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Michael Mindes
United States
Tucson
Arizona
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This blog post for some reason features many great 80's songs... Enjoy accordingly.
Let's face it. Psychologically speaking, even if we are a person that is satisfied with live, we can always find something to improve. Or perhaps, we just want to immerse ourselves in an alternative world to the one we live in.
Getting to the core of that psychological need and fulfilling it will release the endorphins and make people feel good. Feeling good as a result of playing a game leads to more plays, more satisfaction, and eventually more sales for the publisher.
That is what having a well integrated theme is all about.
Everybody Wants To Rule The World
Tears for Fears got it right. In life, everybody (almost everybody) will not have a chance to rule the world. When players escape into a game, a presupposed state is often that they rule the world. Or at least a portion of it, or something that resembles ruling the world. The players are always (almost always) in control of their destiny, which can be a nice escape from life where our control over any given situation varies wildly.
The better a theme is integrated and allows people to think in some sense that they are ruling the world, then the more likely something will be a potential hit. It just fills a void in the lives of most people.
Or if the player actually rules the world, or a small portion of it, then they would still enjoy a simulation of ruling something else!
Don't You Forget About Me
Don't, Don't, Don't! Simple Minds, Simple Pleasures. Sometimes we just want to do something silly and fun. Even the most hardcore analytic hardcore gamer will want an opportunity to decompress, well maybe not them, but a lot of people.
Give them an immersive theme, a simple game, and ride the wave. Martian Dice fills in well here. Imagine being a Martian and abducting Earthlings so that you can run tests on them and determine who is in charge. Cows, Chickens, or Humans? We don't know, we are Martians, and Martians love running tests. We also love blowing up (vaporizing really) tanks.
The more memorable the theme is, the more a game will get remembered and therefore played.
You've Been Hit By, A Smooth Criminal
In real life, everybody (almost everybody) wants to be a hero in some sense. When playing a game, it can be nice to play the role of a criminal knowing that it is within a game.
Giving people the opportunity to do this, while not necessarily what I would choose to publish could allow for some extremely large sales. We don't have to look any further than the Grand Theft Auto series of video games to see that this is true.
I like to think that Belfort would have been popular at Neverland Ranch
I Want To Be, Your Sledgehammer
One of the Internet Marketers whose blog I regularly read said that he was invited to a demolition party on new year's eve. A friend was remodeling his house, and thus invited people over to do the demo work. He said it was one of the best parties that he had ever been to, and this guy says that he is at a lot of parties.
Part of the enjoyment was pure visceral fun of swinging sledgehammers and destroying stuff. Part of the enjoyment was the novelty of it. How many demolition parties have you ever been to?
If your theme can tie into the visceral and intuitive nature of what somebody wants to do and/or be unique, then the likelihood of producing a hit goes up. Last year running a vineyard was a popular and unique game theme with Vinhos and Grand Cru.
Conclusion
Theme is a critical component for any game. Tasty Minstrel Games places a high importance on having games with a well integrated theme. This is probably because I deplore games that feel like I am playing a spreadsheet. Working as a game publisher and a financial advisor, I have plenty of things in my daily life to try and optimize. I will do it in a game, but I do not want to feel like I am playing a spreadsheet.
If a game has a strong and well integrated theme, then it is hard to feel like you are playing a spreadsheet!
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