Defining viral web games
Viral web games? They sound dangerous. In a way, they are. Viral web games have been devastating to parts of the traditional game industry for the past few years. In fact, some people point to the rise in viral web games as one of the contributing factors to the slow demise of the traditional PC game industry. So what defines a viral web game? Here are some common traits that most viral web games share:
-These games play directly in a web browser using a plug-in that allows the game to work independently of the web page it sits on.
-They are written in Flash, Shockwave, Java, or more recently, Silverlight, HTML 5, and Unity.
-Games are designed so they can be passed around and embedded easily into other sites and portals. This can mean creating the entire game in a single file or distributing it in a way that can be easily embedded in any web site.
– Viral games can be played in online game portals and syndicated to other game portals.
– Finally, the games are sponsored, include in-game ads, and utilize a global high-score table and/or other distributed services such as micro transactions.
However, just knowing what a viral web game is does not tell you how to be successful at making them. The rest of this chapter will inform you on some ways to create, maintain, and make a make a little money from a viral web game.
Distributing a viral web game
After you have created a viral web game, the next thing you need to do is tell people about it. Your first inclination might be to announce it to the world immediately. While we will advise a bit later on why this might not be the best idea, here are some common ways to do just that.
Using your own web site
The quickest and easiest way to distribute your viral web game on the Internet is to set up your own web site to host your game. Hosting your own game also happens to be the most flexible way to go about it. After you have created a web site and embedded your SWF, there are a few more things you can do to help get the word out about your game.
Uploading to portals
Another way to distribute your Flash games is to contact game portals like SheepArcade and directly upload your games there, or send inquiry by mail. If you have a game that stands out, this can be an effective way to get your games seen quickly. However, the effect still might not last as long as you would like. There are two basic types of portals to which you can upload your games: social gaming sites and selective portals. You can even write review and make video of your game and submit it to games reviews and games videos portal.
Social gaming sites
Social gaming sites such as Kongregate and Newgrounds allow you to upload your games and have them instantly playable by anyone else using the portal. Using these sites is a great way to get instant feedback for your games and to get a few residual links back to your own web site. A great advantage to these sites is that, with rare exceptions because of improper content, they accept almost every game submitted.
However, there are some drawbacks to social gaming sites. First, sites like these contain rating systems that will probably not be kind to your game, no matter how good it might be. The communities on these sites are very opinionated and are looking for very specific games and genres (e.g., ultra professional-looking zombie defense games) that might not jibe with your creation. For this reason, the comments and ratings might not be as helpful as the exposure to your game gets in general. If you can stomach the ratings (and by the way, they could be very positive, especially if you hit with the right game at the right time), these sites can be a great way to find out how your game will play with a general audience. Some portals also have periodic contests that award developers cash for the best-rated and most-played games over a certain time period. However, there are pitfalls to contests. We will discuss some of them in the next section.
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