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Conversing with Guildford’s Mojiworks on the meteoric rise of chat games
Guildford’s Mojiworks on the meteoric rise of chat games
Mojiworks’ Ready Chef Go could well be the biggest game you’ve never heard of. The cooperative cooking game – think Overcooked with Bitmoji chefs and you’re not a million miles away – launched in December last year, and by the end of its first month players had served over half a billion in-game orders. That number is now much higher, and still climbing. For the Guildfordbased studio, however, it’s no great surprise. You may not know the name, but you’ll know the platforms it works with: iMessage, Facebook Instant Games and, in the case of Ready Chef Go, Snapchat.
Established by former Lionhead alumni Matthew Wiggins and Alan Harding in late 2016, Mojiworks has been at the vanguard of chat games since its inception. The pair had moved into mobile games after leaving the Fable creator, and sensed a prime opportunity to attract new players on messaging platforms. “They founded the company with the philosophy of not just treating those platforms like a new distribution opportunity for existing mobile games, but for really trying to put social play at the core of those game ideas,” senior designer Kate Killick tells us. “That’s been the guiding philosophy that’s taken us through the various platforms we’ve worked on.”
One of the secrets behind Mojiworks’ success is that it tailors its games to the various chat services rather than simply bringing over concepts that have already worked on other mobile platforms. “It’s very important to look at these games as being social games first, and facilitating that relationship between friends,” junior designer Ioana Cazacu says. “Whenever we work with a new platform, we design for that platform with its strengths and weaknesses in mind.”
And there is quite a difference between the three. The demographics, for starters, are not the same; different players use these platforms for different reasons, and aren’t necessarily looking for similar experiences. As for the platforms themselves, iMessage naturally suits two-player turn-based mechanics, while Instant Games, as Killick notes, “has a more drop-in, dropout kind of feel but still asynchronous”. Snapchat, however, is completely different, suited to short bursts of collaborative play. “It’s where people hang out online, chatting, and then jump into a game together,” she adds. That’s why Ready Chef Go’s rounds last no more than 90 seconds, and why its six game modes are available at different times of day. It’s designed to be played casually but frequently, with seasonal and bonus events to tempt players back.
Working closely with the platforms has helped the studio gain traction – Ready Chef Go is just the sixth thirdparty Snapchat game – though Cazacu explains that the growth has been mostly organic. In groups, she says, there is almost always what they call a ‘pioneer’: someone who initiates game sessions and encourages their chatmates to play. “There’s one friend that suggests group activities to the rest of the people, and most of the chat games get a lot of exposure from that,” she says. It’s why it has been able to attract the kind of people who don’t ordinarily play games. “The most important part about social games is that we help create those friend bonds. That’s the main way that you can get people who are either not so much into gaming, or they don’t even know about these games, to play them.”
That includes many people in the game industry, Killick adds, which still surprises her. “Obviously we’re involved with these games every day, but it’s kind of crazy when I go to events and network and it’s still a bit under the radar,” she says. Thus, pandemic permitting, the two will be at this year’s Develop for a talk that will explain why ‘Chat Is Where It’s At’. Those eye-watering figures certainly suggest Mojiworks has a bright future ahead of it, but the studio believes it can expand its reach even further. “I think there’s still loads of scope to explore new ideas,” Killick says. “We want to see what different kinds of experiences can work on these platforms, and that’s really exciting.”
IT JUST WORKS Mojiworks might only be three-and-a-half years old, but it’s already won awards for diversity, and been recognised as one of the best places to work in the game industry. Its culture of inclusivity has, Killick believes, helped it design for a broader audience of players, particularly given that its approach to development is far from the conventional model. “It’s definitely an advantage to have people in the company who can bring different perspectives and different types of creativity to the table,” she says. “Having people come in who haven’t gone through the same experience of the traditional game industry helps because they’re bringing ideas from outside the box and thinking about the players we’re building games for.”
One of the secrets behind Mojiworks’ success is that it tailors its games to the various chat services