The value of our game design aims to explore the underlying mechanisms of social media platforms. We intend to help players understand how these mechanisms impact user experience, platform profitability, and the broader social influence of social media. Through gameplay, we hope to prompt players to reflect on the delicate balance between commercial interests and user experience, and to consider how platforms can pursue growth while safeguarding both user interests and long-term reputation.
In our designed loop system, players face trade-offs between ad revenue and user experience. This loop setup is conveyed through the interactions among several key elements. Each decision players make, such as increasing ad frequency would affect other elements, finally determining the platform’s sustainability. This loop allows players to deeply understand that platform growth isn’t only about increasing user numbers and revenue but also about maintaining a healthy user ecosystem.
This loop consists of several elements: money, user number, user engagement, reputation/quality, algorithm, overhead costs, ad personalization, and ad frequency. We’ve designed specific parameters to calculate the internal relationships among these elements. The player has control over ad frequency, ad personalization, and the algorithm, and these components drive the loop’s activation.
[The parameters will be continuously improved after some playtests.]
Here’s how it works:
- Ad Frequency is fully determined by the player.
- Ad Personalization is controlled by the player, but it’s capped by the algorithm level.
- Algorithm is influenced both by the player’s input and by money, as higher revenue allows for greater investment in the algorithm.
The relationships between other elements are as follows:
- Overhead Costs = (User Number) * (Engagement) + Algorithm
- Reputation = User Number + Algorithm – Ad Personalization – Ad Frequency
- User Engagement = Algorithm – Ad Frequency
- User Count = Reputation/Quality
- Money = (User Number) * (Engagement) * (Ad Frequency) * (Ad Personalization) – Overhead Costs
