Back in October, Raph Koster wrote about a PC World interview with the lead designer of Dragon Age, a major single-player game from Bioware. Mike Laidlaw on single-player games talks about the idea of creating such games today, when games such as World of Warcraft and even Facebook games such as FarmVille dominate by leveraging their social components.
Social networking games are the current big thing. For indies who would prefer to keep making shareware, the idea that someone could make a ton of money through a relatively simple MMO is as frustrating to hear about as major game developers who learned that Tetris, as simple as it was, sold much better than anything they were working on. I know more than a few indies have grumbled that while selling virtual items and subscriptions to an MMO is piracy-proof, they don’t want to make those kinds of games. With major indies reporting piracy rates of for-sale games in the 90+% range, sticking with single-player games sounds like a tough bet.
So what do you do if you want to make single-player games? Give your player a way to share his/her story.
Instead of a game that tells the player the same story that every other player will hear, give the player the means to create his/her own story. Make the experience of playing the game personal. And make sure the player has a way of sharing that experience.
NetHack is a perfect example of a single-player game that lets you experience a story to share with others. The in-game story is minimal, the NPCs aren’t very complex, and there’s not a lot of dialogue. What the game does do is provide plenty of fuel for stories that players love to share with one another. Yet Another Stupid Death, or YASD, is a common phrase for NetHack fans. I’ve even posted my own stories of these deaths. See Engraved Note to Self and YASD, the First for 2008 for short stories about my own travels in the Mazes of Menace.
Of course, those stories aren’t shared inside of NetHack. While you can watch others play online, most people talk to each other or write about what happened. The game doesn’t easily facilitate communication between friends.
But your game can. Dragon Age apparently has a Social Engine, but as Koster points out, most successful Facebook games are successful because of the player’s ability to interact with others. Even if your game is meant for one person to play, it doesn’t have to be a solitary experience.
Dragon Age has its Social Engine.
There are iPhone games that allow players to send progress updates to Twitter.
Facebook notifications let you know if someone has challenged you in Sea Friends.
Can a friend go to YouTube to view a replay of the way I handled a tricky boss? Can I show off an achievement? Could my friends send me time trial challenges?
What does your game do for allowing shared experiences?
(Photo http://www.flickr.com/photos/wanderingone/ / CC BY 2.0)
(rated E) is also a WiiWare title, created by indie game developer 2D Boy. It’s a physics-based game in which you connect the balls of goo to form structures in an attempt to get the required number to escape to the exit. Of course, the levels are designed to make it tricky, so you have to figure out the best way to connect your balls of goo together. There are different kinds of goo, which requires you to use them in the most appropriate way. 
(rated E) is another game based on a blobby character and one that is a re-imagining of an original NES game. This version of the game was created as an update, and fans of the original game will find that it is a bit more casual in nature, allowing anyone to pick it up and play. Feeding the blob jellybeans turns him into different objects depending on the flavor, and you’ll make use of this feature to solve puzzles and progress through the levels. 
(rated T) is a first-person shooter that has been praised for its high quality graphics and intuitive, customizable controls. It features a science fiction-based universe involving an alien invasion and conspiracy. The graphics engine was capable of creating imagery above and beyond what most people thought the relatively low-powered Wii could do. 
(rated E) puts you in the role of a restaurant’s chef. While Cooking Mama is the big name in cooking games, Order Up! focuses on the pressures of putting together entire meals for multiple paying customers. As orders come in, you need to optimize your movement through the kitchen. You can’t focus on making one dish perfectly because other orders are waiting. You need to multi-task, fixing various meals together. 
(rated T) is an action-adventure game that was originally released for the Playstation 2, but enough fans demanded a Wii port. The art design is reminiscent of Japanese ink drawings and has been highly praised by the press and players. I watched 
(rated T) was reviewed as the best Zelda game to date by a number of reviewers. Like any Zelda game, exploration and puzzle-solving are the main focus. The general storyline involves the hero, Link, trying to prevent Hyrule from becoming consumed by the darkness of the Twilight Realm. When Link enters this parallel dimension, he turns into a wolf, which gives him certain abilities. Of course, besides the sword and shield, there are the typical bombs, arrows, and boomerangs, as well as several new items.
(rated E) is a frantic action shooter. You control a ship and can move and shoot in any direction independently. At first the enemies are fairly easy to take care of, but as you advance, more and more appear on the screen. The longer you survive, the bigger your score, and you keep playing until you lose your last ship. The graphics remind me of a modern version of the classic vector graphics from years ago. 
(rated T) is a role-playing game that is inspired heavily by Roguelikes such as NetHack. You start outside of Neuro Tower and you are trying to reach the bottom of it. Each time you enter, the dungeon layout is randomly generated, which means that no two adventures will be the same twice. As you gain experience levels, you get more powerful, but if you die, you are returned to the outside and have to restart at experience level 1 with all of your items missing. 
(rated E) is a truck racing game. If you ever played Excitebike for the original NES (which, by the way, is getting an updated sequel available through WiiWare), this game is being called the spiritual successor. While the main focus is on racing, coming in 1st place isn’t the main goal. Throughout a race, you’re trying to earn stars by doing tricks and stunts. The raceways features hills and cliffs, allowing plenty of opportunities to make crazy jumps. There are items that deform the road so it changes completely, making the tracks fairly dynamic. 
(rated E) is the latest game in the Mario Kart series. It features various racing modes for one or multiple players as well as Battle Mode, which is my personal favorite from any of the games. It even lets you play online with the Nintendo WiFi connection. There is a Mario Kart Channel you can get for the main Wii Menu which allows you to play against friends online and send them your best time trial sessions as well. 
for the Wii (rated E) isn’t so much a game as lifestyle software, similar to titles for the Nintendo DS. It keeps track of your balance and movement using the Wii Balance Board and Wii remote. Yoga features three modes. One is Story Mode, which sounds the most game-like. Training Mode teaches you new poses. Routine Mode allows you to go through a series of poses which are either provided by you or the in-game guru.
(rated E) was designed by the famous filmmaker Steven Spielberg. Yeah, I didn’t understand that either, but this game is a lot of fun. There are various play modes, including multiplayer party modes, and a built-in editor so you can create your own levels. The game features blocks, some with special properties, that are stacked up, and you generally try to knock them over, although some of the levels require building instead of destroying. 
(rated E), even with mixed reviews from the critics, is the best selling non-bundled game of all time. It features 9 games, all of which are playable by two players, and it comes with a Wii remote to let you take advantage of it. Among the games to play are “Shooting Range”, “Table Tennis”, “Laser Hockey”, and “Billiards”. There’s a fishing game, a cow racing game, and a couple of games involving finding or posing Miis. 
(rated E) makes use of the Wii MotionPlus, which makes the Wii remote much more accurate. There is a Table Tennis game in this one, but due to the better control accuracy, you can add spin to a ball, making the game much more strategic and true-to-life. There are sports games such as basketball, golf, bowling, and frisbee, as well as field games such as archery, swordplay, and canoeing. 
(rated T) is slightly controversial. Getting three great Metroid Prime games in one collection sounds great, especially when taking advantage of the Wii controller, but apparently some people have noticed that some graphic effects involving water and beam weapons were actually worse than in the original releases. Watching a video, it seems like a shame, but when I said slightly controversial, I meant it. Most people seem to think that the difference is negligible and doesn’t detract from the series at all. 
(rated E) is another game in the role-playing Mario-based series, known for its humorous story and puzzles. This game was generally well-received by the gaming press, although some found the plot lacking. That said, the game play is relatively unique. Levels are played in the familiar 2D, side-scrolling view, but you can “flip” to a 3D view, allowing you to pass obstacles or find secrets you couldn’t otherwise. If you’ve ever played the indie game Fez, it seems the game play is similar…minus the “trixels”, of course. 
(rated E) puts you in the role of an aspiring pirate named Zack. It was a highly reviewed game that unfortunately didn’t sell well. It makes good use of the Wii remote, and the adventure involves a dead pirate’s ship and treasure. I had a number of people tell me that I needed to play this game, so it is on my list. 
(rated M) is the first console-exclusive game in the series. It’s a prequel explaining the events before the first game, and it was partly inspired by the Grindhouse film Planet Terror directed by Robert Rodriguez. It’s violent, it’s gory, and apparently it is one more Guiness World Record holder on my list of suggestions, this time for being the most profane video game in history. This game is not family friendly, and it isn’t meant to be. The developers purposefully tried to recreate the feel of a class grindhouse, exploitation film, and the reviewers seem to think they managed to do it.
(rated M) is another prequel rails shooter. In the first Dead Space game, the story involves the crew of ship as they investigate the distress signal of a mining ship near the colony Aegis VII. The story about what may have happened gets revealed as you find digital diaries and other clues. In this Wii-exclusive prequel, you get to play as a member of the original mining colony, fighting against the always-creepy Necromorphs, mutant zombies based on the corpses of your friends.
(rated M) features a badass named Travis Touchdown, who ends up killing a ranked assassin and becoming ranked himself. He now has to defend his rank, and he decides to try to become the #1 assassin with all the rewards it entails. The game was highly praised by most reviewers. It’s incredibly bloody, at least in the North American version, so if violence and gore aren’t your thing, you might want to pass on it. I haven’t played it myself yet, but watching a few videos on YouTube, it’s now on my list. The game play is open-ended, although it is a bit more linear than Grand Theft Auto games. The game play reminds me of 
(also rated M), which I have played, but it seems much more tame in terms of blood and violence. Of course, if you’ve played MadWorld, you know that’s not saying much.
(rated E) is the third 3D platformer in the series, the previous two being Super Mario 64 for the N64 and Super Mario Sunshine for the GameCube. Sunshine sold and reviewed well, but it had its share of critics who claimed the game seemed unpolished. If Galaxy can be considered a comeback, it was definitive. Everyone loved it, and there are few complaints. Guinness World Records 
(rated M) for the GameCube, but I couldn’t play it because I lost the first disc when I brought the game over to a friend’s house. It turns out that buying the game a second time for the Wii is supposed to be worth it, so that’s good news. The Wii version takes advantage of the unique controls. If you are into survival horror, everyone told me that this is supposed to be the game to get. It’s on my list as well.
(rated T) before coworkers and friends and Twitter users swamped me with the knowledge. It’s an action role-playing game set in a feudal Japanese era, and it was sold out in Japan within a week of being released. It allows you to use three different control schemes based on your preference, and it offers multiple difficulty levels, different playable characters, RPG elements, unique art and musical scores, ninjas, and swords. 
(rated E10+) was considered a great successor in the series, and some of the additions make it a great party game as well. It has a two-player mode, for one thing.