Art Directions For Hyper-Casual Games by Juan Carlos León Rendón (67 Bits)

Introduction and Overview

In this section, Juan Leong introduces himself as the co-founder of 67 bits and provides an overview of the company's experience in creating hyper casual games.

Introduction to 67 Bits

• Juan Leong is the co-founder of 67 bits, a company made up of 15 creative individuals spread across different cities in Brazil.

• The company has been working with hyper casual games for almost two years, collaborating with various publishers worldwide.

• They have created over 45 prototype games paid by these publishers and have received recognition and awards for their work.

Importance of Art Direction in Hyper Casual Games

In this section, Juan Leong discusses the importance of art direction in hyper casual games and outlines the topics he will cover.

Topics Covered

• Drawing players' and publishers' attention with a neat and high-quality visual style.

• Understanding the needs of hyper casual game players.

• Creating a unique hyper casual visual style quickly.

• Organizing your team and resources effectively.

• The visual foundation and evolution of hyper casual games.

• The conclusion and key takeaways from all these topics.

Background of Founders

In this section, Juan Leong provides background information about himself and his co-founder Vanessa Fairhise.

Background Information

• Juan Leong is an architect by profession but also has a focus on game design and visual communication. He holds a master's degree in digital architecture.

• Vanessa Fairhise is an architect with experience in retail architecture, interior design for retail spaces, marketing, and managing content production teams.

Importance of Branding in Game Development

In this section, Juan Leong emphasizes the importance of branding in game development and shares his experience in marketing and branding.

Importance of Branding

• Branding is crucial for communicating the value and importance of your studio to both publishers and players.

• Understanding your vision, mission, and why you are creating hyper casual games is essential for effective branding.

• Creating a visual identity, including logos and other design elements, helps convey professionalism and dedication to your studio.

• Finding a publisher that aligns with your vision and mission is important for long-term success.

Conclusion

In this section, Juan Leong concludes the discussion on branding and highlights the importance of being honest with yourself and your team.

Key Takeaways

• Understand why you are creating hyper casual games, not just what you are doing or how you are doing it.

• Develop a strong visual identity through branding to communicate professionalism.

• Find publishers that align with your vision and mission for long-term success.

Importance of a Clear App Store Presence

In this section, the speaker emphasizes the importance of having a clear and appealing presence on app stores.

The Role of App Stores

• Having a clear and well-designed App Store presence is crucial for conveying your message effectively.

• A visually appealing App Store with branding elements like logos and banners sends a strong message about your intentions and goals.

The Significance of Web Presence

• In addition to app stores, having a strong web presence is important as some publishers may search for games directly on the web.

• Ensuring that your game can be found easily through web searches increases its visibility.

Evolution of Hyper Casual Games

This section discusses the evolution of hyper casual games, from their early stages to the present day.

Early Successes: Flappy Bird and Color Switch

• Flappy Bird was one of the first highly successful hyper casual games, featuring simple tapping mechanics inspired by Mario.

• Color Switch introduced minimalist visual styles with plain colors and clear shapes, becoming another popular hyper casual game.

Visual Evolution: From Pixel Art to 3D

• Hyper casual games have undergone an organic visual evolution, starting with pixel art and gradually transitioning to higher resolution pixel art.

• The visual style then shifted towards 2.5D games like Stack, where it became difficult to distinguish between 2D and 3D visuals.

Focus on Clarity: Cube Surfer and Count Masters

• Cube Surfer exemplifies a clear visual design where players can easily identify objects in front of them, allowing them to progress through levels smoothly.

• Count Masters further enhanced clarity by clearly distinguishing between player characters (blue) and enemies (red), utilizing a neat UI design.

Complexity in Game Design: Rise of Idle Games

• As players sought more complex experiences, idle games like Idle Arks gained popularity.

• These games featured deeper core loops and more complex UI designs, providing a wider range of gameplay experiences.

Future Direction: Simplicity and Quality

• Looking ahead, the speaker suggests that hyper casual games should return to a simpler visual style, resembling games like Count Masters.

• Regardless of the publisher or studio behind a game, players expect consistent quality in terms of visuals, gameplay, and overall experience.

The Need for Simplicity in Hyper Casual Games

This section highlights the importance of simplicity in hyper casual games and how it impacts player satisfaction.

Meeting Player Expectations

• Hyper casual players expect simple and relaxing games with clear objectives.

• Games should convey happiness through a clean and minimalistic visual style.

Consistency in Quality

• Despite visual differences between hyper casual games from different publishers or studios, players still expect high-quality animation and illumination.

• Players should understand what they need to do within seconds of starting the game.

Applying Fast Food Analogy to Hyper Casual Games

The speaker draws an analogy between fast food preferences and player expectations in hyper casual games.

Consistent Experience

• Just as people expect consistent flavor, texture, and quality when ordering a traditional cheeseburger in different countries, hyper casual players desire consistent quality across different games.

• Visual differences may exist between games but maintaining high-quality standards is crucial for player satisfaction.

Industrial Design Core

The importance of focusing on the core elements of a design, such as a path, obstacles, and enemies in hyper casual games. Minimalistic design with high contrast colors helps convey the message clearly.

Importance of Minimalistic Design

• Hyper casual games should focus on what is important, such as a simple path, obstacles, and enemies.

• Minimalistic design with high contrast colors helps convey the message clearly.

• Pay attention to current trends in popular games like Facebook and use similar emojis or gameplay elements.

Organizing Design Elements

• Use tools like Pinterest and folders to organize mood boards and references.

• Utilize different folders for icons, genres (e.g., runner or top-down), UI, VFX, game fuel, and color palettes.

• Avoid getting lost by staying focused on what is necessary rather than adding unnecessary complexity.

Using External Resources

• Use platforms like Unity Asset Store to purchase or obtain free assets.

• Follow YouTube channels that provide updates on new assets available in the Unity Asset Store.

• Utilize Mixamo for quick and high-quality animation and rigging of 3D models.

Importance of Package Bank

• Maintain consistency by using the same materials unless there is a change in material trends.

• Create packages for models, animations, VFX, UI based on genre to streamline development process.

Visual Feedback & Game Feel

The importance of visual feedback and game feel in creating an engaging gaming experience. Introduction to Disney's 12 Principles of Animation as a methodology for creating effective animations.

Importance of Visual Feedback

• Visual feedback plays a crucial role in providing the right feedback to players.

• Apply principles from Disney's 12 Principles of Animation (e.g., anticipation, squash) to create high-quality animations.

Game Feel and Exaggerated Feedback

• Game feel refers to the exaggerated feedback players receive for every action they make in the game.

• Steve Swink's book "Game Feel: A Game Designer's Guide to Virtual Sensation" provides valuable insights on game feel.

• YouTube videos also offer excellent information on applying game feel techniques to video games.

Streamlining Workflow

Strategies for streamlining the game development workflow, including the use of templates for various aspects such as App Store images, layer names, creative assets, sound design, and trailers.

Utilizing Templates

• Use templates for various aspects of game development, including App Store images and layer names.

• Templates help create assets quickly and maintain consistency throughout the development process.

• Have templates for creative assets like YouTube trailers and shorts, sound design, music, and rendering videos.

Conclusion

In this transcript summary, we explored the importance of focusing on core elements in industrial design for hyper casual games. We discussed the significance of minimalistic design with high contrast colors and staying up-to-date with current trends. Organizing design elements using tools like Pinterest and folders helps maintain focus. External resources like Unity Asset Store and Mixamo provide assets and animation solutions. Visual feedback and game feel are crucial for an engaging gaming experience. Applying Disney's 12 Principles of Animation can enhance visual feedback. Finally, streamlining workflow through template usage simplifies various aspects of game development.

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In this section, the speaker discusses the importance of understanding the steps and methods to achieve success in a personal way.

Steps to Success

• The speaker emphasizes that everyone has their own priorities and ways of doing things.

• It is important to understand what needs to be done and how to do it, as it is in one's own hands.

• Making prototypes and analyzing failures is not a failure but an opportunity to learn and improve.

• Visual appeal plays a crucial role in attracting players, so focus on improving visual aspects step by step.

• Implementing a clear color palette, game feel, and appealing visuals can help catch the eye of potential players.

• Take one step at a time and gradually implement these improvements over a couple of months or more.

• The speaker encourages reaching out for any doubts or questions via email or social media.

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