Immersiveness of Browser-Based Games

[KingofCrows]

I've enjoyed virtual pet sites, adoptables, and sims for as long as I've been active online. However one of the biggest things that eventually leads to me abandoning a website has been a lack of immersive content. I'm planning a long-term project and I have plenty of my own ideas, but I'm just in the planning stages still, so I'd love more ideas. I don't want to say too much this early, but my project is animal based (around one species), in which you play as one of the animals.

What would you all love to see included in a game/what boosts the immersiveness of a browser-based experience?

 

[Nicole]

Something interesting that I haven't seen done much before in these types of games is a general storyline or path to follow.  I know its difficult when designing a game to include one, since no one wants a definite start and end to the game, but I'm sure there are ways that it could work.

I also think it would be interesting if the lore was made more obvious and was introduced to the player more directly via the gameplay.  There are often so many interesting sounding items on petsites, but it takes a bit of digging to figure out the significance of them. 

Good luck on your game!

 

[Syntax]

You can try pulling elements from other genres of games.

• Many MMO's have a storyline or campaign that's considered essentially a really long introduction, with the endgame being the looting, collecting, events, etc. 
  
• Try to make new content unlockable in some way. Don't just throw it in a store and call it a day, set up a system of either randomly generated rewards or requiring some effort to get the new stuff. 
  
• Provide methods of 'secondary' goals. Typically most games have a standard endgame goal. Be the strongest possible, defeat the elite four, beat the big bad boss, etc. But having secondary goals such as completing a pokedex or finding that one special armor piece to complete a look or breeding the perfect IV Charmander keep people playing long after they've 'finished' the game.
  

 

[Digital]

Another thing that helps is to layer your story into the players actions. Why are they doing stuff, what is that purpose?

This is where I love background and lore. It provides the context for the user. When you add smaller story arcs to the game, it makes things fun and exciting. Whether it is foe A, storing stuff for winter, going on a hunt, etc. When you play those to the main lore, you add more substance to the entire game, leading to greater player immersion into the gameplay.

 

[Claws]

Make the experience just as good on mobile as on PC, the browser based game is more immersive when it can be easily played on all the devices.