Optimizing Your Mobile Tutorial – A Freemium Game Series

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On June 8, 2011

You can have 20 million users download you freemium application, but if only 2 of them spend more than 30 seconds in your app you have a problem! Over the next few weeks we will take the time to review some of the key components of building a successful tutorial for your freemium game and provide  insights on how to educate and retain users to the fullest.

So what is a tutorial anyways?

Retention is a key metric that speaks to how many users stick with your app day to day after initially being acquired. Typically developers and publishers define the tutorial as something that takes a user a few seconds (or minutes) to do and then they are done. In mobile freemium games it is becoming increasingly more effective to provide longer trailed tutorials that slowly introduce actions and features to the user. The goal isn’t to slow down the game experience, but to rather optimize the education process so that the user is less confused and comfortable with gameplay.

The evolving tutorial

In addition to having a solid tutorial of the game, it’s important to continually optimize the intro process over time. Analytics are vital when viewing different usage patterns of users in your app. Don’t forget to track all steps along the way to identify these pitfalls. We will identify specific tracking metrics in weeks to come.

In the coming weeks

Over the next few weeks we will look at the core elements of the tutorial and provide insights to the best practices for effectively implementing a tutorial. We will also be showcasing the best way to introduce new features, events and content to users over time so that the education process is fluid and effective. We will also spend some time talking about post launch planning so that developers can truly optimize their tutorials.

Do you have a question about freemium gaming or a topic you’d like us to explore? Let us know in the comments or catch us on twitter @rechargestudios or @w3i.

Freemium Game Blogs are published in partnership with the series on W3i’s corporate blog.

Matt Tubergen heads Recharge Studios, a wholly owned subsidiary of W3i that invests in the development and marketing/distribution of freemium mobile games.  W3i is a market leader in distributing and monetizing apps with over 500 million apps distributed for W3i clients. Recharge Studios is actively seeking new investment opportunities, if you have a great idea for a game contact us.