Text/Yiguang Flow

Yesterday, "Slow Life in a Different World", which Grape Jun has been paying attention to, was finally launched in China.

The download popularity of the game is gratifying,The day before the start of the service, it was airborne to the first place on the free list,The current best-selling ranking has also come to 79th,Considering the slow heat trend of this product overseas,It is estimated that there is still room for growth in the follow-up of the national server。

And friends who pay attention to overseas markets will also find that "Slow Life in Another World" has also achieved very good results overseas. In August last year, the game rushed to the top 2 of the iOS free list in North America. Since April this year, it has ranked 8th on the best-selling iOS list in Japan, and has broken into the top 15 of the iOS best-selling list in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and entered the top 5 of SensorTower's overseas mobile game overseas revenue growth list in May.

This product can achieve this result, largely relying on misplaced competition. "Slow Life in Another World" incorporates two-dimensional elements in the theme, but none of them has any intention to roll up 3D, avoiding the money-burning masterpiece route; In terms of gameplay and content, we also use simulation management and AVG's detailed plot to build a slow-paced experience. The combination of the two, "Slow Life in a Different World" has opened up the difference with the simulated business and two-dimensional products on the market.

Judging from the initial performance of the national server, it seems that this road can also be taken in China.

01

Rely on differentiated themes to break the game

In the past two years, second-game players have been suffering from homogenization for a long time.

Regardless of the card pool and cultivation system that most of them copy, the novelty of the subject matter alone is much worse than the golden age of the second tour in previous years. This gap is mainly reflected in the core,The direction of today's second game is to create a concept and visual impact,But there are few products from the bottom resonance and experience to make a difference,Of course, this is the old problem of domestic original ability。

It's just that the convergence of the general environment has brought out some ingenious games on the subject matter, such as "Beyond the World" with infinite romance, "Like a Kite" with a big heroine, "Kara Picchu" with a real paper man, etc., and "Slow Life in Another World" is also a similar domestic game that breaks the game from ......the entry point of "anti-trend".

As we analyzed in our previous article: This game uses the subdivision label of "slow pace" on the main track of "different worlds/crossing", borrowing the east wind of the evolution of the popular trend of Japanese comics, and finally forming a "unique" situation in the game field.

The theme of "Different World/Crossing" has always been a major category of Japanese comics, and a large number of popular works have been produced, such as "Blessings for this Beautiful World", "Another World from Scratch", "Encounter in the Dungeon", "OVERLORD", etc., in China, even PPT-like scum productions like "Ordinary Professions Make the World's Strongest" can also get 170 million playbacks, which is very unreasonable.

And in the past two years, the flood of different worlds/time travel fans has also made the audience start to be disgusted, so the more subdivided "slow pace" different worlds/time travel fans have gradually become the mainstream. This kind of drama focuses on enjoying life in a different world after crossing over, not following the brave group, not going to the front line, and not taking combat as the main line, and a number of excellent works such as "Leisurely Farmhouse in Another World" have emerged.

When it comes to gaming, there is a similar trend. In recent years, most game manufacturers have chosen to use mainstream different worlds/time-traveling IPs to adapt games, but almost no one has paid attention to the trend-defying popular category of "otherworld/time-traveling + slow-paced + daily". In the end, "Slow Life in a Different World" got this dividend.

In fact, in today's environment, the theme of "another world/time travel + slow pace + daily life" also has many advantages.

At the heart of it is the anti-trend trend that can hit overseas, especially Japanese otherworldly/time-traveling works. Secondly, from the perspective of expansion, aside from the labels of Japanese and two-dimensional, this kind of theme also has a higher affinity for "people who yearn for a slow-paced, relaxed life, and a natural environment in a busy modern life". Finally, the characters and stories created based on this theme can also form a number of characteristics and atmospheres that are different from other games.

Take "Slow Life in Another World" as an example, in the early stage of the game, the popular stalks of the classic different world/time-traveling comics were used to allow players to quickly bring into the same world view, and exquisite 2D art was used to shape the cute points of characters in another world, with the slow-paced main line and personal plot, little by little, let players unload the habit of "strong interaction, strong competition, strong socialization, and strong krypton", and enter the rhythm of sticking with cute girls in different worlds.

Although this kind of packaging is not as gorgeous and shocking as the visual impact of the head 3D masterpiece, it has a delicate experience that cannot be felt in those masterpieces, a smiling bridge, and enough "fireworks". And this kind of "fireworks" just constitutes the difference between "Slow Life in Another World" and most mainstream products.

02

Retain players with a different experience

Of course, relying on the difference in subject matter alone can only give players a momentary sense of freshness, which is difficult to retain players in the long run. The strategy to solve this problem in "Slow Life in Another World" is to use the mature simulation management gameplay as the foundation, integrate some idle RPG elements to enhance the playability, and then use the AVG story to promote the gameplay cycle.

First of all, the big framework of this game is a simulated operation, and players can earn gold coins by placing them after building various facilities; After investing gold coins in construction and adventure, you can gain experience and gacha items; Then, after extracting the characters, it can increase the income of the overall placement, and the whole cycle system is relatively mature.

Secondly, in the above large framework, what is more innovative is that the game incorporates idle + RPG-style gameplay, as well as a large number of character-centered AVG plots.

The main line of combat in the game is idle adventure gameplay, but in addition to this, there are many casual gameplay options to experience in the player's village, including nurturing students at school, cooking in taverns, fishing at the docks, selling goods at the Chamber of Commerce, having dinner parties with other players, and even challenging mazes.

In a way, these casual gameplay methods are the core of "Slow Life in Another World". Because they are designed to fit the theme of the game's "slow life", players can choose what to play at their own heart and pace. And once the player's mood slows down, it is easy to immerse themselves in it, such as clicking wildly on the field and harvesting gold coins, which has an indescribable refreshing feeling; Looking at the dishes at the restaurant, I can't help but feel the urge to order a barbecue takeout......

At the same time, the income generated by these gameplay can be used to train characters, unlock skills, bonds, etc., and bring more bonuses to the village's income. Therefore, obtaining and cultivating characters is also the core driving force to promote the game, so in addition to drawing cards, the game will also provide ways to obtain new characters in different activities to ensure the retention of players.

Finally, the game characters use exquisite character portraits and Live2D animation production specifications, which are not low, and more importantly, in terms of story performance, the game adopts a relatively delicate love AVG technique, which further raises the level of character building.

In the main plot of the game, the initial encounter between the protagonist and different characters from different worlds will be staged; In the exploration of Dragon City and the village event, new characters will continue to be attracted and join the player camp as a "partner"; Looking at it more closely, there are also some special characters who will become the protagonist's "family".

Most of the gameplay in the game revolves around these "partners" and "families", such as the construction and growth of villages, which are largely improved by the progress of partner development and the unlocking of family abilities; There is also a gameplay similar to the school park, which requires players to "adopt orphans" through the "family out" gameplay and then train them to become "students" in their own villages, and finally graduate with a little success.

The gameplay and settings around the characters are interlocking, and over time, players will be able to discover that the settings of "family" and "partners" are not simply literal, but supported by real stories and experiences. With these "common experiences between the player and the character" as a foundation, the sense of immersion and belonging in the game will naturally become stronger.

This series of gameplay and settings may seem inconspicuous when viewed separately, but "Slow Life in Another World" cleverly connects them together to give people a casual experience and healing atmosphere that is different from other games.

Therefore, compared with the traditional second game, this set of gameplay and content seems more relaxed and healing; Compared with regular business simulation games, this game is more humane. As a result, "Slow Life in Another World", with its unique experience and mature gameplay, will naturally retain players in the long run.

03

A long-term success story

In fact, judging from the case extension of "Slow Life in Another World", the success of this product is not accidental, but a natural product of game manufacturers who have been deeply cultivating a category for a long time.

The publisher of this game, Yi World, has launched a number of simulation management games such as "Gold Coin Monopoly", "Business Master", "I Am a Big Boss" and "This City Has Good Land" in the past many years, and has accumulated sufficient experience. And it can be seen that its recent products are trying the strategy of "mature simulation business framework + differentiated theme + micro-innovation gameplay".

It can be said that from the perspective of simulated business categories, if you leave the accumulation of these products in the past, it may be difficult for "Slow Life in Another World" to achieve its current results. The successful combination of simulation management + two-dimensional theme can also continue to feed back the accumulation and experience of Yishi in the simulation business category, and lay a solid foundation for subsequent products.

Similarly, looking at the product "Slow Life in a Different World" from the perspective of the second game, its success also proves that the second game is not only a big open and closed way of playing, and the two-dimensional theme is not limited to individual categories and business models. Broaden the way of thinking, and the two-dimensional theme can also collide with more gameplay and tracks.

So in my opinion, "Slow Life in Another World" also provides a mature idea: if you focus on accumulating in one category for a long time, then when this accumulation reaches a certain level, game manufacturers can easily bypass the category and use mature category experience + differentiated theme packaging to continuously launch successful products.

Now in this market, hot money and hot traffic are not easy to find, and the eyeballs that can be won by individual longboards alone are decreasing, and even if they are eyeballs, it is difficult to retain users. Therefore, we are fighting more for their own accumulation, as well as more comprehensive competitiveness, only the short board is shorter, the long board is longer, in order to go far in this market.

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