Corentin Raux and Bastien Cazenave, Co-founders
Casual Connect 2013, San Francisco, CA
About usPretty Simple was founded in January 2010
• 3 Games so far• Team: 45 people• Top 10 Facebook Games developer
My Shops
Magical Ride
Criminal Case
Our games are available on…
Great online distribution platform to launch a new game!
… And soon on iOS
Designing Criminal Casefor
Virality and Retention
Concept
Every week, solve a new investigation with your friends!
Game Loop
Game Loop
Look for clues
Analyze them
Arrest the killer!
Exceptional Growth
December 2012 June 2012
English
FrenchGermanSpanish
PortugueseItalianTurkish
9 Million DAUs
Top Popularity
June 2013
Exceptional Organic Growth
Organic 98%Ads 2%
Organic 98%
Ads 2%
How to make this growthpossible?
Obviously, you need a great game
We can’t explain how to create a great game
However we can shareour experience
1. We chose a universal and social theme
Crime Investigation
So do I!
So do I!
Meow!
Poor guy…I must catch hiskiller right now!
So do I!
2. We made it casual
People shouldn’t be afraid of losing because they get stuck during their investigation
Imagine…
YOU’REa LOSER.
You Failed!
You didn’t find the
fingerprint that washidden in crime #3.
The killer has escaped!
3. We designed it with virality and retention
Think it from the beginning and make them part of the game
Let’s focus on Virality
Players must invite during the first session
Forget everything else!
Ideal First Play Session
Invites!
FUN!
FUN!
FUN!
FUN!
Real First Session
Invites!
Confusion
Loading MonsterLoadius Monsterus
Loading screen conversion rate
Game Weight Impact
10 MB5 MB
3.5 MB
87%90%
93%
Total weight of Criminal Case: 530 MB
First loading weight: 3.5 MB
Still working to make it 2.5 MB !
Criminal Case Weight
Confusion MonsterConfusius Beastius
fig. 2
Playtest
Playtest
Playtest
How to make sure people understand the game?
Never help the playtesterPLAYTEST GOLDEN RULE:
Clear green action buttons
100% of play testers completed the first session without any help
But only 50% of players said they liked the game!
Tech Issues MonsterCrashius to Desktopius
fig. 3
1. Track every click2. Observe drops3. Find the problem4. Fix it
How to solve tech issues
Criminal Case Tutorial
60%
80%
100%
Step 1 Step 7 Step 8 Step 16
20% USERS DROP
2
Exit Full Screen Mode
Case Study
60%
80%
100%
S t e p 1 S t e p 7 S t e p 8 S t e p 1 6
NO MORE DROP
Criminal Case FTUE Funnel
35 Steps tracked in the Criminal Case FTUE
funnel
80%
Step 35
Step 1
100%
Invites!
FUN!
FUN!
FUN!
FUN!
This is Hard Work
30% of dev time focused on tutorial and First Time User Experience (FTUE).
Approx. 6 months with 25 people
Many devs fail not because they can’t create a great game but
because most people leave before seeing it’s a great game!
Remember!Players must invite during their
first session. <- DONE!
Now people must send invites to their friends!
1. Good reason2. Right timing3. Ease of use
What makes people invite?
Give a Good ReasonRULE NUMBER ONE:
What is the most valuable resource in your game?
In Criminal Case it is Energy.
We promise more Energy
Choose the Right TimingRULE NUMBER TWO:
Step 1: desire to continue
Step 2: frustration
Step 3: Free Energy Opportunity
Make it Easy to InviteRULE NUMBER THREE:
Pre-selected friends // Green Button // Progress Bar
Now People Send Invites
!
That’s not enough!
In Criminal Case, invites onlyaccount for 50% of total installs
In Criminal Case,we used another channel
Open Graph Stories
What is an Open Graph story?
1. Posted automatically2. Show up in the news feed3. Aggregated by Facebook
What’s an Open Graph Story?
What is an Open Graph story?
In Criminal Case, Open Graph Stories
performed amazingly
OG impact on early installs
December 2012 February 2013
5 times more installs from OG stories than invites
Close to 100k installs/day from OG stories aloneOG stories Invites
Installs from
What is a cool OG story?
• Visually appealing• Triggers curiosity
Criminal Case OG Stories
• INVESTIGATE a crime scene• WORK ON a murder case• AUTOPSY a victim• Etc.
How to create performingOpen Graph Stories?
Visuals A/B Testing
Which one works best?+18% clicks
Which story title performs better?
Titles A/B Testing
+9% clicks
In Criminal Case,we A/B tested more than
500 images and titlesfor Open Graph Stories
660k installs per day!Virality Results
So much for virality.
Now it’s time totake care of retention!
What Makes People Come Back?
They come back because they get a request or a notification from the game.
Forget everything else!
Retention Channels
• Requests• Feed posts• App-to-user notifications
Requests – Send Free Energy
Avoid Spamming!
People send free energy only to their friends who are already
playing the game
When you accept +2
You send back +1
Receiving Energy
MUTUAL RE-ENGAGEMENT
Feed Posts
2
Feed Posts
Focus on receiver when using feed posts!
Feed Posts
Feed Posts
MUTUAL RE-ENGAGEMENT
App to User Notifications
Approx. 500k clicks/day29% CTR
Retention Metrics
In Criminal CaseDay 1 retention is approx. 52%Day 7 retention is approx. 39%
Conclusion
Retention Virality
Players come backon Day 1 because they
receive free gifts from the friends they invited
the day before.
Fact:
Virality
Retention
There’s noRETENTION
withoutVIRALITY
