I Just Want Players to Save Money, They Insist on Giving Me!
Chapter 463 - 160: The Interview that Shook the Industry! Oh my, Secondary Creation!_2

Chapter 463: Chapter 160: The Interview that Shook the Industry! Oh my, Secondary Creation!_2

"Since its foundation, First Player company has always insisted on player-centric design. This original intention has been carried through till now. As long as the company maintains such an attitude in design, even if their games aren’t to my taste, I’ll still spend my money on them as a sign of respect!"

"Hello? Why did you ban my account?"

...

In the subsequent interview, Ke Jin elaborated on the design philosophy behind ’Auto Chess-like games’ without holding anything back.

Ultimately, it comes down to several broad categories.

Streamlined information delivery and decision-making mechanisms.

As we all know, ’Cloud Top’ is a game with many Chess pieces.

And each Chess piece plays an indispensable role on the board.

Whether it’s a low-cost common card or a high-cost gold card, each card has its place and system where it can fit in.

Then, the question arises.

How can new players quickly memorize all these Chess pieces?

Naturally, the more streamlined the UI interface, the better.

In ’Cloud Top,’ the player’s visual interface mostly consists of graphical elements.

Where text can be avoided, it is avoided as much as possible.

Regarding the card pool, the costs are indicated with colors plus numbers, not text.

On the left-hand side, the synergy interface shows refined terms like ’Ionia 5/9’ without hovering the cursor, simply and easily informing you how many more you need to assemble the full Ionia synergy.

On the player’s UI to the right, apart from displaying the player ID, health is shown directly in the form of a bar graph, and the post-battle analysis is also conveyed using numbers.

Information delivery is brought to the ultimate level of simplicity, rather than opening a screen full of text explanations, which just by one glance can make one’s head spin and completely discourage them from getting into the game.

Each resource is optimally allocated to its fullest potential.

The uses for Gold Coin, the role of experience, the effects of equipment, the Hexes, and synergies—each one can play a vital role, and when matched correctly, can even turn the tide of battle from weaker to stronger.

This way, there is added depth for players when customizing strategies.

If the balancing isn’t done right and leans too heavily on Gold Coin or experience.

Then the other types of decisions become ’almost incapable of changing the outcome, so I might as well not choose them’ for the player.

Beyond that, there’s also a most critical key element.

The card pool’s delivery mechanism.

The reason ’Cloud Top’ is successful, although it’s an innovative approach to chess games.

At its core, it still relies on the conventional philosophy used in traditional games—the sensation of leveling up.

This feeling of leveling up intrinsically carries a pleasant sensation; it exists in every game, whether overt or hidden.

It’s the most crucial core for retaining players.

’Arknights’ exemplifies games with overt leveling.

The higher the level of your operators, the higher the damage—simple and brutal.

Games like ’Pubg’ and ’Eternity,’ however, feature leveling behind the scenes.

While there aren’t explicit level changes for characters, the equipment they get does improve over time as they eliminate opponents and become stronger.

You might only land with a submachine gun and a level-one armor, but by the time you reach the final circle, unless you sneakily got there, your equipment would have significantly upgraded from pea-shooter to a virtual artillery.

There’s yet another unique type of leveling out there.

’Hollow Knight’ emphasizes the player’s own leveling up.

Starting with clumsy moves and a simple nail, looking like an idiot who might lose to even the smallest foes.

By mid to late game, you’ve mastered utilizing Cut Down, dash, and jump—maneuvering gracefully through the danger-filled Holy Nest and tackling ever-harder bosses.

What grows stronger is not just your gear, but also the player themselves, becoming more skilled and increasingly powerful.

This kind of leveling up also brings about an intense sense of satisfaction for the player.

’Cloud Top’ also has its own form of leveling up, almost entirely hidden within the card pool.

Whether its the Chess pieces in the card pool getting stronger through 3-in-1 combinations, or the intrinsic quality of a single card, all of these uphold the concept of leveling up.

What’s more important is.

High-quality single cards will increasingly fill the card pool as the player’s population rises.

Gold cards rare in the early phases become overwhelmingly dominant in the late game, turning the card pool into a vast sea where high-cost gold cards abound at every draw.

Even lucky or skillful players can fuse together a 3-star high-cost gold card from the card pool.

And when that moment arrives.

’Cloud Top’ offers unprecedentedly generous rewards, lavishing praise on players who achieve this feat without stinginess.

Whether it’s the 3-star Ahri’s room-wide shockwaves for clearing,

Or the 3-star Kassadin simply flipping the table,

The 3-star Sion’s across-the-board 15-second stun,

Or 3-star Heimerdinger’s reversing meter mechanics.

Once you’ve made it, there’s a 99% chance of a crushing victory with chicken dinners, leaving the other side powerless to fight back.

This kind of relentless, unreasonable establishment of victory is the ultimate reward for players who have leveled up to the final stage.

Because it’s incredibly difficult to synthesize a 3-star gold card—especially hard.

So when you do manage it, I’ll reward you fiercely! No holding back!

It’s precisely because of this that almost every player who has experienced a 3-star sweep in ’Cloud Top’ unanimously regards it as a supreme indulgence! Destroying all defenses of your rivals with unparalleled strength, absolute crushing provides an extreme level of exuberance unleashed within the heart.