GameRefinery is made for designers and product managers to let their imagination run free.
To do this, the best starting point is the Game Analyzer, the sandbox tool allowing our users to create live dummy games.
Creating a concept is broken down into three steps:
Filing the general information – What is your game all about
Adding the features – Core, meta and important loops
Seeing the results - This step requires you to build the game
Filing the general information:
Game Analyzer's general information options
In this stage, there is only one key thing to remember: Select the right subgenre! This way, we can identify competitors and references for you! If you are unsure of your subgenre, please refer to our data glossary.
Adding the features:
How to build your concept in Game Analyzer
This is the stage where you can let your imagination run free!
Select any of the 260 features we track in our system to build your core experience.
Two things to remember:
The options are very straightforward – Either multiple choices or simple yes/no
You must choose something for all of the features! If you skip features, the tool won't let you continue.
Seeing the results:
Competitors tab of the prototype - These are based on the prototype's core, meta, and gameplay
Congratulations!
You have created your first concept in GameRefinery! Now your prototype has its own Game Overview page where you can access almost all the same tabs as for live game: competitors, features and feature suggestions, etc.!
This will help you in evaluating the concepts:
fit to the market
What are its strengths & weaknesses
Who are the users
….And more!
Comparing concept games to the market
Game Analyzer concepts can be used in a real market environment in two places:
When in Market Explorer, create a segment where you only select the 4th option: Filter by Games.
Create New Segment
Go to the Filter by Games bracket - It’s the 4th one in the bottom
Select My Portfolio
Select the game you'd like to compare
You have now successfully created a new segment. You can expand this comparison as you see fit with benchmark competitors, genre or subgenre, etc.
Take my RPG prototype vs. turn-based RPG subgenre, for example:
Prototype vs. the market feature level view in Market Explorer
In Compare Games, adding your Game Analyzer prototype to the compare list is easy!
Click Add game button
Select the third tab in the upper corner, "My Portfolio"
Select the project
Remember also to add live games as a comparison. You can find reference games in two places:
Your prototypes competitors-tab
Prototype vs. closest three references in Compare Games
Now you can compare all the 260 features against prototype live examples. There are three options available when comparing features: Similarities, differences, and all the features.
GameRefinery best practice tip #6
Consider using the Game Analyzer prototypes to optimize your greenlighting process. Knowing in advance whether your game has "enough" features to match your key competitors can help you improve your design process, optimize your soft launch and ultimately help you find a better market fit. For more tips and best practices related to the Game Analyzer please contact your Customer Success Manager.