On September 19, the world release of the new three-in-a-row from Playrix – Homescapes took place. We talked with the creative director of the company Igor Elovikov about the development and differences of the novelty from the previous blockbuster of the studio – Gardenscapes.
Alexander Semenov, Senior Editor App2Top.ru : Share the history of the origin of Homescapes. How is his story similar to the story of Gardenscapes?
Igor ElovikovIgor Elovikov, creative director of Playrix: For us, such a project is completely logical.
As in Gardenscapes, we rely on our experience in downloadable games.
When we were doing PC games, the success of Gardenscapes (then it was a hidden object game) also raised the question of a sequel.
Then the first idea was to make a game about the interior and insides of the mansion that we see in the original game. Everyone was hooked on the idea and we put it to work. It was more of a spinoff. The game was called Gardenscapes: Mansion Makeover. I think it can still be found online. Interestingly, as a result, Mansion Makeover was even more successful than the original game.
With such experience, it would be simply unforgivable not to project it onto a frituplay model. Especially after such Gardenscapes results.
What theories and concepts in terms of mechanics did the team decide to “run in” in Homescapes?
Igor: The project was not done in order to run something. We are trying to repeat the success of Gardenscapes.
We did not make a sequel, not a continuation of the story, but a game that is interesting to play in parallel with Gardenscapes. Therefore, all the changes and in general the entire design of the game was built around the fundamental idea “How to make an original product while remaining within the same framework?”
The usual ruskin won’t work here, but you can’t do something radically new either. In addition, we had an understanding that the same concept works well in the setting at home.
How does the basic mechanics of the game differ from the previous three-in-a-row Playrix?
Igor: We have made rather evolutionary changes. For the most part, the same mechanics remained in Homescapes as in Gardenscapes.
In addition, we have retained our signature feature – a system of bonuses on the field, which are activated by simple movement.
In Gardenscapes, these are a variety of bombs that you get for connecting more than 3 chips.
In Homescapes, we completely redesigned these bonuses and decided to make not bombs, but a more familiar genre set. We designed the chips so that they could be combined with each other. And made them more diverse.
In general, we have a fairly standard bonus mechanics. But in combination with the fact that they are activated whenever by simple movement – it turned out fresh.
Why did you decide to change the mechanics?
Igor: It just fit into the idea that you need to make a game that will be fun to play with Gardenscapes.
I wanted not just some new modes, a different setting, but also fundamental changes. At the same time, the gameplay familiar to match-3 was to be preserved. We didn’t want to change it. Here for me a good example is Candy Crush and Candy Crush Soda. It seems to me that there is an interesting balance between differences and recognition within the product line.
How did the introduction of a different bonus system affect the level design?
Igor: In fact, it did not affect much. Fundamentally, the level design has remained the same. Of course, some elements have become simpler, some private mechanics who worked at Gardenscapes have stopped working, but these are quite subtleties. The team easily adapted to the new mechanics.
You’ve probably already transferred traffic from Fishdom and Gardenscapes to Homescapes. Can you tell us how the players of your old projects reacted to the new mechanics? Were there any problems with retraining?
Igor: No, there were no problems. Still, the changes, though fundamental, are based on the gameplay already familiar to everyone. In other words, it is unlikely that the mechanics of Homescapes can be called experimental.
It is new, but remains recognizable. By the way, this is the best compliment to any game mechanics, in my opinion
How much does meta differ in terms of functionality?
Igor: Conceptually, the idea is the same as in Gardenscapes. We play match-3, earn stars and spend them on advancing the story. The differences lie already in the plane of the atmosphere, the new setting and the like.
We tried to change this cycle and do something completely different, but somehow it didn’t work out. Anyway, we came back to the fact that the Gardenscapes concept is always more advantageous. It is simple, but at the same time effective and concise.
It is also easy to load it with some additional mechanics, but we have come to the conclusion that this does not make it better.
What projects, besides Candy Crush Soda Saga, were you inspired by?
Igor: We often turn to the origins. To what was done in the downloaded games. Even if you look at the quest mode from Bejeweled 3, you can see how many ideas modern match-3 borrowed from there.
We are also watching the successful Asian Games, where you can always find interesting solutions. In particular, LINE PokoPoko, Happy Elements and MicroFUN games.
Have you changed the approach to writing the plot? It seemed to me that he became better: more jokes, bright characters, conflicts.
Igor: Here, rather, it’s not about a conscious change of approach, but simply about experience. During the work on Gardenscapes, we did not stand still and learned a lot.
Probably, if you compare the initial stages of Gardenscapes and Homescapes, you can see some difference. I think it really exists, and in Homescapes the beginning of the story is brighter. However, the later plots in Gardenscapes are not inferior at all, and there are also a lot of interesting ideas there.
This is generally such a natural process of evolution for any company.
How long has the project been in development?
Igor: The game was made in a year and a half.
What composition was developed?
Igor: Since the beginning of development, the team has grown seriously: from 10 to 60+ people.
How many people are on the project who are engaged in the support and effectiveness of the project?
Igor: It is difficult to name a specific number here. Now the world release of the game, so the attention is increased. We can, for example, temporarily connect QA specialists from other projects. If we see that there are not enough people, we try to find and strengthen the team.
How do you rate sotflonch? How much more successful was it than the pre-launches of other games of the company?
Igor: It is difficult to answer with an unambiguous comparison, there are many factors. From which metrics are considered more important (it’s not always money after all), to the fact that this is a spin-off and players who have already played Gardenscapes are involved.
I can only say that we are very pleased with the results.
What did you check as part of the Homescapes softphone in the first place?
Igor: We check retention, monetization, and just roll out the technical component of the game. Also, this is a genre feature, we carefully test the difficulty of the levels.
What are your predictions for Homescapes?
Igor: I don’t like to do them, especially with regard to my games.
Of course, we want to get a hit of the Gardenscapes level. And so far, all the results are encouraging. But the question is not so much what we’ve got right now. The release is just the beginning. What matters is how the game will be supported, how we will develop it.
And I am sure that we will cope 100%.
You can download the new product:
- In the iOS version here;In the Android version here.