So we're not all going to agree on whether 4 minutes is enough time to have a trial for a game or not. Vote on the connect issue to change that. But it is what we have, so let's be productive and start discussing what are the best ways for games to take advantage of the trial and put their best foot forwards.

Some things I'm seeing already from trials.

• Cut down on your load times. If you can load less because it's in trial mode do it so they can get into the game quicker.
• Shorten the length of your splash screens. Get people through all your splash screens as fast as possible and into the game.
• Disable non-essential menu options. Guide the players to where they should be going right away. Don't let them get all distracted surfing through menus when they should be playing your game to see if they like it or not.
• Skippable tutorials. Make sure players can skip your tutorial. Make it obvious to them how they can skip it. Either make the tutorial a separate menu option or if you have it start every time, display constantly the button they can hit to skip it.
• Make sure your tutorial can be finished completely in under 4 minutes (or whatever length of time the current trial is). Modify your tutorial to be streamlined and clear and under the time trial time limit.
• Take advantage of standard control schemes. Make sure you're using standard buttons for everything, build upon the training all other games have already done for the gamer so your controls and play are more intuitive.
• Drop them into the action. Don't start your players at the beginning of your game in trial mode. Put them where the action is. If it's an RPG, level them up, give them tons of high powered items and let them wreck some carnage. If it's an RTS, drop them in the middle of an already established battle with tons of resources, let them see all the cool upgrades they can get once they purchase the game. Make them as powerful as possible right away. Even in a 2D vertical shooter you should drop them into action right before a big boss fight. Let them feel the power and excitement of your game.

So there's some ideas I've had. What are others seeing that could be done differently when you're playing in trial modes? What are some tips and advice we can give each other to make the best trial mode experience possible?

I think it should also be mentioned that regardless if the timed trial period changes, these all things we should do anyway. What George describes is exactly the things players will want to see in a demo. Doing these things would increase your sales anyway. Playing 10 minutes of a game with 20 to 30 hours of game play isn't going to help me any more than 4. What I need to see is the game at its best. Even if after I purchase the game it takes me hours to get to that point.

One thing we do for all of our games is offer printable instructions on our web site. That way they don't have to waste their first trial reading the instructions.

Another thing we have done is make sure, at least in the trial, the player always knows what they are supposed to do. They don't want to waste the trial just figuring the game out.

In our game currently in production, we allow the player to play the "special trial" or play the real game. That way the can see both experience and know what they are signing up for by purchasing.

We have also added the feature of timing them in the "special trial" that way they can use the "special trial" to compete if they purchase the game. "I can finish the trial in 2 minutes, 3 seconds." Also by leaving it available they can show it to their friends. That way the friend gets to see the game at its best without tying up the Xbox for hours. You wouldn't believe how may times I wanted to show a friend a game but didn't want to spend hours to do it.

Patrick

Follow the example of standard game demos and make a loading screen that has the control layout on it.  Especially useful if you're dropping them right into the game.
You could even go as far as to just have a Start Demo\Trial and Exit options and that's it.  Let your loading screen describe how to play it and what you'll get in the full version.

A good example of George's 'drop them in the middle of the action' is Dead Rising.  When the demo came out it started you with a short cutscene then right into the game.  Playing the full version it's a lot slower to get into than the demo.  In fact, when I want to show someone Dead Rising I kick up the demo as it's a lot easier to get the idea of the game.

Star Gaming Network:

One thing we do for all of our games is offer printable instructions on our web site. That way they don't have to waste their first trial reading the instructions.

Poor trees. Hopefully your users are just reading them on screen prior to playing. ;-)

For me I'm approaching this two ways. For Bloc the four minute trial worked out perfectly. For my next game, I chose a design that, amongst other reasons, I knew would be easier to work with in the current trial time limit. It's a simple arcade game so I can easily just let players go and know they'll have a fine trial experience just like Bloc. (However, after seeing that sometimes the trial timer doesn't seem to end trials, I will be placing a five minute game-play timer in the game so as to catch those edge cases).

The second approach, for when I get to my next next game, is going to be pretty much all of George's points. I'm planning on taking them from the title screen straight into gameplay. The game will allow drop-in/drop-out co-op so others can easily join in for the demo, and it will be a custom level built solely for the trial. The level will simultaneously teach you to play the game, show off our art style, present the game mechanics, and hopefully hook players on the concept.

I think a customized trial experience is perfectly fine. You can give them a level that isn't in the real game and give them whatever you need to show them the fun in your game. They don't need to get all the nuances of your battle system or any of that nonsense. Find one or two points that make your game fun and interesting and take four minutes to sell those two points. Then they can buy the game and find all those little nuances. Not only does this help your trial experience stay shorter, but nothing's better for a gamer than liking a game, buying it, and then finding more reasons to like it.

One idea that came to my mind that I've not seen mentioned is selectable trial scenarios. Sure, you're limited to 4 minutes, but it doesn't have to be the same four minute experience each time does it? Would it be possible to code a menu only accessible via trial mode that has a selection of customised in-game scenarios, each one showcasing a different gameplay feature. For example, being able to select between opening story and teaser scenes, a hand-holding tutorial (if required) and two or three carefully designed in game scenarios - preferably right in the action as George Clingerman mentioned above.

Perhaps you can get some sort of replay mode working in your game, use it to record some advanced gameplay and use it as the background for your menus. Basically an "attract mode" that runs all the time when the player isn't playing. Although you should also upload a video of your game that would serve a similar purpose, that video would not be directly accessible on the marketplace and it's not of the same visual quality.

Although you don't want them to spend long in the menu, if you're concerned about players not being able to get proficient enough to experience the really interesting gameplay then the next best thing is to show them what they'd be able to do if they did buy the game.

I'm thinking of adding a special trial level that uses the time to determine what happens (ie: boss battle at exactly 30 seconds until end of trial).

Harald Maassen:

I'm thinking of adding a special trial level that uses the time to determine what happens (ie: boss battle at exactly 30 seconds until end of trial).

You have to be careful. If you ship the game and the team adjusts the time limit afterwards, your trial will behave strangely. Honestly you shouldn't time anything. You should just put a boss at the end of the trial level and make sure the level is completable in less than 3 minutes or so. That's the best route to take.

Nick Gravelyn:

Harald Maassen:

I'm thinking of adding a special trial level that uses the time to determine what happens (ie: boss battle at exactly 30 seconds until end of trial).

You have to be careful. If you ship the game and the team adjusts the time limit afterwards, your trial will behave strangely. Honestly you shouldn't time anything. You should just put a boss at the end of the trial level and make sure the level is completable in less than 3 minutes or so. That's the best route to take.

Hmm good point. I could put in a maximum time though in case the trial limit is increased, and pray it doesn't get decreased ;)

I dunno but I quite like the idea of playing into the 4 minute thing by presenting a trial that takes exactly (more or less) 4 minutes to beat if you're good enough. That sort of makes the trial a game in itself that people might come back to to retry or finish properly which will help get them to buy the full thing!

You could enforce your own 4 minute limit if that's what you want to do.  You can stop your game when you like and pop up an upsell screen or marketplace blade.  Obviously it would go a bit wrong if the time limit was reduced but if it went longer you'd still be able to catch that.

I think Artoon did a really good job with the trial in that there's a level select where you can play a tutorial level or one of the first 3 or so regular levels.  Since each level can be completed within a couple of minutes, it was easy to get a good sense of what the game was like.  The only thing that I think could have made it better would be to select the demo levels from various points in the game (say, 2 beginner levels and 1 intermediate level) to give the player an idea of how the difficulty scales.

Fuzzy Bug:

Follow the example of standard game demos and make a loading screen that has the control layout on it.  Especially useful if you're dropping them right into the game.
You could even go as far as to just have a Start Demo\Trial and Exit options and that's it.  Let your loading screen describe how to play it and what you'll get in the full version.

A good example of George's 'drop them in the middle of the action' is Dead Rising.  When the demo came out it started you with a short cutscene then right into the game.  Playing the full version it's a lot slower to get into than the demo.  In fact, when I want to show someone Dead Rising I kick up the demo as it's a lot easier to get the idea of the game.

Next time you do that you should time it and cut them off after four minutes from when you start the game.