next »

[P-Flute]

Is the gossip factor relevant for anything but really big games, though?

The gossip factor will increase the exposure for small games. Might even have a positive effect on the sales of a small game.

Sorry to get buzz-word-y on y'all, but secrets can keep your real fans talking, which keeps the game visible... But it can also turn medium fans into BIG fans just by these things sticking in their mind, and thereby generate more  brand evangelists who will like your product so much they'll do your marketing for you.

Personally, the number of secrets and threads left all mysterious in Undertale (do I get shot for bringing this up since it's 'the thing' right now?) kept me thinking about it probably twice the time I would have otherwise after finishing it.

BUT, post-script: Finishing a game in the first place is hard enough as is, so I guess maybe don't worry TOO much about secrets if you're not even half done yet?

[Hipshot]

I can pretty much state that all the secrets and things we added into HW made people play the game a lot more, cause they wanted to find all things, not just because of the achievements locked into some of these, but also cause you found more lives, money etc.
Even if some of the secrets were hard as hell to find.

[kevin andersson]

I can pretty much state that all the secrets and things we added into HW made people play the game a lot more, cause they wanted to find all things, not just because of the achievements locked into some of these, but also cause you found more lives, money etc.
Even if some of the secrets were hard as hell to find.

I personally loved HW (good job on that) and I can agree that having secrets that are sometimes a bit tricky to find can be good if there are people who enjoy your game and maybe want to have another reason to replay it. And you also want to reward those players who explore other paths in your game.

[baconman]

Imagine if "Kaizo Mario 3" were a hidden, 9th World in official SMB3.

/shudders