Sitting at the back row in Henry Angus’ room 098, I am always able to have a view of a full on Tetris Battle tournament between students. Tetris Battle is a remake of the classic video game developed in the 80s with additional features that include numerous types of multiplayer modes with enhanced competitive aspects. There are over 3.1 million active users visiting the social game each day and 80% of users are a result of word of mouth promotion! One might ask, what is the key to Tetris Battle’s success? After reading the article titled “Inside Tetris Battle, Facebook’s top multiplayer arcade game” found on a social gaming blog site, I was fascinated to learn about the large amount of marketing efforts put into developing each tiny aspect of the game. Unlike usual Facebook games, Tetris Battle does not have an obligatory friend-adding mechanic where a player cannot continue playing unless they send game invites to friends; instead, players are intrinsically motivated to share the game with friends to generate a greater pool of competitors and to fuel their competitive standing in the game. Other pull strategies to encourage continued engagement include the following:
– A leveling system to pair themselves with other players with equal skill and to unlock new game modes
– A daily bonus spin that offers players with special items as a reward for playing the game consecutively
– An energy meter that drains after each round but replenishes over time or through monetization
I believe that the core success of Tetris Battle is due to the quality of the game (competitive aspects) itself coupled with other strategies that encourage continued engagement.
Here is a link to allow you to visualize the intense competitiveness of the game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt49XuMB0Ks
It’s so interesting how Facebook and mobile phone applications like Tetris Battle, Draw Something and Words with Friends can pull consumers in as a group – including their friends.