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[JasonPickering]

what do you guys think? do you care about highscores and leaderboards? I am making this game. and I added leaderboards, but I dont care about entering my highscore, so I just wonder how everyone else feels.

http://www.swfcabin.com/open/1287441734

P.s. press space to go up and a score only counts if you land the balloon.

[deathtotheweird]

I never cared for high scores or getting high scores.

Like Flotilla, the game has a high score leaderboards but I never sit down and play the game just to beat my old score, I sit down and play it because I enjoy the game and wanna see how far I can get. Scores are always secondary.

Some people really like them, as you can tell by thousands of youtubes of various games, people always like to go for the highscore. Back in the arcade days it was different, because you could brag to your friends face and shit talk them (which had some meta-game fun to it) but now...ehhh.

[PlayMeTape]

I love personal high scores in simple games like coptra so it might be appropriate for your game.

By the way I tried your game and first cloud I crashed into and my browser went bang. I'm using firefox. Just a small heads up.

[Jonathan]

I think it really depends on the game and community.  There are definitely some games where high scores seem pretty meaningless, but there are certainly times when it's fun to challenge yourself and try to beat an old score.  I feel this way about flash renditions of old arcade games, as well as puzzle games like Tetris.  I think with XBLA and Facebook, people are more inclined to push points because their scores are posted publicly.  Competing against friends is an incentive for a lot of people, which is why games like Bejeweled Blitz do well. 

As allen said though, for me personally, this type of score competition is not nearly as compelling as the old days where you could trash talk your friends at arcades... but I guess for a lot of people it's still fun. 

[Antiserum]

I think that many games benefit greatly from high scores. If you want to attract more plays, high scores can keep lots of players returning for more replays than they otherwise would. I also believe it's in most people's personalities to be competitive in this day and age.

[iffi]

Depends on the game, but in many cases, especially games that naturally have scoring systems anyway, it's a fun challenge that can add a lot of replay value to a simple game by giving a reason to keep playing. A few months ago I played Morplee a lot more than I think I should have, just to improve my highscore.

[magnum_opus]

I really liked the high scores in project gotham because they were tangential to the actual goal. It felt more like the game was recognizing the fact that I was way more awesome than called for. As opposed to say any other racing game in the world where it doesn't matter if you limp across the finish line half broken .0001 second in front of the next guy or blaze in a minute ahead after a perfect run.

[Seth]

The only kinds of high scores I ever care about are the ones that actually measure something--say, number of kills in a match as opposed to 108324 points in Super Mario Bros.

[initials]

I think they matter.
I got a high score on the Cirqus Voltaire Pinball machine once and it was an amazing feeling.

In games like Canabalt, it's nice that they have high scores, but it's so hard to even come close. Sometimes it makes you feel incompetent.

It would be nice if there were prizes for high scores, rather than just bragging rights.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

yeah i've thought about offering prizes for high scores in my games before actually; one idea is a contest for an SD speedrun (after it's done) for fastest time. it'd be easy to cheat though so i'd probably make it a requirement that they record it as a video.

but anyway, i care about high scores for some games (like garden gnome carnage or coptra or super punch out or geometry wars) and don't care about them for other games. i think what helps is 'best score among your friends', done through facebook or other means. it's a lot more fun comparing your score to all your friends than to compare it to the some superskilled guy in korea or something who you never heard of before.

[JasonPickering]

I am actually using Mochimedia's leaderboard. (i learned about it from Chase Goose 2) It allows you to log in using facebook, twitter and myspace. and you can publish your scores right to your wall to challenge friends with. you can also add a friends list right in the leaderboard i think too.

[Ego_Shiner]

i always like getting high scores in actual arcade cabinets because it makes me feel badass. otherwise i dont care much. i guess it works sometimes in game like rescue the beagles and probability 0

[Paint by Numbers]

At the very least, I think they can matter in shmups because of the crazy-ass metagame shmups have. Even after you beat the game, you can still spend a massive amount of time and have lots of fun completely dominating the game and crushing everyone else under your heel with ridiculous achievements. Of course, you don't have to have high scores in any game, although it's advisable in tiny arcadey games like the one JasonPickering linked.

[darthlupi]

That's a good question! 

I think high scores matter MORE the more fun it is to get the score!  An interesting scoring mechanism can add a lot to a leader board.  Also, if the score is very polished and presented well to the player it helps. 

Also, make it obvious as hell what your score is!  It would be even better if the top score was displayed in comparison to what you currently have.

[AshfordPride]

I spent most of my summer playing the Metal Slug Anthology on my PSP, and I think that that's a perfect example of how high scores do matter in games.

Your score is radically effected by how many POWs you can rescue.  I think beating the level with one freed nets you something like 10,000 or 100,000 points.  But, if you lose a life, the game no longer counts the rescued POWs.  This means that there is a radical difference in points earned for players who have beaten the game with no or minimal lives lost compared to people who credit fed their way through the game.  Personally, it was a bench mark for how much better I was doing.  I could see a massive jump in my score every time I completed a game, and it felt very encouraging.  It seems like high score is an important way for people to measure their level of skill in games that allow them to play in unskillful ways.

And also, my name only has three letters.  S-A-M.  I love highscores.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

one further thought i just had: high scores typically only matter in games that you replay many times. this sounds obvious, but most games that i (and probably the same is true for most of you) play, we only play through them once or at the most twice, and then never again. but if you play through a game 5, 10, 25, etc. times, high score begins to matter a lot more. so high scores would matter more for shorter games than for longer ones.

[Geti]

I think it's more a matter of level length than game length, and if the levels are immediately replayable and reward the user for replaying with more than just "YOU GOT MORE POINTS THIS TIME".
Case and point: Metanet's N. The highscoring community are still doing cool things, it's latest version is from what, 2005?

[Taiko]

I think depending on the game they certainly can matter.  It's a way to let a single player game still allow competition between players. 

These days the idea of a high score is sort of being subsumed by collecting achievements, though.

[JoeManaco]

High-Score can add a lot of replay-value to a game. Especially if you know the people who participate. I'm the type of gamer who don't care much for highscores, but I know a lot of people who really enjoy the competition and they really like it to play the game a hundred times only to be on top of this list.

At the company I'm working we have a puzzle bubble arcade cabinet and the people are crazy about reaching the highest score.

[s0]

If it's an arcade-style and/or competitive game it's essential IMO. Otherwise I don't care.

Also, as AshfordPride implied in his post, interesting scoring mechanics can add a lot of enjoyment and depth. Hell, for me it's the main reason why Cave shooters are so good.