Wild Beyond
Role: UI/UX Designer
Skills: Wireframes, Visual Design, Prototype, Implementation
Platform: Mobile
Overview:
Wild Beyond is a mobile strategy game set in a fantastical galaxy with real-time battles, distinctive characters, and social multiplayer gameplay.
With a focus on attracting a new audience, Strange Sevens is a development studio created at Pocketgems with the intent to pull in talented individuals with experience in AAA titles.
Audience:
Traditionally known for creating games in the casual space, Wild Beyond was an attempt to bring real-time competitive strategy typically found on pc and console to the mobile device.
Brainstorming
As a design team, we went through a few exercises to better understand player motivation. Next, updated the main journey to reflect player goals to collect units, upgrade hero decks, and master competitive play.
Sketch A: Design exercise to understand player goals.
Sketch B: Exploration of the user journey and game flow.
Wireframes
Created higher fidelity wireframes and documents to share with the Visual Designer, Allison Bair, to take a color and style pass.
Implementation
Once the designs are approved by the Art Director and Product Owners, I worked with the Engineering team to implement in the custom Mantis engine.
Initial Testing
Retention metrics were lower than expected. Players were not returning as intended. After analyzing the testing data and surveys, we concluded that players were not fully grasping game mechanics that would otherwise provide a battle advantage. They are losing at an unfavorable rate. We attributed these to the following realization:
Players are not understanding the benefits of taking control of map resources.
Confusion on how the miners affect the income and how it’s related to the resource bar.
Players do not understand why certain cards are disabled and nested.
The hardest concept to understand is the relation between the use of technology to unlock higher tiered units.
Battle Updates
The goal of the changes were to increase player understanding of the complex battle mechanics. The following was implemented:
Added a step-by-step introduction and tutorial of game mechanics.
Divided the player and enemy zones by color to reinforce the concept of map resources. Players now have a visual distinction when the middle rally point is claimed.
Changed the imagery and added a set limit of resource cards. We also connected a resource gauge to the energy bar.
Higher tiered cards are locked behind a gate with an unlock button with energy requirements.
Players can view the next card in play to better plan their strategy.
ROAs Improvements
To improve conversion, we built several monetization channels supported by instant boosts and subscription models. The intention is to have players log in more frequently with these daily benefits.
To further improve conversion, we opted to create an elite membership feature that promotes in-game values. This is the fast track for players to level up and gain battle advantages.
We advertised the membership benefits in areas where players would interact with regularly.
Home Update
Updated the Home Screen to be more accessible and expanded to support upcoming features and releases.
Player Reaction
Results and feedback was overwhelmingly positive for the upcoming changes and release.
