Anton Slashcev

My honest advice for game producers: If you don’t love playing games, you shouldn’t be making them.Because if you make a game only to "earn a buck," then:• Your game will lack fun.• It will lack depth.• And it won’t truly engage players.... resulting in earning $0 (and probably losing much more).Only true gamers can create what players love, and this will be rewarded in the end.Passion for games is what makes great ones.Always.

How to Design Difficulty in Puzzle Games Based on the Playliner research, here is a guide to designing difficulty:1. Offer multiple difficulty tiers • Easy, Hard, Super Hard — with clear visuals to indicate the level.2. Use attempts, not win rate, to tune difficulty • Low attempts (1–3) = Easy • High attempts (20–35) = Hard3. Follow a recommended difficulty curve • Start easy (Levels 1–20) to build confidence • Add a hard spike (Levels 20–30) to create challenge • Introduce progressive increases and major paywalls after Level 504. Gradually introduce mechanics• Let players master core gameplay before adding complexity.5. Reward wisely• Scale rewards with difficulty. Tougher levels should yield better prizes.6. Test and iterate• Track completion rates. • Adjust blocker levels. • Fine-tune using player feedback.• Alternate between challenging and easier phases. Make the game feel “just challenged enough” […]

Live Ops features to boost Retention Based on the Playliner research, here are 7 proven Live Ops features that can boost retention for your game:1. Daily bonus • 🎁 Rewards players for logging in daily. • 🔄 Encourages habitual play with escalating rewards for consecutive logins.2. Daily quests • 📅 Fresh tasks reset every 24 hours. • 🎯 Keeps players motivated with achievable short-term goals.3. Push notifications • 🔔 Gentle nudges to remind players of events or updates. • ⏰ Timing is key to re-engage without annoying.4. Mini-games • 🎮 Adds variety with small games inside the main game. • 🌀 Keeps the experience fresh and reduces monotony.5. Collection systems • 🃏 Let players collect items or characters to complete sets. • 🌟 Appeals to collectors and provides long-term goals.6. Season pass • 🕒 Time-limited rewards system that motivates continuous […]

🕹 R&D Framework for Game Prototyping 🕹 Below is the framework we often use when starting work on new projects:I. Pre-Production (2-4 weeks)1. Idea Generation: ▶ Market analysis, gathering references; ▶ Brainstorming to pick the most promising ideas2. Greybox Prototyping: ▶ Focus on a single core feature; ▶ Find the fun factor3. Conceptualization: ▶ Preparing the GDD, user flow, and key shots;▶ Selecting the right tools and creating a roadmapII. Production (4-10 weeks)4. Features Development: ▶ Concentrate on key gameplay mechanics and speed in development;▶ Minimal meta or progression5. Content Creation: ▶ Craft key art, and fun levels, and use ready-made assets;▶ Secondary art, vfx, sounds, etc. can be draft6. Minimum Viable Product: ▶ Ensure the game offers 20-40 minutes of engaging gameplay with a distinctive style and polished game feel▶ Better fewer, but betterIII. Product-Market Fit Validation (1-3 weeks)7. […]