Random tips while I wait for algo to pick up my games (Part 1)
Hey there, I’m an older dev (made a bunch of games with pigs on GameMaker, you might even know some) who’s trying my luck with Roblox. A while ago made one game that collected 16mil visits over the years, but didn’t earn anything because of poor monetization. Had a break, now trying again and published some okay (in my eyes) projects, but they’re not connecting with Roblox audience or algorithm yet. So I’m very far from posting my Rolex in front of a Ferrari wheel on social media, but here are some things I’ve learned, that may or may not help you.
Onboard new players like they’re kids with special needs
Even if you target higher age groups. They will not read, they will run at the walls, they will jump off the map, they will not notice a huge “USE” button on the screen or items in their inventory. World beams with clear arrows, UI cutouts, finger pointers, bouncy buttons, everything goes. Don't make it overwhelming though.
Every input required from the loading screen to the actual game will lose you players
Welcome popup, unskippable intro (we still doing those, huh), team select, save slot select (why would you ever show this to new player), that fancy menu you worked so long on. For the first-time player show only what they really need. Choose other stuff for them and drop them into the game as soon as possible. Don’t believe me..?
Use Onboarding Funnel tracking via AnalyticsService
Add tracking to every onboarding step you have and you will see how many percents of players leave the game and where. If you’ve never done it, you will be very surprised with the results. In one game I show new players a single button on the screen, bouncing, with an arrow and circle cutout and 5% of the players still don’t click it (and that's okay).
You’re wasting money by not targetting ads properly
That option is “hidden” and uncomfortable to use for a reason - for you to spend more money. If you don’t split your campaigns between desktop and mobile, the results will be useless, since desktop CTR is so much different than mobile. I usually run two campaigns side by side. Don’t promote a cutesy pastel dress up games to boys. You can run a 5 credit/day campaign with platform, gender and genre targetting and get better results (better metrics for sure) compared to 10 or 15 creds/day.
500 Engaged Player requirement is not why your game is failing
That’s a cope. A game with decent metrics will get into Home Recommendations and reach that requirement in a week or two. Then kids will come and ruin your metrics, so “All Ages” is not a blessing that many think it is. From all my games that hit "All Ages" none had any CCU changes when that happened. They're not targetted to young players, so it could go differently for you.
You will get negative ratings no matter what
Certain players (especially kids on mobile) will downrate your game for all kinds of reasons. Bugs, poor performance, bad UI, obious AI usage, unusual gameplay, difficulty, etc. I think the only way to counter is to have that “like & join the group” award. Or to make a perfect game.
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I have more, but most people don’t like to read long posts and I need to focus on getting a few updates out that will hopefully get my CCU up. Let me know what you think and if you have any questions - I might answer or add more tips in the next part.
Cheers!