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[Muz]

One of the most memorable bits of game advice I got was from Chris Crawford. He said he spent a lot of time on polishing Balance of Power before releasing it and that's what turned it into a hit game.

There's a kind of formal term for polish now - User Experience. It's used heavily for web and app rather than games, but I think it's a more accurate term than 'polish'. Polish implies that you're thinking about it only after you finish it. But it should be one of the first things you design.

One favorite example is Firaxis games - the recent Civ games and the new XCOM in particular. Things like hotkeys, numpad movement, shortcuts, icon placement. XCOM simplified the TU system into move-attack. It can be played without the mouse. There's no need for me to think about the controls, it's just automatic after a 5 minute learning curve. It makes sense, because Firaxis's style is to build games with high retention rate (addiction).

People talk about things like 'juicyness', but it should be carefully considered whether it improves the UX.

Y Combinator puts UX as one of the higher priorities in app development, in that it increases user retention, increases the viral coefficient, and thus increases money.

It's a bit ironic since games have been cutting out a lot of details when the 'serious' apps are adding fun bits. And a lot of games do things that disrupt the UX like ads or other pay systems.

[Pfotegeist]

I'm prioritizing it. See.


I intentionally left the bad version off my signature. But this is basically Flappy drugs.


The end doesn't justify the means.

[oodavid]

I'm in the middle of a pretty deep UX and UI grind, it's nothing interesting for the devlog which is a shame, but as a web-developer I know that it is indeed super-important - I'll happily spend a good few hours experimenting with menu layouts etc.

For the www one of the easiest measures is the "number of clicks" it takes to do what you want, each can take a lot of programming and add a feature most would argue is superflous, ie:

• Automatically Focus the Login Form
• Take the user to the most accessed page when first entering the site
• Extend the login sessions to last 120 days instead of 8 hours
• Default settings should suit common requirements

etc. etc.

With games I'm coming across the same ilk of tasks that (as you have hinted at) aren't part of the glamour of gamedev:

• My progress syncs across devices / platforms
• I can find my friends on the game

I remember Liero having a very stable multiplayer server / client system at a time when most games got it wrong, it would be difficult to enjoy that game without that foundation of greatness.

[rj]

depends on the game, of course; more feelsy real time junk (platformers, etc) can get away often with minimal UX/UI, or even without a UI at all.

but in general, yes; your UX/UI should look and feel as good as everything else. i spend lots of time on manual juiciness ala button popping, lights, flashes, subtle punchy sfx, etc

[RareSloth]

For the www one of the easiest measures is the "number of clicks"...

This is a misconception. Yes it is something that can be measured but its not an indication of a good or bad UX. Using this rule you could say that everything should be on one page requiring only 1 click. What's more important is making the interaction clear and work as the user intends.

Here's some UX tips for smartphone games that I wrote. https://medium.com/crafting-mobile-experiences/ui-design-tips-for-smartphone-games-593b2a77b194

[PowRTocH]

i think gamefeel is the term that's the best standin for ux instead of polish

[oodavid]

For the www one of the easiest measures is the "number of clicks"...

This is a misconception. Yes it is something that can be measured but its not an indication of a good or bad UX. Using this rule you could say that everything should be on one page requiring only 1 click. What's more important is making the interaction clear and work as the user intends.

Yeah, it's a misconception when you misquote me - I literally followed that ^ with a list of examples indicating how to make better UX changes by thinking about the number of clicks.

Good article though