Delay mechanics, choke points, friction, whatever else you may call it, is a commonly used monetization mechanic in F2P games and I’m not here to tell you not to use them. However, the most brilliantly designed games don’t encourage the player to leave while they wait for these delays. Take Clash of Clans for example. In order to improve my town hall from level 2-6 it could maybe take 30 days. I can pay $5 for another builder and increase construction productivity so maybe it now takes 20 days, or I could drop $100 (or maybe $500) and get it now.
They use the same delay mechanics, but game isn’t just about building a city and reinforcing defenses. That’s only half of the battle. The other half is about raiding other villages. The actual battles last minutes and to train basic armies usually takes 20 minutes or less. More advanced units obviously take more time to train, but you can be out raiding other villages almost every 20 minutes if the player so chooses. This secondary mechanic or second core loop gives players something to do or goals to achieve while they wait for the days (or possibly) weeks it’ll take for a building upgrade to be completed.
If you’d like to talk about this or any other ideas you can find me here at my blog, the NativeX blog or on Twitter.
