What the session covers
Consulting stages
- Stage 1 - Initial review: Submit design documents, GDD, or prototype build. A structured questionnaire covers target audience, monetisation model, and current retention data if available.
- Stage 2 - Core loop audit: A detailed written report identifies structural issues in your core loop, secondary loops, and economy. Includes annotated diagrams where relevant.
- Stage 3 - Live session: Two-hour video call to walk through findings, answer questions, and prioritise which changes will have the most impact given your timeline and resources.
- Stage 4 - Revision support: Two weeks of asynchronous feedback via shared document. Submit revised sections and receive written responses within 48 hours.
- Stage 5 - Final review: One-hour closing session to assess changes and outline next steps for playtesting or soft launch.
About this webinar
What makes players stay in strategy games
Retention in mobile strategy games hinges on a specific tension between short-term decisions and long-term planning. Most teams underestimate how quickly players disengage when that tension collapses. Sessions that feel consequential keep people coming back; sessions that feel like maintenance tasks do not.
What this consulting covers
Work begins with a structured audit of your existing design documents or prototype. Core loop analysis, resource economy mapping, and progression pacing are examined against real benchmarks from titles like Rise of Kingdoms and Clash of Clans. Gaps between intended player experience and actual mechanical output get identified and documented clearly.
Economy and progression design
Resource economies in strategy games fail in predictable ways: too much idle time, runaway leader problems, or pay walls that appear before players understand the game. Each of these gets addressed with concrete structural changes, not generic advice.
Session design for mobile constraints
Mobile sessions average under eight minutes. Strategy games that ignore this force players into frustrating half-finished decisions. Designing meaningful micro-sessions within a larger strategic arc is a specific skill covered in depth during this engagement.
The gap between a game that feels strategic and one that actually is strategic is almost always in the feedback systems, not the complexity of the rules.
Observation from playtesting across six mobile titles
Who benefits from this service
Independent studios, small teams at publishers, and solo developers who have a working prototype or detailed design document. Prior experience in mobile development is helpful but not required. The consulting adapts to where your project currently stands.