark mood – to compare my personal experience, my work, with the Three Tenets of Steve Jobs.

Are they useful for my life, for my profession? Do they work for me?

I. LIFE (“Connecting the Dots”)

Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

This Tenet is about following what your instinct tells you to do, even if it sounds like a bad idea – for example, dropping from college without a backup plan – and trusting that, if you do that, the dots will eventually connect and things will work out for the best.

Does it work for me?

But I discovered games. Pen-and-paper role playing games, arcade videogames, tabletop miniature and strategy games – much to the chagrin of my mother –  became the funnel of my imagination, the place where I delved with competence and mastery, where I achieved and adventured and explored the new. Unwittingly, I also learned to write creatively, to read and write and speak English intuitively, to strategize, to design worlds and maps and cities and alternative rules and tables and systems, to create living characters, to narrate, to play games in a deep way.

Almost 10 years later, my career in online games started with the crucial years at Habbo, and I rediscovered the power of games in entirely new facets – virtual worlds, MMOs, social games… With it, I fell in love with the Internet and the idea of a global connectedness.

So, almost 10 years later, I finally used all the skills that I had originally learned to escape from reality to build a profession, to create a career, to design the new.

First Tenet: Life. Check.

II. LOVE (“Keep looking for what you love”)

I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

This Tenet is about finding what you love and facing loss with a positive attitude, looking forward and not backward. Every defeat, every loss is an opportunity for learning and improving.

Does it work for me?

In 2008, after the two most successful years in my career at Habbo, I decided to leave the (for me) fabled position of Creative Director to join a Finnish/US startup and – finally, like in my teenager years – build my own world.

We brought together a talented Team from diverse backgrounds, worked manically for 18 months, used everything we knew, innovated, made mistakes, applied love and sweat and talent. And voila, Eco-Rangers - the best looking kids-oriented MMOG of its generation – was born, much to the joy of our publisher, stunned with the quality of the work. We were finally set to go live and send our child into the world.

Then came the financial crisis.

All funding from our publishers’ investors was frozen; we crunched even more, feared for our jobs, fought on, and lost. Our startup collapsed, like they sometimes do; and, worse than that, Eco-Rangers went into stasis, waiting for a new publisher or investor to take the torch and put it live.

It was horrifying. We were devastated. We had achieved a way higher quality than it was ever expected from a Flash-based MMOG. We had immersive gameplay, deep character progression, brilliant 3D characters and pets, fantastic visual design with shiny tech and vibrant nature. All of that, for naught.

In hindsight, that failure taught me much: how to set up a real Team, how to correct my own mistakes in leading professionals from different backgrounds than mine, how to design a game world from nothing, and many other things. It also taught me the limits of traditional casual MMOs, the pitfalls of standardization, the limits of Flash. It taught me to look for new ways.

I found them in social media and social games, in the integration of MMO-type ideas into social networks, into the total connectivity of modern online/social gaming.

It also taught me the value of lightness and simplicity in game and web design. And now, I think this is the kind of work I love.

Second Tenet: Love. Check.

III. DEATH (“Everyone dies, so don’t waste your time and instead create your own path”)

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

…

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

This is the most important Tenet. It’s crystal clear. The fundamental one. The hardest one.

Does it work for me?

I kept on learning it trough the new work that had be done. Through building something entirely new at Crytek, a hybrid service, from scratch, together with brilliant people: an exhilarating experience. Then, I stopped learning it and started listening to other people’s thinking, to a lot of noise, until it became deafening.

Until, one day, I realized I knew what I really wanted to become.

I should have realized it a long time ago, but I trust I was not ready. One day, I’ll probably look backward and see that the dots have eventually connected. Until then, I’ll be even more hungry and more foolish.

Third Tenet: Death. Check.

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The painting displayed is: Black Square, by Kasimir Malevich, 1913

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Giuliano Cremaschi writes about the interconnected worlds of Social Media and Social Gaming, and their inextricable and ever-evolving relationship

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The freshly announced iPhone 4S Siri personal assistant is an awesome tool that helps you managing your daily chores. However, think if you could make it play with you!

One day, hopefully soon, social gamers could use this kind of portable AI to manage some of their gaming activities.

In fact, after tonight’s Apple Keynote was over, I sat down and scribbled down 10 use cases to see if the whole idea makes sense, and it actually might. Of course, it remains to be seen if – and when – this level of integration with apps will be possible with Siri.

Hopefully, some of the kernel ideas described below will inspire the designers and developers of the future social games. Enjoy!

Siri for Social Games: 10 Hypothetical Use Cases

1. HARVEST TIME
Owner: Log into Magic Land. What’s the status of my Giant Strawberries?
Siri: You have 3 Giant Strawberries ready, which convert into 120 coins

2. YOUR MOVE, LOSER
Siri: Hello, I have a Chess Alert for you! Your friend Mark has made his move: Bishop in G4. Should I call up the chessboard, or would you prefer to tell me your move directly?
Owner: Yes, make the move now, please. King in D2.
Siri: Ehm, interesting. Checkmate probability of 95%… on Mark’s next move.

3. NOT ON MY SHIFT
Owner: Log into Zombie Lane. Is my fence still intact?
Siri: The fence is damaged. Three clicks required to repair, sir. I suggest playing the game as soon as feasible.

4. SHARE THE LOVE
Owner: Log into Sims Social and send one Love to Jennifer Wilkins, my current Date. Also, send one Love to Ralph Bear.
Siri: One Love sent to Jennifer Wilkins. Ralph Bear is currently in “Ex-lover” Status, though. Please confirm request…

5. MAJOR MAYORSHIP
Siri: Foursquare Alert! We’re one click away from achieving Mayorship of Club Berghain. Should I check in?
Owner: Are you serious? Do it at once, I want to max my clubbing credibility!

6. AND 1, 2, 3… SOLD!
Owner: Log into World of Warcraft Remote Auction House. Search for Potions of Illusion on sale.
Siri: One Potion of Illusion is available at 25 gold starting bid, with “buy now” option for 35 gold. Should I purchase it directly or place a bid?

(Note: This behavior would probably fit Ebay auctioneers quite well).

7. RED ALERT!
Siri: Empires and Allies Alert! Your friend Frank Rage has attacked you. Also, your Battle Blitz enemy Reiner Knizia has attacked you!

8. SHORT ON FUEL
Owner: Log into Adventure World. What’s my Energy status? Should I play now?
Siri: You have just 3 Energy left. According to your requirements, I’d suggest waiting for another 54 minutes before logging in and playing a session.

9. TERRITORIAL DOMINATION
Owner: Log into Shadow Cities. Are there any enemies around this block?
Siri: Level 3 Architect in Senate Square, 200m from present location. Engage enemy with standard Dominator Rune spell?
Owner: Indeed. Kick his ass!

10. SKILL ME UP
Owner: Log in to Glitch app. How’s my Skill training going?
Siri: Meditation II complete in 3 hours, 22 min.
Owner: Abort and train Mining II instead.
Siri: Done. Mining II Skill complete in 22 minutes.

Do you have more ideas on how to use Siri for social gaming? Unless you believe they’ll make you a billionaire, feel free to share them in the Comments section below.

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Giuliano Cremaschi writes about the interconnected worlds of Social Media and Social Gaming, and their inextricable and ever-evolving relationship

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We, the Concerned Social Game Players and Creators, hereby announce by unanimous vote that You, Social Games As They Are Today, are condemned to the maximum penalty – Death by Guillottine – to be carried out at the end of this blog post.

Before the sentence is carried out, we shall list the 7 Deadly Sins of Social Games As They Are Today, which have been perpetrated for several years and which undeniably prove your guilt:

Lust

In lusting for our money, you have become more and more aggressive in trying to monetize our time. Which is all good, if you just didn’t try it with every angle of the game, sneaking it in at the last second, just when we thought we already unlocked that new feature or quest or asset. We, as users, want to pay (hell, we LOVE to pay for good stuff, look at all those years we payed monthly for World of Warcraft even we didn’t have time to play it). Just explain to us, possibly even in advance, why and what for and when we have to pay, and – if we like the game – we’ll do it gladly.

Gluttony

Your Energy-based mechanics love to devour our precious Time, like old Chronos did with his “beloved” Titans. We understand game time can – and should be chargeable – if that’s your preferred monetization method. Just don’t sneak it in and don’t make it happen so frequently, so that our Energy ends in a few minutes and often in the crucial moment of an event, causing ludus interruptus and great frustration.

Greed

You take and take and take, but you don’t give much in return. Your click-based, rote mechanics are fine, but only as long as we get new content when we level up, and also new features and excitement. Give us also a sense of discovery. Gamification should go hand in hand with Gameful, you know what we’re saying?

Sloth

Instead of just refining and tweaking Energy-based and Time-management game loops until you can squeeze every last drop of Hard Currency, how about your get your ass out of the chair and try out something new? You don’t need to implement hardcore game features, just look around in the gaming world and copy, steal, tweak, invent, keep on trying. Yeah, something like the Empires and Allies’ Battle Blitz. Or you could try out and elegant HTML5 instead of asset-bloated Flash.

Wrath

Do not get enraged at being judged, found guilty and decapitated. This whole, nasty thing is actually done to help you, the Social Games. In the medium and long run, this will work miracles in making the next generation of social games better, more exciting, successful and with happier players.

Envy

Don’t envy the power, majesty and money (and big, bad investors) of Facebook. Think Quality, think Vision, think the Medium or Long Run. Not everybody can go IPO in 3 years or so by refining the same mechanics and going overdrive with the viral potential of Facebook, flooding people’s News Feeds in doing so. Actually, only Zynga can go IPO like that, and only Zynga will. So, learn what you can from Zynga, then forget Zynga and focus on something new. Forget the numbers for a millisecond, focus on the concept,  on the gameplay, on new and more engaging ways to viralize your game, on the target demographics.

Pride

Don’t think can things can go in the same way forever. That there is no need to do better stuff. That you can continue to be Social Games that are not really Social, because there is no real-time engagement, no long term involvement with friends, no discovery of new friends to play with. That you’re never going to be accountable for bad quality and frustrated players. Well, since right now you’re on the chopping block, I guess you figured that out already.

THE END IS NIGH. MAKE WAY FOR THE NEW.

And now, alas, the time has come to end your suffering and bad rep and make way for the New Coming of Social Games. We see glimpses on the horizon (Social Sims, a few others…), but it’s not enough. However, we see hope after this Rightful Onslaught, if We, the Game Creators, will focus on making Social Games a genre to be universally proud of.

But now, enough with words.

…

The time has come.

…

Swissssh… CHOP.

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Giuliano Cremaschi writes about the interconnected worlds of Social Media and Social Gaming, and their inextricable and ever-evolving relationship

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The rise of the real time activity Ticker (i.e. the new notifier bar on the right column of the FB Feed) and of real time features – such as the new Facebook Timeline –  and behaviors in Social Media will (hopefully) change the way traditional social games are designed and played.

In a social game or social network, social interactions and communication can be synchronous (in real time, right here and now) or asynchronous (persistent, “saved” and easily accessible later on).

Synchronous (Real Time): 1. Suppose that we’re in a game: I throw you a ball, you can catch it now or the ball falls irredeemably to the ground. 2. I start a video chat with you and tell you I love you, if you’re there you’ll hear it, if not the moment is lost. 3. A friends posts something into a real time feed, if I don’t read it soon the message will be pushed into oblivion under the weight of the constant feed of real time news.

Examples: new Facebook real time Ticker and Timeline; Google instant Search; Twitter feed; basic MMO and virtual world avatar interaction; chat services.

Asynchronous (“Slow” time): 1. I throw you a ball and then I log out, the “system” where we are playing freezes the ball in time; when you log in into the system, you get notified there’s a ball flying towards you, and you can decide to catch it or not. 2. I record a video where I tell you I love, and you can replay it when you feel like. 3. I post a poem into my feed, tomorrow morning my friend will check it out.

Examples: Facebook Top News; Google+ Stream; classic social game gifting, visiting and invite messaging; email, etc.

The ebb and flow of these concepts has been constant over the years in both Social Media, Social Gaming (and even Search.)

The Rise of the Ticker and Timeline

In Social Media the current trend is to go more and more towards real time, with a constant update of activity from one’s social graph and, ideally, actionable options (Consume/Share/BUY). The topic is super hot right now, what with the new Facebook ticker and other big features such as Facebook Music and Movies, to be revealed at f8; what with the rumored iPhone 5 ticker and the full on Twitter integration of Apple products coming soon.

How about Social Gaming? So far, Zynga, wooga and the other major studios have followed the Social Media bandwagon (it’s a symbiotic relationship, after all) and based their designs on basic asynchronous messaging system. Now that things are moving fast forward to real time behaviours, is Social Gaming going to follow?

Let’s have a quick look at history, and try to guess where things might be going.

A Brief History of Time in Social Gaming

First, there came the virtual world, essentially a visualization of the chat. It was fully real time: I am here and I interact with you right now through my avatar (we chat, we dance, etc). The first, and currently still best example – a hangout that has lately also been gamified and made more sticky – is HABBO.

Then came the persistent MMO, a full blown persistent world. Again in real time, but with asynchronous communication and gameplay having a strong role (messaging and inbox; save a character’s progress; use of offline time to train skills, like in Eve Online).

Finally, came the rise of the (as of now) old Facebook – which is based on asynchronous communication and sharing – and time stood still for social gaming. With the various Villes’ coming to dominate the market, social games were simply plugged into Facebook’s social graph and used Facebook’s messaging system as the base of their gameplay. This meant easy virality, asynchronous communication, super low entry barrier, and automated messages that can be reacted upon days after they are sent (“Frank sent you a Rose. Click here to send one back”). Only competitive games such as Zynga Poker kept a resemblance of real time.

Get Real (Time)

Welcome to NOW. Social Networks of all kinds are moving to real time features beyond simple chat. Google+ has Hangouts. Twitter was born real time. Facebook has the Timeline and two new Tickers, one of which is specifically for Games. The iPhone5 will have its own ticker too, possibly integrated with Twitter.

And Social Games? Well, the Habbo-clone and winner of Tech Crunch Disrupt Shaker Facebook game is a real time chat and dating service/virtual world. Core games like Gunshine use fully real time MMO behaviors. The “ugly duckling” of social media – MyYearbook – has a platform for real time and multiplayer gaming. And so will GFACE, the next-gen social network for sharing and gaming.

From purely asynchronous social games based on viral messaging, we might (hopefully) be going back to a more exciting and less spam-driven set of game behaviors. Hopefully, the big publishers such as Zynga, Playfish/EA, wooga etc will follow suit and – Facebook allowing – integrate real time playing and communicating in their games.

A practical example? Here’s my idea on how a future real time social game notification could work on a Game ticker:

In this case, what matters in the notification is that it’s about a game going on RIGHT NOW. If you happen to be reading the Game ticker at the time this notification is sent, you can help your friend. If not, you’ll never see the message. No spam, no annoyance, better quality, deeper interaction (the person whose game life you just saved will see who did it, of course).

I believe that real time interactions – through an avatar, chat or webcam or other mean – is the key to building deeper and better gaming experiences, which can involve the – much coveted by gamers – true multiplayer realtime gameplay. Classic viral messaging still works, but its glory days are over, and the social gaming industry should adapt fast.

Of course – pardon the pun – only time will tell what’s really going to happen.

Would you play multiplayer social games in real time? How to master and balance both concepts of time in social gaming? Join the debate by leaving a constructive comment below.

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Giuliano Cremaschi writes about the interconnected worlds of Social Media and Social Gaming, and their inextricable and ever-revolving relationship

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The reason for the success of Sims Social? Forget the franchise, it’s all about getting close and personal.

THE RISE OF SIMS SOCIAL

Over the past weeks, I’ve been following the astounding growth of Sims Social, the latest installment of the Sims franchise, developed by Playfish and published by EA. The numbers are quite astonishing, something unheard of since the rise of the social games.

How did this happen? The first thing that comes to mind is the brand. The Sims is the most successful franchise in PC history, with more than 150 million copies sold worldwide. Hence, it’s natural that the fans of the previous games would flock to the latest version of the franchise. However, that is not enough to explain the skyrocketing success of a game in a market where the target demographic is – at least as of last year – comprised of middle aged players – the majority women -, many of which are not “real” gamers and did not play the original Sims.

So, again, how did this happen? Let’s try to think social and find the solution.

I AM (AND AM NOT) MY SIM

In Sims Social players take the role of a Sim, an avatar (a kind of surrogate) that lives a simulated life resembling real peoples’ lives. Eating, sleeping, dating, building a house, tending the garden, making money, increasing the value of their property: they do what we do. So, where’ the difference with games like Adventure World or Magic Land or scores of other social games, where I have a character to develop, and also a land to tend to and make more valuable?

The difference is that the Sims are people; they are us, but not fully. In Sims Social I am a person, not a fantastic character, and I meet other people, other surrogates, and we do together what we could conceivably do in real life, but with virtually no limits in variety and frequency. We chat, fight, flirt, dance, date, have sex, split, hook up again.

HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS

If a Sim flirts and makes a pass and the system decides the other Sim is receptive (to be frank, the game’s relationship parameters are quite easy to game), their relationship bar moves right, towards the next level of closeness. If the Sim behaves nastily, the bar moves left.

The relationship types are many: “Acquaintances; Friend; Good Friends; Dating; Going Steady; Ex-Lovers; Awkward Friends”. Also, players – and their Facebook friends too, if they so wish – are notified of big changes in their Sims’ relationship status.

Through my Sim, I can “play human” and “play life” with other surrogates of real humans. We are our Sims, but we are also not. It’s personal, but it’s also safe. The Sims’ life is a life with no strings attached.

THE POWER OF WOO-HOO!

This key gameplay element includes that most eminently social activity: sex. The Sims Social, thanks to its excellent design and balanced tone of voice, introduces online dating and sex to a social game in a safe and fun way. Since the Sims don’t meet in real time and everything is asynchronous and done with people known to the player (her/his Facebook friends), there is no sense of stalking, no awkwardness.

As a player, I control how much I want to reveal to the owner of the Sims I flirt and do things with: a personal notification; a notification to all our friends; or nothing at all – in which case our Sims had sex, I received points and goods (yes, that mechanic persists), but only I know about it.

It’s for these reasons that I believe Sims Social is a game changer on the social gaming panorama. (Also, it probably hits a different target demographic than the traditional Villes, but this is a topic for another post).

It’s the first truly social game. A game that – with all its flaws and sometimes oversimplified gameplay – connects people through the thrill of simplistic, but effective, simulated human relationships, among which are prominent the sexual ones.

Sex. The oldest social game. Sims Social, the first truly social game.

Do you agree that Sims Social is more social than other social games? Is it for the reasons described above, or for other reasons? Let’s discuss in the “Comments” section.

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Have you ever played a traditional social game (a Ville of any kind) and felt that, well, it’s not really that social?

Be it for the lack of real time interaction, be it for the heavily mechanical feeling of their game loop, the real social experience never feels complete in even the most popular and best designed social games.

On the other hand, full-blown MMOs (from World of Warcraft to Runes of Magic to myriad others) allow for real-time communication, a true multiplayer experience, complex interactions and even the forging of new friendships.

However, their massive requirements in terms of time, effort, complexity, numbers and itemization strategies, make them… well, some call it a full time job. If you’ve been there, you know what I’m talking about.

However, MMOs, as well as other well designed multiplayer gaming experiences, can offer – as the much quoted (forgive me if I’ll do the same) Jane McGonigal discovered – an epic meaning, a sense of blissful productivity in achieving something together.

Can Social Games borrow the best part of MMOs (meeting people, epic meaning, the sense of togetherness) and merge them with the quick gameplay, super-low entry barrier and open nature of games such as Sims Social or Empires and Allies?

It would be an achievement in terms of quality and, arguably, a success in terms of longevity and revenue stream.

A marriage made in heaven.

So, how would you make Social Games truly social?

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