Pizzazz is not about looking pretty (well, OK, it is). It is not about making the game’s graphic designer think he or she is cool. It’s about rewarding players for doing the things that matter to them...

The secret of success of a free-to-play game is not about getting a little money from lots of people: it is about getting a lot of money from the players who love what you do.

For a player, the decision to spend for the first time is a momentous one. The game they are playing will move from being a free game to being a paid-for game. You need to think hard...

The primary advantage that freemium offers over premium is a low barrier to entry. Not just low but zero, in price at least. As Dan Ariely has shown in Predictably Irrational (and I will write up soon), we...

Being generous is ideological with me. I believe that if you are generous to your players, they will be generous to you. Call it Karma. Call it goodwill. Call it what you will, I believe that there is...

An evergreen game never reaches the point where the play can’t carry on if they wanted to. A game that is predominantly driven by narrative or by the experience will always be harder to turn into a...

The most successful free-to-play games don’t punish their players. Everyone makes progress, just by turning up. But a dedicated player, who keeps trying to learn and improve, is rewarded with increased complexity. Make sure you build complexity in...