Making successful games on Kongregate and the World v1.5

WARNING: BIG LIST
Now with useful links!
As long i have been on Kongregate(since 2006) i noticed that there are recurring suggestions in top-rated comments.This doesn't wants to be a must-list, but a collection of useful tips by other players and some successful game developers.

Your game must be fun to play

First impression
Name must be short and give a good impression(nouns work better, or smart puns)
Contemporary touch(like a spaceship game named after the name of a recently discovered star)
Take advantage of similar successful games
Season(releasing "Snow Battle 4" on august is not the best)
Use some magic words like "unique" "436 different weapons" "12different races" "completely original"...
Funny catchy introduction to the description("Being a zombie isn't easy...", "Those baddies will never learn they don't stand a chance against you!")
Try to keep it short;some portal give you only 10-12 words (50 char_s) to catch the player attention
Keywords!
  Year 2097 = this is a futuristic game
  Grow = this game is for upgrade addicted ones!
  Army = this is a strategy game
If you don't know how to name your game http://www.onemorelevel.com/game/flash_game_generator

Common Features
Hotkeys
In game achievements(which give small enchancements)
Autosave(i'd say a must, internet seems to be unrealiable when gaming)
Upgrades(or any other way which can improve the player's character)
Speed up button(if there is some AI that makes the work...)
Skip cutscene button
Fasten dialogues
undo button(better an undo button than a confirm dialog)
expected hotkeys, behaviours
 p= pause the game
 ctrl+z= undo(in editors and complicated puzzle games)
 WASD keys perform exactly as the arrow keys(if they are free)
 Clicking objects that sparkle/change on mouse over do something(maybe some easter eggs)
 Button that aren't grey-shaded are working
 the X icon means delete/destroy
 the "<-" symbol means "back"
 return to the title screen button
 options are avaible also throught the pause menu
 previous+next button
 

Controls
Number keys are good to select skills or weapons, but they can't be pressed while the player is using the mouse
Refrain use of browser, operative system reserved keys(like ctrl, alt, canc, shift, command)
  (However the game Shift use shift key for fun/feeling http://armorgames.com/play/751/shift)
many keyboards can't recognise more than 2 keys pressed simultaneously
Controls shouldn't be hard to master in early game



Balance
Asymmetrical or unique skill tree
Different characters=different tactics
No excessive worry of losing
 -give some money/exp even when losing
 High level cap
 Can buy all upgrades
 Not all upgrades are needed to beat the game
Difficulty
 Point out in the description if it will harder than usual.
 No instant losing
 Choosing difficulty levels is not useful
 (players usually start with easy setting and then forget to play hard mode if they don't have enough advantages)
 Player can instantly adjust difficulty level during the game doing some actions
 Some gain when you lose.
 No 'now you have to restart all' game over
 No more than 1 minute of game between a save-point and another
 no tricky jump timing(many players are not skilled...)
AI
 no perfect enemies(leave some random in ai behaviours,or slow them a bit)
 do what you can do(better simple dumb enemies if you are new to programming.Intelligent enemies could be more time consuming than you thought and less funny)
 

Addictiveness
Medium lenght(min 2hours, max 20 days of story-mode gameplay)
Challanges!
 Impossible challanges are not literally impossible
 Small hints on how to beat challanges
Replay features
 New game+(play a new game with some upgrades already unlocked)
 New character unlocked!(needs to be waay better to previous starting characters)
 Sandbox (in physics games)
 Level editor(and sharing)
 Endless random generated levels or world
 Survival mode

Feeling, Setting
Emotions
  fear
  humour
  exploration
  cuteness
  conquer
  problem-solving
  advancement
  and other more!
Know what emotion your game creates and enchance it!
Emotions can make the player remember the game(just as a bookmark on his brain!)
impressions(the fastest given, the fastest forgiven!)
 Colors and sounds give a fast impression
 Text, jokes and humorous situations give a mid-fast impression
 Story and gameplay(game mechanics) give a slow impression
You can convey awe by
 enabling fullscreen mode
 glowing shooting effects
 having a thing player cared shattered and then reconstructed
 weapons have extra effects after 500-1500sec
 colors and sound after a grey world
The core situation can give a good hint on what emotion expect
  being an exiled->guilt, revenge or redemption
  being a fluffy rabbit->joy, humour, cuteness
  being alone->exploration, survival or self-realization
Or can give a good spot to make humour
  being a fluffy zombie rabbit!

Art and sound
Music
 NO MUTE BUTTON 1/5!!!(seriously.People like listening its own favourite music or listening tv/radio  while gaming.Or they are in place when hearing "pew pew" sounds is embarassing)
 -turn off voice-effects(specially in zombie games)
 -turn off background music
 (you can use different channels for music and sounds.Each can be muted separately)
Effects
 lowest quality settings(noone likes lag)
 auto adjust quality(best if >40fps, low if <20fps)
 few/none particle effects setting(everyone likes Kabooms, but not lag...)
Art
 Realistic art=Realistic gameplay(there is no immortality bonus when you are playing in Call of Duty)
 No photos(better to vectorize with inkscape)(if you use them, you must have the rights to use them and )
 No art paradoxes(like pixel graphics and high-definition landscapes...)
 Title screen must be inherent with the game(ex: no colors if the game is black and white)
 No need of ubercool art(Shift series has an average of 4.17/5 rating and a pretty basic black and white art http://www.kongregate.com/games/ArmorGames/shift?acomplete=shift)

If Tower Defense
(many top games share these features)
 speed up with up_arrow and slow down with down_arrow(up to x5)
 targeting priorities
    -nearest to the goal(default target)
    -middle of the horde(for better splash damage)
    -last monster in range(for better 'pierce' damage)
    -fewest hit points(to make fast fire-rate tower to deal only with weakened monsters)
    -not stunned/slowed/scared/burned/poisoned/...(in order to make specials spread better)
    -most hit-points(for high-damage and slow towers,so they don't waste damage)
    -only bosses(emergency mode when the boss is sorrounded by lots of weak critters)
 spells
    -make target terrain buildable
    -bomb
    -tower buff(can be permanently or not)
    -more resources
    -summon additional critters(and get more rewards)
    -hit monsters with a special condition
 towers
    any tower has a special thing that makes it useful also later in game
    tower specials
      -splash
      -pierce trought enemies
      -slow
      -freeze/stun
      -scare/confuse (the enemy doesn't go toward the end if confused, or run away)
      -critical (stops long chains of monsters)
      -chain hit (%chance to hit 'n' enemies)
      -kill (%chance)
      -poison/burn/acid (damage over time)
      - anti-(group of enemies)
      -rage(hit faster or stronger if you lose a life, for x seconds)
      -andrenaline(hit slightly faster or stronger after every hit. Resets if idles for 2 or 3 sec)

Puzzle Games
Descriptions!
 -player knows what can do
 -colors+text+sounds describe each other(some people are color-blind or deaf)

Action Games
Golden Rule:both hands aren't idle
 -Touchpad support(many players don't have a mouse, but a touchpad.Be sure to make options that let them play, like slowing down the game when the mouse is dragged or spacebar instead of click)
   Touchpads are faster at clicking, but aim pretty badly(better at sniping)
   Touchpads are better for simple drawing
   WASD+touchpad is impractical
   WASD+Arrow keys if mouse isn't avaible

Achievements
Player can see how to achieve them
If it spoils the story or "secret" contents, give only some hints about
don't make achievements related to highly random events(player could struggle
 to control something that can't, and a percentage of players won't obtain it)
achievements give some small bonuses that helps
achievements are not necessary to complete the main game
a game-complete achievement
don't reward the player for doing funny things many times
(if a thing is funny when done few time can become a fun-killer if there is an achievement like "do that 100 times")
give a feeling of advancements(you have 23/50!)


Themes
Evergreen(steady but medium appeal)
 -zombies;enough human resamble real wars, enough evil to don't feel bad at destroying them.
 -unusual funny animals (like squirrels, hedgehogs, giant whales...)
 -high fantasy(battle evil vs good)
Actuality(high appeal at release, low later)
 -parodies of popular stories/games
 -mondial events(7/11, end/begin of a war, maya predictions,olympic games...)
 -season themed(santa's challanges or sand castle wars)
 
Marketing mistakes
Ads everywhere (buy Coca Cola)
Every menu has a Donate button
"It's my first game!"
"I made it in 24hours!"(outside competitions quality is way more considered than quantity)
"click here to play the full version"
"rate 5 and i will make a sequel"(players will ask for it spontaneously)
"this is bugged and crappy because it's a beta version"
not updating a chapter1 after the release of a much better chapter2

Good Marketing tips
Read this thread
Offer some freebies by donating
Donate button in the credit screen
Cuddle customers, but not too much
Test what runs best your game and then say "Optimized for _that!"
Listening to high rated suggestions
Auctions give good gains!(even a few thousand dollars)
Original games have greater chance to get rewieved/linked
Contact more sites for sponsorship
Discussions of the game in the sponsor's site
Kongregate Special Edition!(posted only on Kongregate...)
Quick update if something is missing
"Play first the updated Chapter 1!"
Like us on Facebook!
Small fees for some advantages


Kongregate specific
Every player has a community behind
 insert small secrets, just to have players to thumb up them
 every player starts with a small knowledge about flaws and secrets
respect key convenctions

 Kongregate API
 medium bosses or goals
 endgame boolean(make your game easier to badge for Greg)
 challanges
 'impossible' challanges(to be badged)

Multiplayer
 Co-op modes
  player can both duel and work together
 Pay object
  anything is free = +1 in the rating(guaranteed!)
  no limits of time when playing(even worst when you must pay to play more)
  pay objects don't offer exclusive features(like i can ride dragons and you not...)
  no more than 1 button which ask you to pay
  no limit-time pay objects(yeah i got golden sword with 2$_{for only 7 days??})
 Hack-proof(or nearly...)
   shoebox paradox (http://xkcd.com/916/)
   constant support

Programming tips
 If it's a new idea make a small game with simple art and test it.
 Use other people code when avaible and tested as reliable(no stealing).
 Start from an existing game if similar
 Recycle your code
 Ask, ask, ask
 Keep a blog/diary/thread
 Design>Contents
 Don't feature content that can be reach only by a small portion of players
 

Design tips
Enjoy playing your game(if you like the game, there's at least one that likes your game in the world).
Ask for feedback in game developer sites.
Make sure a 5 years old can understand how to play without reading instructions.
   

These things also are in my to-do list, and ALL top rated games in kongregate(4.00+ rating) have almost all of the things listed above(though they are only the 2%of games in kongregate are rated 4.00 and above).
Keep in mind that i have never made a popular or successful game, so if there's something you feel wrong, incomplete or a better suggestion, please post it here, and i will eventually add that in the list!
Games with 4.20+ rating on kongregate are the most likely to get the weekly 250$ prize, get badged, make you very good fame and when you will make a sequel, one of the 5 most rated comments will be something like 'OMG <username> has made a new game!Gotta play it!'.
Later in this thread there is an interesting discussion on how to get more money from flash games!

If you made a very good game you can check it from the 5 top-rated comments;
if all five are jokes or thanks your game has reached the goal!

note:i'll add in the number everytime i edit this.

A list of other Stencyl topics related
-The Great List of Programs to Use with Stencyl
http://community.stencyl.com/index.php/topic,2233.0.html
-Productivity Tip - Use Synergy to control computers with one mouse/keyboard
http://community.stencyl.com/index.php/topic,860.0.html
-Idea to Implementation.. article on making your ideas real
http://community.stencyl.com/index.php/topic,1234.0.html
-Another game making tools for Linux
http://community.stencyl.com/index.php/topic,128.0.html
-Graphing Programs!
http://community.stencyl.com/index.php/topic,4819.0.html
-Tips For New Stencyl Users.
http://community.stencyl.com/index.php/topic,2752.0.html
-Game Design Concepts You Love/Hate?
http://community.stencyl.com/index.php/topic,5487.0.html
-Game Develop - great stand-alone game making tool for windows, Linux and mac
http://community.stencyl.com/index.php/topic,6091.0.html

Other links in the net
-Agile software development
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_development
-My bible!this course is awesome!
http://gamedesignconcepts.wordpress.com/

Awesome list there, thank you for sharing your discoveries!

I had a game in the top weekly list a couple weeks ago on Kongregate and discovered quickly what I did to screw myself over. So much of what you mention in the post are the kind of comments I had as well for improving the game.

My experience:

Don't Rush
Release to Kongregate (and probably NewGrounds) LAST so you know what players like/dislike about it and resolve from there - preventing having to add more things to Silux list :-p

Addictive
Top scores do not work that great for this. You need more...
Players at kong seem to want the self challenge most of all - there's only going to be a few players that challenge for the top score on the score table as compared to challenging themselves for a better in-game reward.

Replayable
Repeating the above, just adding scores api does not work for this. Add replayability, such as in-game achievements [with rewards] for trying your game on a harder difficulty, or accomplishing something x amount of times. Having unlockable content that takes time for people to unlock will bring those players back, preventing your great game from spiking a player-count then dying all within a week.

*Revised and formatted first post

Maybe that will become an article on Stencylpedia.

Highscores are never so important on Kong, since hacking a flash game is quite easy.
If the highscore would be like 'higher level' or 'money gained' i bet first 3 or 10 in the toplist will have unbelievable values.
Because of this many player have lost some interest in highscores.
However funny things like 'how many times you crashed on purpose' or 'how much time you spent in the tutorial' are worth a quick look and some laugh!

Most requested feature I've seen?  Speed up button (usually x2 or double speed).

Added!

*facepalm*
how did i miss the holy speed up button!

A way to skip long/repetitive cutscenes and a way to speed up text speed (for RPG dialogue, for example).

does anyone know any tips on times of the day/week/month that are best to post a game, or tips regarding how to get your game more ratings or views on kong? Id like to know more about that

does anyone know any tips on times of the day/week/month that are best to post a game, or tips regarding how to get your game more ratings or views on kong? Id like to know more about that

I used to coordinate with other developers the best that I could to organize release times where I wouldn't have to go up against like Epic War 5. There's no way to do it without some level of developer coordination though. If you're lucky enough to have a relationship with Kongregate staff, you *may* be able to ask about times when good advertising promotions are happening and that will help your ad revenue, but in reality.... it's a tough thing to plan out.

I just release it when it's done. But I sometimes will wait until the middle of the week (Wednesday night) to see if there are any crazy good games that came out that week which may make it impossible for me to win top weekly prize. I don't usually wait until Thursday/Friday because I want a few days of exposure before that contest ends.

Even with that said, I've never won a top weekly prize with any of my games

Double post!

My only tip for Kong is make sure that your game is easy to jump into immediately (when I load the page, I should be playing the game in less than 10 seconds from the time that it is fully loaded).

Make sure it's super accessible, but try to keep some elements to the game that the community can figure out together. Give them something to discuss in comments and chat so that the social experience can enhance the game. Some examples would be the secrets in Balls in Space or strategies to conquer Madagascar in Pandemic (a huge hit a few years ago).

Definitely be aware of that community aspect. Try to stay away from games where the key to success is super-specific timing or super-tricky jumping mechanics. Instead, go for games where the key to success is something that one player can share with another. Designing in that fashion will be a huge advantage for you.

added latest tips

Also added If Tower defense section

Another thing I see a lot on kongregate is "Developer needs to add badges!"  (Devs don't have any control over badges, Greg makes them, devs can only implement the API that lets him have something to work with.)

May not be useful in your guide, but it IS a complaint I see lots of.

On that note - here is page on how to best make statistics for badges (it's kinda buried, so providing a link to it might be useful for people who aren't as familiar with Kong)

http://developers.kongregate.com/docs/single-player/statistics-api-tips

People like:
Being able to use WASD or arrow keys.

Zombies. You get a higher rating just for having these. Seriously. (I like zombies but they are vastly overused in games and other media.)

An Undo button for particular types of puzzle or strategy games.


People don't like:
Bonuses exclusive to another site even if they're free and not required to finish the game. This is somehow highly offensive and people knock stars off rather than playing it on the other site!

Puzzles based solely on colour differentiation. Add text descriptions, different shapes or shading so that people who are colourblind are not excluded.

Similarly, puzzles based on sound - add some visual indication as well.

Added your advice!

Also added some marketing suggestions.

lol at the just add zombies suggestion.

Great list, I'll keep these in mind when making my games