How Wooga uses Machinations to Balance June’s Journey’s Game Economy

Wooga, a Berlin-based mobile game studio renowned for its story-driven games, employs a team of dedicated game designers focused on economy and systems design. Among them are Sarah Brodsky and Mona Moghadam, both economy designers who have found invaluable assistance in Machinations for their work.

Challenge

Designing the economy and systems of a game involves intricate calculations, formulas, and spreadsheets. Sarah and Mona faced the challenge of visualizing these complex systems and making quick, informed decisions based on changes in the game’s economy. Additionally, Mona was working on “June’s Journey,” a best-selling hidden object game with a vast player base and complex economy, which required careful balancing to avoid issues like inflation.

Solution

Machinations emerged as a vital tool for both designers. Its visual representation of systems and economies significantly simplified their work. Sarah appreciated how Machinations allowed her to design not just the mechanics but the feeling of the game, transforming abstract numbers into tangible, visual systems.

Mona valued Machinations for its ability to simulate player experiences, ensuring that players would not encounter frustrations or blockers in the game.

“Machinations is a visual tool for designing systems and economy. It saves me a lot of time and a lot of energy and a lot of stress.(…) Essentially, Machinations allows me to check right away when another designer, another teammate wants to make a decision. I can integrate that into the economy, and I can see how that will play out”

Sarah Brodsky

Machinations played a crucial role in enhancing the playing experience of “June’s Journey.” By enabling the modeling of different player interactions, the team could quickly adjust based on play-testing feedback. This efficiency was essential for handling live events and maintaining a balanced resource economy in the game.

“Machinations is not just about the economy design or system designs from a game designer perspective. You can also simulate the player’s experience in there, so you can make sure that they are not facing any frustrations and there’s not going to be any blockers in the game for them”

Mona Moghadam

Machinations has proven to be an indispensable tool for the team at Wooga. Its ever-improving features and ability to simplify complex system designs make it highly recommended by both Sarah and Mona.

As they continue their work in game economy and systems design, Machinations remains a key component in their toolkit, ensuring they can efficiently and effectively create engaging game experiences.

“The good thing about this tool is that it’s getting better every day by adding new features.(…) I really suggest this to all these game designers out there, especially economy designers.”

Mona Moghadam

Watch the testimonial

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