Elimination games have a history of more than 30 years. Among them, match three games, as the mainstay of casual games, have been scattered firmly in various positions on the AppStore best-selling list. The simple operation, easy to use, flexibility, rhythm and sense of accomplishment of match three games are also the main reasons why it is popular all over the world.
. Everyone is more acceptable to the origin of elimination games, which is that " Tetris " is the originator of elimination games. This game defines the most core and basic rules of elimination games: under specified conditions, some game elements can be eliminated by using the elements given by the game to achieve a certain state. Players need to obtain the final victory of the game by constantly eliminating the elements that appear in the game. This is a game mode with clear goals and simple rules.
Tetris copyright dispute
In the 1990s, on a domestic game console, Tetris was the first game among the game consoles. This game console, which was priced at 5-10 yuan at that time, let most children know the gameplay of Tetris. When it was sold, from stores to street stalls, these game consoles were sold, and their popularity in China can be imagined.
In "Tetris", each tetris can find the most suitable party for itself, and combine it into a complete pair of
. As a household name, Tetris has indeed achieved great success, but few people understand the fierce copyright dispute behind it. The former , Nintendo , Atari and other famous companies have participated in this copyright dispute, and their development is full of drama, and some companies have even declared bankruptcy because of this battle. Of course, the court finally ruled that Nintendo owns Tetris copyright in the home game system, and that the loser, all the games sold were recalled. Subsequently, Nintendo released two versions of Tetris game based on NES and GameBoy, and sold more than three million sets. Nintendo GameBoy Tetris game is undoubtedly the most famous Tetris version, with a total sales volume of more than 33 million sets.
It can be said that Tetris was popular at that time, surpassing the game itself. The magazine "Computer Game World" commented on Tetris in this way: "Although the design is simple, it has addictive potential." The match three game
, which was born from the changing rules of
, how did the simple elimination class of Tetris develop into the match three game we are familiar with now? Here we have to start with Nintendo. Nintendo released a " Doctor Mario " in 1990. Players who have played FC or Little Overlord will have a certain sense of familiarity with this game, although the official did not specify where the idea of this game was born. But judging from the game screen of "Doctor Mario", the gameplay rules, and even the direction of the pill landing in the game, there are references to Tetris to a certain extent.
In the game "Doctor Mario", the elimination condition is set to: When four elements of the same color (capsules/bacteria) are connected to a line on the vertical and horizontal lines, the bacteria and capsules will disappear. This setting has been used to this day. When the same elements are connected to the vertical and horizontal lines in the match-3 game, the effect of elimination will be achieved. The only difference is that the four colors of "Doctor Mario" are simplified to three elements as the tone, and various props are added to make the game content more interesting.
"Doctor Mario" became very popular after its launch. However, although the game is well-known, it has never produced an orthodox sequel named digitally since then. There are a lot of ported versions, remake versions, and enhanced versions, including arcade platform, SFC, N64, etc.
In the following days, with the continuous advancement of computer graphics technology, people gradually invested the focus of development on game screens and performance, and the game types began to become richer. There has been almost no breakthrough in eliminating games during this period, until a company we are familiar with - Baokai Games (PopCap Games).This team of only four people developed a game called " Gem Maze ". This game was launched on multiple platforms at the time. In line with the social measures of the online rankings, the game quickly became popular and set off a frenzy of eliminating games. From its release in 2001 to 2008, the game sold a total of 75 million copies and downloaded more than 100 million times. It is precisely because of this game that the basic game mode was set for the later match-3 game offering.
"Zuma"
"Puzz Loop"
"Puzz Loop"
"Based on this east wind, Baokai Games then developed a highly controversial match-three game "Zuma", which has been accused of plagiarizing the arcade game "Puzz Loop". This game also brought a considerable income to Baokai. With "Zuma" and "Gem Maze", Baokai persisted until 2009. In this year, Baokai Game developed a peak work - "Plant vs. Zombies", which was then acquired by EA.
Match 3 game in mobile game
Mobile Internet has brought a new revolution and evolution to global informatization. The network information that could only be obtained through bulky chassis and display screens can now be easily obtained on a small mobile phone screen anytime, anywhere. There is no doubt that no matter which era or platform in which, a richer entertainment experience is the unstoppable pursuit of mankind. While mobile games came into being, they also brought match three games from PC and handheld console to mobile platforms.
In terms of game types, elimination games have had infinite vitality since their birth, and their revenue-generating ability has also been recognized by the market, becoming one of the top 20 members of the rankings for a long time. The characteristics of the game are simple and straightforward rules, which makes the player's learning cost extremely low, which leads to the audience covered by the game being basically adapted to every age group.
These characteristics are naturally not attractive to core players, but for casual players who don’t have enough time, they happen to be what they need. On the other hand, after gradually occupying the game market, heavy games have further exposed their own shortcomings: limitations in subject matter and creativity, and the consumption of a lot of time. These shortcomings that are very conflicting with the current pace of life have gradually lost some of the players. This gives the match three games a chance to shine on the mobile platform. After all, it doesn’t take up too much time and adapt to most scenes in life.
Of course, with the improvement of mobile devices, the quality effect and gameplay rules of mobile games are constantly evolving. Mobile platforms are also actively expanding their core game fields while establishing puzzle games as the mainstream. With the efforts of countless talented producers, the match-three game is gradually adding more gameplay and performance methods.
connection elimination is a common match three gameplay, because the gameplay itself needs to utilize the touch screen effect, which caters to the current mobile phone characteristics. Once this gameplay was launched, it determined its dominant position on mobile phones. Until today, most match-three games are based on this gameplay as the basic rules. Common ones include the traditional match three gameplay mobile game represented by "XX Elimination Music".
Another way to eliminate the derivative mode is to eliminate the derivative mode, in other words, it is the more common "elimination + RPG (arbitrary element)" mode. These are all other forms derived from traditional elimination games. In these games, the points obtained by elimination will become the character's attack power, defense power, MX ultimate moves, etc. presentation methods. This type of game allows players to achieve diverse attack effects through different ways of elimination, and even becomes a mixed work of grafting equipment, props, cards, and cultivation.
" Fantasy Garden " is a game developed by Russian Playrix and exclusively distributed by Ledo. The game itself is a simulation operation + match three
However, this type of work has always been in a tepid state because the game quality is mixed. Although there are the emergence of high-quality games like "Dreamy Garden", most games that eliminate + RPG mode seem inconsistent, because they often lose the convenience of traditional elimination and have also drastically cut off many elements of RPG. Therefore, finding a balance point among many elements has become an urgent need for this elimination of derivative mode.
In the charging mode, the existing elimination games have added the concepts of "stamina value" and "props purchase". This setting is actually understandable. If the game is excellent enough to attract players, it will naturally be possible to pay. However, some games are not enough to satisfy players in their settings, and it is a bit intriguing to follow the trend and join these value-added services.
In "Dream Garden", the match three levels are not allowed to be skipped directly, and props can only affect the result probability. In fact, it doesn't matter if krypton or not,
will have these paid services. The main reason why these paid services are born is that the characteristics of match three games will bring players into a state of "game inertia", that is, the more you play, the more you become addicted. At this time, your physical strength is gone, and most players who are interested will choose to pay, as long as the game is excellent enough to allow players to enter this state. The luck component of the match three games accounts for a lot of money, so that players at all skill levels can get close to victory. This is the key to high retention and high payment between match three games. Moreover, for players without paying, the physical strength setting is still a pretty good anti-addiction system. Why is
elimination so attractive?
Starting from the game itself, the characteristics and advantages of the match three games are obvious and simple. The gameplay rules of the game itself are simple and easy to understand, which makes players without any learning costs and can quickly and easily get started, thus reducing the threshold for entering the game. With the explosion of smart mobile devices, low-threshold games will have relatively large user base. Not everyone's mobile phones can run RPGs of more than 3,000M, but everyone's device can basically support match-3 games of about 300M.
In addition, the seemingly simple gameplay will also show different difficulty levels as the rules of the game change. Each elimination is an encouragement to the player. This unique sense of accomplishment will drive the player into the "game inertia" state mentioned above, and use the sense of accomplishment as an auxiliary, and continuously gives the player a continuous internal motivation. Because the shorter clearance time meets various requirements in the use scenarios of mobile devices, the match-three games are more in line with the concept of fragmented time for mobile users.
Take the picture as an example. When eliminating, players need to take into account the number of steps, while the box and pool next to them limit the occurrence of various probability in match three, so players need to consider more to pass the level.
and being able to match other elements is one of the key points. The "Dream Garden" mentioned above is a more appropriate example. The match-three forms in the game can also be presented in different ways. In "Dream Garden", elimination of the game has gradually become a form of a small puzzle. With step counts, timing, props and other conditions, directly eliminating fruits of the same color is no longer the answer to the puzzle. Players need to eliminate all elements in the field in effective operations, which allows the integration of strategy links into casual games. And you always think that most women don’t like to play strategy games, but they praise these links. It’s amazing, right?
At the same time, the integration of social elements, scores, help from friends, teaming through levels, etc. All allow players to firmly take root in the match three games. Games with high quality are more likely to cause virus transmission between players, which explains that the match three games have such great explosive power.
From the match-three game, we can see: casual game developers are beginning to realize that adventure is no longer the only mode, more and more elimination games have already had decorations and stories, and more and more games are trying to use a careful combination system to wrap the core. While giving yourself more challenges, you also give your casual games a soul.
