Dungeons, Cards, and the Ever Dreaded Monetization Question

We've been making some pretty good progress on SWORDOKU: Grid & Glory!

The basic gameplay loop is in place, the 3D dungeon is working, and the game is finally starting to feel like an actual game instead of a collection of systems that occasionally cooperate with each other.

There's still a tremendous amount of work to do, of course.

Animations.

Visual effects.

Sounds.

Combat polish.

All the little things that turn a functioning game into something that actually feels good to play.

But the foundation is there, and honestly, I'm having a lot of fun with this one!

Now Comes the Fun Part... Monetization

Okay, maybe not the fun part.

Probably one of my least favorite parts of game development, actually.

But it's something I need to think about.

I'm currently planning to make SWORDOKU completely free to play, with optional ways for players to get a little extra help or convenience.

And yes, that means rewarded advertisements.

Ugh.

Anyone who knows me knows I'm not particularly fond of ads in games.

I don't like having them shoved in my face, interrupting gameplay, or being forced to watch something just to continue playing.

But games cost time and money to develop, and somehow I need to make enough to justify continuing to build them.

So I'm looking at a system where players choose whether they want to watch an ad in exchange for something useful.

No forced interruptions.

No mandatory ads between battles.

Just optional rewards for players who want them.

Want Another Card? Watch an Ad.

One of SWORDOKU's progression mechanics involves choosing upgrade cards as you advance through a dungeon.

These cards can improve your abilities, enhance your combat effectiveness, provide healing, or give you other useful bonuses.

Normally, you'll be presented with three choices and get to select one.

But what if you don't particularly like those choices?

That's where a rewarded ad could come in.

Watch an ad to reroll your choices.

Or maybe you really like all three cards.

Watch an ad to take all three.

That second option will likely have some limits, because I don't particularly want someone stacking every possible bonus and turning the dungeon boss into a decorative floor ornament.

There will also be a Remove Ads purchase option, which is personally my preferred approach.

I'd much rather let someone pay once and enjoy the game without advertisements.

Exactly how that purchase will interact with the optional rewards is something I still need to work out.

I'm also considering things like treasure chests, gems, or other optional rewards that could provide additional ways to support the game.

Nothing is finalized yet.

But I want to establish the basic approach early, because as it turns out, monetization can have a pretty significant impact on game design.

Wait... Why Would Anyone Watch That Ad?

And that brings us to a problem I noticed while looking at the existing progression system.

Originally, the upgrade cards were temporary.

You'd earn them during a level, use them for a few waves, and then lose them when the level ended.

Which was fine from a gameplay perspective.

But then I started thinking about the rewarded ads.

Why would somebody watch an advertisement to reroll their card choices, or take all three, when those bonuses might disappear after another four to eight waves?

They probably wouldn't.

And honestly, I wouldn't blame them.

That didn't seem like a particularly good value for the player's time.

So I started reconsidering how the dungeon progression itself should work.

Enter Dungeons, Stages, and Waves

Instead of treating every short collection of waves as an entire level, I'm restructuring progression into something a little more substantial.

We'll start with Dungeon 1.

That dungeon will contain multiple stages.

Each stage will contain its own configurable number of waves, with a boss encounter waiting at the end of the dungeon.

And here's the important change.

Upgrade cards will persist throughout the entire stage.

When you finish a stage and move on to the next one, those temporary bonuses reset and you start building your abilities again.

That gives each stage its own progression arc, while allowing the upgrades you earn to remain useful for considerably longer than they did under the original design.

Suddenly, watching an optional ad to reroll your choices or grab all three cards makes a lot more sense.

You're not spending your time on a bonus that disappears almost immediately.

You're getting something that can help you through a meaningful chunk of the dungeon.

And from a gameplay standpoint, I think it makes the progression more interesting too.

Building Power, Then Starting Again

Another part of the revised design is how experience and card rewards work.

During a stage, you'll gain experience as you fight through the waves.

Earn enough experience, and you'll get another opportunity to choose an upgrade card.

As the stage progresses, those card choices will gradually become less frequent, so you're not constantly being interrupted with upgrade screens.

Then, when the next stage begins, your temporary experience and card progression reset.

You get to build a new combination of bonuses for the next challenge.

That should help keep things interesting without allowing temporary upgrades to grow completely out of control.

And because the system is configurable, I can adjust the number of stages, waves, and progression curves as the dungeons become more difficult.

At least that's the plan.

We'll see how many times I change it before release.

I'm guessing more than once.

Still Plenty of Dungeon Left to Build

Of course, none of this means SWORDOKU is anywhere near finished.

Not even close.

There's still a lot of work ahead.

Spell abilities and special attacks.

Permanent character upgrades.

Equipment.

Additional bonuses and card effects.

Better combat animations.

Visual effects.

Sound effects.

Balancing.

And all the other things that inevitably appear on the development to-do list when you start testing your own game.

I'm also still making adjustments to the rules and underlying systems as I go.

Sometimes something sounds great on paper and turns out to be less interesting once you're actually playing it.

Other times, a small change ends up making a huge difference.

That's one of the things I enjoy most about this stage of development.

The game is playable enough that I can actually feel how the systems work together, but early enough that changing something major isn't a complete nightmare.

Usually.

A Dungeon Full of Fun

So that's where SWORDOKU stands right now.

The core gameplay works.

The 3D dungeon is taking shape.

Combat is functioning.

Progression is evolving.

And I've somehow managed to turn a relatively simple puzzle concept into another game involving dungeons, monsters, character progression, equipment, spells, and a pile of interconnected systems.

Because apparently I don't know how to make a simple game anymore.

But you know what?

I'm having a dungeon full of fun with this one!

There's a long road ahead, but I'm really liking how it's coming together.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some monsters to balance, cards to tweak, and probably another dozen systems to invent that I absolutely don't need.

Back to the dungeon!