Chapter 7: This Game is Addictive

The first attempt scored 0 points; this was the first time Daniel Cooper had encountered such a situation.

After the bird crashed, a game-over screen appeared, showing the current score and the best score, both 0. However, there was also a ranking below the score, showing Daniel Cooper's rank as "--," indicating that his score was too low to be ranked.

Additionally, Daniel Cooper noticed a blank space occupying a quarter of the screen's top area with the words "Ad Space."

Daniel Cooper nodded, slightly changing his impression of the designer number 7.

As the founder of Cooper Network and someone active in game development, Daniel Cooper paid particular attention to games' profitability and revenue models.

Many novice designers had a flaw: they didn't consider the game's profitability when designing it.

In reality, the best way for a game to make money should be considered from the start.

Should casual games like this be pay-to-download or ad-supported? Different monetization strategies significantly impact the game itself.

Knowing to leave an "ad space" showed that the designer was aware of this, much better than those who stubbornly focused on unnecessary details.

He clicked the screen again, and the game restarted.

This time, Daniel Cooper was more prepared, continuously tapping the screen. However, the bird's flight path was challenging to control. He barely managed to pass two pipes before crashing into the third one.

"Damn it!"

Daniel Cooper was unconvinced and wanted to try again.

Five minutes later, Daniel Cooper had died dozens of times.

There was no way around it; this game was straightforward to die in. Even with total concentration, failing within three or four seconds was possible.

Moreover, after dying, a single tap restarted the game, leaving no time for consideration, leading to many repeated attempts.

Daniel Cooper's best score was 12, achieved with great effort.

After another dozen attempts, he finally improved his score to 14, feeling slightly dizzy.

However, Daniel Cooper noticed his rank on the game over screen had become 6th.

Curious, he clicked and found a leaderboard ranking players from high to low scores.

Of course, the names on the leaderboard were all in the form of "Guest XXXX" since Alex Parker couldn't make every player input their username from the start, as it would affect the game experience.

However, players could freely change their names on the leaderboard screen.

Daniel Cooper scrolled down and was shocked to find 543 names on the leaderboard!

Over 500 players had played this game out of 700 players? It was unbelievable! How was this possible?

Daniel Cooper initially thought most people wouldn't be interested in this game but realized more people enjoyed it than he had imagined.

Feeling a bit proud, Daniel Cooper, ranked 6th among over 500 players, changed his username to his real name.

He scrolled down and noticed the leaderboard constantly updating, seemingly every five to ten seconds.

Seeing the names constantly shifting, Daniel Cooper felt the game was lively.

Scrolling up, Daniel Cooper was stunned to see the top score was 47!

Damn it!

Daniel Cooper felt frustrated. How did someone achieve 47 points in such a challenging game? Were they cheating?

The top players hadn't changed their names, likely unaware of the feature.

Daniel Cooper, clearly not content, and with a current score of 14, only temporarily ranked 6th, was at risk of being surpassed.

"I'll play for another five minutes, then try other games."

Daniel Cooper closed the leaderboard and continued playing.

...

Soon, the ten minutes ended, and the Super Focus Device's effect wore off.

"This game is so strange... I ended up playing for so long. Damn it."

A middle-aged man with glasses exited "Flappy Bird," and a prompt appeared: "Would you recommend this game to others?"

After hesitating, the man clicked "Recommend."

It was hard to say why, but it might have been due to the "can't be the only one suffering" mentality.

By now, the "Flappy Bird" leaderboard had 589 names and was still growing.

This was because people tend to follow the crowd. Some audience members knew each other and were comparing scores; moreover, they could see others' screens, and seeing so many playing "Flappy Bird" drew in those not initially influenced by the Super Focus Device.

After the device's effect wore off, over half the players exited the game, but only a tiny portion chose "Not Recommend," while the rest chose "Recommend."

As for the remaining players... they were still furiously trying to improve their scores.

Simon Dominic noticed Steven Harris's grim expression and asked with concern, "Are you feeling unwell?"

Steven Harris shook his head, "Oh, it's nothing."

Simon Dominic found Steven Harris's evasive gaze curious.

He inadvertently glanced at Steven Harris's screen and saw the "Flappy Bird" score screen: "Current Score: 4, Best Score: 4."

Simon Dominic quickly turned away, nearly laughing. So Steven Harris was upset about this. Indeed, anyone would be furious after playing for ten minutes and only scoring 4 points, not even ranking in the top 200.

Simon Dominic wisely refrained from asking more.

The game-testing session continued, and about ten minutes passed.

Among the 700 spectators, nearly 600 had tried "Flappy Bird," though only a tiny portion were still playing, while the rest moved on to other games.

Alex Parker wasn't worried. From the host's introductions, he had gauged the quality of the other entries, most of which were unimpressive.

Apart from a couple of decent games, Alex Parker didn't think highly of the rest. Comparing them to "Flappy Bird"?

Well, in terms of graphics, resource usage, and content richness, they far surpassed "Flappy Bird," but in terms of playtime and viral spread?

No one came close.

As expected, after briefly trying other games, most spectators quickly closed them and reopened "Flappy Bird."

Not because it was enjoyable but because they wanted to improve their scores!

That's why the game was addictive. It felt tedious and boring, even frustrating after a while, but five minutes after closing it, players would want to play again.

Seeing the audience's reactions, Alex Parker felt confident. His only worry now was the judges' opinions.

It would be disqualified if the three judges unanimously disapproved of his game.

But if even one judge liked it, victory would be his!