Link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mr-traffic/id1524518584 Mr. TRAFFIC :DUMPLING design Ted dreams of conducting symphonies... but until then he's conducting traffic. Tap cars to make them go. Avoid crashing … Free Buy Now Watch Media DetailsTed dreams of conducting symphonies... but until then he's conducting traffic. Tap cars to make them go. Avoid crashing for a high score! Features: • TAP to play • Make MUSIC (sort of) • UNLOCK 1000s of uniform combinations • EVER-CHANGING gameplay • SHARE with friends • ANY In-App Purchase to REMOVE ADS - thanks! Information Seller::DUMPLING design Genre:Action, Arcade, Puzzle, Strategy Release:Apr 01, 2022 Updated:Jan 21, 2023 Version:2.1.0 Size:145.7 MB TouchArcade Rating:Unrated User Rating:Unrated Your Rating:unrated Compatibility:HD Universal Subscribe to the TouchArcade YouTube channel dumpling likes this. Stronsay Well-Known Member Aug 6, 2015 833 106 43 #2 Stronsay, Apr 2, 2022 This looks amusing; a good week for crazy games; but repeatedly crashes to desktop on both old and new iPads. dumpling and Anotherkellydown like this. Stronsay Well-Known Member Aug 6, 2015 833 106 43 #3 Stronsay, Apr 3, 2022 And now for the good news; today’s update fixes the Game Centre LB crash so everyone can download and play. Yes, it’s another of those hooky hyper casual 30 second games which abound on the App Store. Mr. Traffic is a good one though; witty, charming, plus a few surprises. Super slick coding from these ex Rare and Sumo Digital developers. dumpling and Anotherkellydown like this. dumpling Well-Known Member Apr 7, 2013 99 10 8 Game Designer, Game Maker, Director Shanghai, China / Sheffield, UK #4 dumpling, Apr 4, 2022 Thanks for the comments! (and for baring with us during the launch crash, we are officially 3/3 launching iOS games with Centre Center leaderboard crashes ). We also made some changes in the update to IAP and simplified things with a 'Coin Shop' and 'Coin Packs' - it provides better value and choice (we saw some players like to spend coins on the cheaper 'blind boxes', while others save up for the more expensive direct buy options - the direct-buy IAP took some of that away imo). We're also in the process of adding an 'AD option' to settings allowing players to turn off the opt-in ads/banners after any purchase (effectively providing a 'pay-what-you-want' to remove ads) - which will be great for kids! - travis Anotherkellydown and Stronsay like this. dumpling Well-Known Member Apr 7, 2013 99 10 8 Game Designer, Game Maker, Director Shanghai, China / Sheffield, UK #5 dumpling, Apr 10, 2022 Hey! We just pushed Ver. 1.0.3 update for Mr. Traffic, key changes below but crucially we've tweaked the way ads work to create a 'pay-what-you-like' way to remove interstitial ads. We've also added a setting to toggle 'Reward Ads' banners/opportunities off/on, no purchase is needed for this and it's a good way for parents to remove ads entirely for kids, however we felt the need to leave an option in there as some people do use/enjoy the opt in rewards. There's a bunch of other QOL tweaks in there too. More to come, we're busy tweaking and preparing for events starting at the end of April - travis Attached Files: MrT_1.0.3.jpg File size: 260.8 KB Views: 0 Anotherkellydown and Stronsay like this. dumpling Well-Known Member Apr 7, 2013 99 10 8 Game Designer, Game Maker, Director Shanghai, China / Sheffield, UK #6 dumpling, Jul 29, 2022 Last edited: Jul 29, 2022 Hello! Mr. TRAFFIC Ver. 1.1.1 is kicking off Series 02 collectibles alongside a Major Update which includes a bunch of new gameplay features including a mix-&-match 'Costume Skills’ system and entirely reworked progression. We'll also be adding 3 new costumes each month (10 new items) to collect and expand the costume system with some fun surprises in store. We've also added our first ‘Deluxe Collectible’ - Elvis Tedley - who doubles coins, and sings a bit. Series 02 is here! New costumes to collect each month. • Unlock DELIVERY TED, TED-209 and BALLER TED • Deluxe Costume ELVIS TEDLEY now available - DOUBLES COINS! • Mix-&-match outfits for GAMEPLAY BONUSES! New gameplay changes: • TIME OUT - charge Ted and tap when ready to freeze traffic • OFFICER Lv. - clear jobs > level up > reveal new items • New jobs added every 6hrs • New prize screen: get mystery boxes and access shopping • Reworked reward balance and unlocking • New tutorial and onboarding • Added traffic surprises, including BIG RIGS • Adjusted gameplay balance & difficulty • TONS of tweaks and polish Look forward to more from Mr. TRAFFIC in the coming months, we’re still having fun with him Anotherkellydown likes this. ShinHadoukin Well-Known Member Feb 20, 2015 890 107 43 #7 ShinHadoukin, Jul 29, 2022 Did I see that Robocop is a costume in this game?! If so, how do I get it!!!? dumpling likes this. dumpling Well-Known Member Apr 7, 2013 99 10 8 Game Designer, Game Maker, Director Shanghai, China / Sheffield, UK #8 dumpling, Aug 1, 2022 Last edited: Aug 1, 2022 Not quite, it's TED-209 The outfit is revealed (to the unlock pool) at Lv.40, or you can watch an AD to 'TRY' whenever you like. His Pew-Pew Enforcer has an awesome 'thunk' to it ShinHadoukin Well-Known Member Feb 20, 2015 890 107 43 #9 ShinHadoukin, Aug 1, 2022 Well, I gave a goal! Thanks for the details. dumpling likes this. dumpling Well-Known Member Apr 7, 2013 99 10 8 Game Designer, Game Maker, Director Shanghai, China / Sheffield, UK #10 dumpling, Aug 1, 2022 You got this! ✌ Adman55 New Member Sep 15, 2022 1 0 1 Male #11 Adman55, Sep 15, 2022 Anyone else stuck on the level 3 “Change one outfit”? I used to play this game all the time but now it won’t grant me the task, no matter how many times or when change outfits. Good game, but can’t progress anymore! dumpling Well-Known Member Apr 7, 2013 99 10 8 Game Designer, Game Maker, Director Shanghai, China / Sheffield, UK #12 dumpling, Dec 24, 2022 Link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mr-traffic/id1524518584 Can you catch the reindeer? We just released Mr. TRAFFIC Ver. 2.0 on the App Store, now even more 'arcadey' with new gameplay, new unlocking and monthly costumes kicking off with the 'Festive Collection': What's New In This Version • Traffic is more relaxed and consistent - take your time! • Watch out for special traffic: Sports (fast!), Trucks (slow!), Taxis (impatient!) • Simpler, fairer progression (removed coins and ad-upsells) • Play to unlock stuff: complete achievements to ‘reveal’ costumes for unlocking • Added ‘Lucky Box’ IAP to costume screen (if you want to unlock faster) • Added dedicated Game Center button (replaces ‘Jobs’) • Disabled ‘Time Out’ meter and function (no longer needed) • Disabled ‘Costume Skills’ (things werewas too complex) • Updated UI (for that authentic traffic sign look) • Skippable Ads every 3 games… • … ANY IAP will remove ads FOREVER Thanks for playing! dumpling Well-Known Member Apr 7, 2013 99 10 8 Game Designer, Game Maker, Director Shanghai, China / Sheffield, UK #13 dumpling, Dec 29, 2022 Hey, how are folks finding the update? We made quite a few changes so interested to know what's landing and what's not - ALL feedback, super appreciated - travis Stronsay Well-Known Member Aug 6, 2015 833 106 43 #14 Stronsay, Dec 29, 2022 Traffic does seem more consistent and relaxed initially, until the inevitable snarl-up occurs. The super impatient taxis, very slow trucks plus sports cars give more to think about. And good to have traffic sign style UI Can’t fault it really. Still a top game that forces me to think quickly. 489,486 players can’t be wrong. A UK/Australia/Japan drive-on-the-left option would add some cultural diversity. dumpling likes this. dumpling Well-Known Member Apr 7, 2013 99 10 8 Game Designer, Game Maker, Director Shanghai, China / Sheffield, UK #15 dumpling, Jan 22, 2023 You're not the first to ask for an 'drive on the other side of road' option, it's on out backlog, but every time I mention it Jake (developer) gets a headache Stronsay likes this. dumpling Well-Known Member Apr 7, 2013 99 10 8 Game Designer, Game Maker, Director Shanghai, China / Sheffield, UK #16 dumpling, Jan 23, 2023 Hoppy New Year! New Series 02 'Spring Collection' is here: Here's what's new! • Unlock LION DANCE TED, BUNNY TED and CUPID TED • New Missions & Achievements • Added Game Center rivals to beat and climb the leaderboards • Added Series 02 In-App Purchase - can now purchase Series 01 or 02 items • Added ‘Lives’; watch ad for +3 lives or ANY In-App Purchase for infinite lives (removes ads FOREVER!) New gameplay changes: • Added STOP TIME - charge Ted and tap when ready to freeze traffic • Adjusted gameplay/traffic balance & difficulty • Adjusted speed of Big Rigs • Added amber cars (tricky turners) • Added new traffic events including 'Bunny' - collect the pretty eggs! • Added more food: animals become tasty steaks on hits • Fixed missions: SANTA, SNOW, CHEF, ZOMBIE, BABY • Tightened up the graphics; new lighting, models, UI • A metric TON of tweaks and polish Next month: Series 03 'Cosy Collection' Link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mr-traffic/id1524518584 This months CNY influenced 'Spring Collection' was super fun to create, I especially love how Cupid Ted just kept getting fatter and fatter with each step of the process. If folks enjoy seeing this stuff let me know, I'll start to share previews? dumpling Well-Known Member Apr 7, 2013 99 10 8 Game Designer, Game Maker, Director Shanghai, China / Sheffield, UK #17 dumpling, Jan 23, 2023 Last edited: Jan 29, 2023 What happened with Ver.2.0?! Last month we released Mr. TRAFFIC Ver.2.0 just in time for some holiday cheer, and some players were - to put it mildly - 'not happy' ("...Worst update ever...", "...ruined the game...", "...idiotic developers..." etc). Thankfully Ver.2.1 (out now!) addressed many of the key concerns, chief among them; ‘Stop Time’ and game balance, but what happened? What were we thinking? Some background. Mr. TRAFFIC is essentially made by two developers, myself and Jake (his first game), it started life as a little prototype to help get me back into making games after being away for a while, we never planned to release it but friends kept ‘pestering’ to play more, so we agreed to spend 8 weeks (double that!) making it. It launched in April 2022 to around 1M players. Since then we’ve been super busy on a BIG new Dumpling iOS project, more on that later this year. At Dumpling we tend to tinker with released projects as a ‘breather’ between other things - for instance we've been playing an unreleased completely re-tooled version of AR Smash Tanks! for years - as we continued to play Mr. TRAFFIC we felt unhappy with some aspects of the game. So as a holiday project we set out to overhaul some elements: 1. TRAFFIC, GAME BALANCE & ‘STOP TIME’ Chief niggle for me was the traffic system and balance, the pace of the game felt too random and hap-hazard, which makes play disposable rather than compelling, procedurally generated gameplay is a fine balancing act but ultimately the player needs to ‘feel’ that they can manipulate the game accordingly. First key change was to severely reduce the 'impatient timers' - that is the amount of time before a car thinks “f*** it!” and just goes. This change surprised us by how much more cathartic the game felt, it became satisfying to simply fire off lots of traffic and we started to see different players spend time with the game, and because the pace of the game was more directly in the players control, failures started to feel like the players mistake, not the games. This change also inadvertently provided a stronger sense of progression, nice and calm to begin with, but after a couple of minutes and with so many cars on-screen, timers inevitably start to kick in and things naturally feel more chaotic. A simple change, triple wins! We also 'normalised' all of the traffic speeds - I've no idea how this got past us originally? - making the speed of the cars much more predictable, which allowed us to create 'special traffic’ - car-chetypes as I would call them (sorry!) - identifiable vehicles that mix things up; red cars that go fast, blue lorries that go slow, tricky turners and impatient taxis. I’d always felt the game was too '0-11' without much of a ramp up in-between, so with these variables and some simple rules we created more a 'run' based structure with how things unfold, each game ramping up consistently but in a varied order to keep things surprising. Now that we were happy with how the game felt and unfolds we could re-introduce ‘Stop Time’ - a meter that builds and allows players to tap and stop time for a short period - and balance it all accordingly. We've still plenty more to do in updates, notably around ‘Hazards’, but we’re reasonably happy with how the pace of the game feels now. 2. COINS Yup, we got rid of the coins system too. Players love shiny things, they offer a clear reward and use for unlocking things. What gives? Admittedly we had implemented coins as a flexible mechanism to give value to ads; free coins, double coins, try costumes, re-roll rewards, get new jobs, gifts… etc and it worked! Players open the game, grab coins from incentives, maybe unlock an outfit and then check-out. I felt players were 'playing' the ad-meta more than the game itself - anecdotally I also wasn’t happy with my kids being shown ‘Cheeks of War’ or whatever nonsense gets pushed beyond our control - and that these coin-based incentives were ruining engagement and the value of playing the game. For example the ‘TRY’ feature, something we successfully introduced in Dashy Crashy; you watch an ad to test-drive an item, which sounds great…? Until you see the impact on players motivation to continue playing and collect it ‘properly’, the short-cut subverts the satisfaction of achieving something. Speaking of which, with the ‘Daily Jobs’ system now redundant we re-tooled that too to more to a set of achievements, with players having to first complete varied tasks to ‘reveal’ costumes for unlocking. So, with coins removed - along with our primary source of revenue - we added a simple points system awarding a ‘Lucky Box’ for every 100 points earned, and a 'Lives' based system to communicate when an ad will occur, along with a simple upsell (ANY In-App Purchase will unlock infinite lives, essentially removing ads from the game entirely). At this point it's probably clear that we’re motivated to creating game-loops that can stand on their own, without free-to-play, ad-driven shenanigans. Putting value back into play is something we’re constantly thinking about, and it seems to be working; since Ver.2.0 release we’ve seen out retention (people coming back to play the game) and play sessions improve on average 8-10%. 3. 'COSTUME SKILLS' Lastly, in Ver.1.7 we introduced the mix-&-match costume skill system only to then remove it entirely in the next update. Why? The basic idea was to allow players to mix-&-match head, body and items to create a unique ‘buff recipe’, awarding % buffs based on what you were wearing and essentially allowing players to ‘tune’ the variables of the game to play how they wanted to play (and we saw some crazy combos/exploits too, which we love!). But ultimately it just didn’t feel as fun as we'd hoped and a touch too ‘meta’ for a game intended to be pick-up-and-play. That’s not to say we’ve dropped the idea entirely; some players may have noticed the 3/3 easter eggs that occur when you wear some complete outfits - like a 'set bonus', for instance try Toilet Ted, or Baller Ted - this is very much the direction we’re heading in, working on playful surprises, rather than pure stats. This change is going to take some time, but once in-place it should give even more fun (value!) to costumes, taking us perhaps a step closer to replacing ads with a 100% In-App Purchases model. Watch this space. So, that’s been our key focus! We’d set ourselves a goal of monthly content updates, kicking off with a Ver.2.0 Festive Collection just in time for the Christmas Holidays… then most of the team got COVID. I’m based in Shanghai, along with some of the art team, after 3 years of stringent controls and lockdowns, zero-covid regulations were dropped and EVERYONE got sick (and I mean EVERYONE! Shanghai was a ghost town). So, with weeks wiped off the schedule and the Dec 23rd deadline a week away, we spent a week recovering and pulling together what we had, including some elements still being tinkered with or removed altogether. On a positive note, releasing such an update did provide great insight into what’s important to our existing players and new players alike, which we’ve used to guide development down the road. Anyway, long story long, that’s what happened to Mr. TRAFFIC Ver.2.0 and trust you'll find Ver.2.1 much better -travis (You must log in or sign up to post here.) 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This looks amusing; a good week for crazy games; but repeatedly crashes to desktop on both old and new iPads.
And now for the good news; today’s update fixes the Game Centre LB crash so everyone can download and play. Yes, it’s another of those hooky hyper casual 30 second games which abound on the App Store. Mr. Traffic is a good one though; witty, charming, plus a few surprises. Super slick coding from these ex Rare and Sumo Digital developers.
Thanks for the comments! (and for baring with us during the launch crash, we are officially 3/3 launching iOS games with Centre Center leaderboard crashes ). We also made some changes in the update to IAP and simplified things with a 'Coin Shop' and 'Coin Packs' - it provides better value and choice (we saw some players like to spend coins on the cheaper 'blind boxes', while others save up for the more expensive direct buy options - the direct-buy IAP took some of that away imo). We're also in the process of adding an 'AD option' to settings allowing players to turn off the opt-in ads/banners after any purchase (effectively providing a 'pay-what-you-want' to remove ads) - which will be great for kids! - travis
Hey! We just pushed Ver. 1.0.3 update for Mr. Traffic, key changes below but crucially we've tweaked the way ads work to create a 'pay-what-you-like' way to remove interstitial ads. We've also added a setting to toggle 'Reward Ads' banners/opportunities off/on, no purchase is needed for this and it's a good way for parents to remove ads entirely for kids, however we felt the need to leave an option in there as some people do use/enjoy the opt in rewards. There's a bunch of other QOL tweaks in there too. More to come, we're busy tweaking and preparing for events starting at the end of April - travis
Hello! Mr. TRAFFIC Ver. 1.1.1 is kicking off Series 02 collectibles alongside a Major Update which includes a bunch of new gameplay features including a mix-&-match 'Costume Skills’ system and entirely reworked progression. We'll also be adding 3 new costumes each month (10 new items) to collect and expand the costume system with some fun surprises in store. We've also added our first ‘Deluxe Collectible’ - Elvis Tedley - who doubles coins, and sings a bit. Series 02 is here! New costumes to collect each month. • Unlock DELIVERY TED, TED-209 and BALLER TED • Deluxe Costume ELVIS TEDLEY now available - DOUBLES COINS! • Mix-&-match outfits for GAMEPLAY BONUSES! New gameplay changes: • TIME OUT - charge Ted and tap when ready to freeze traffic • OFFICER Lv. - clear jobs > level up > reveal new items • New jobs added every 6hrs • New prize screen: get mystery boxes and access shopping • Reworked reward balance and unlocking • New tutorial and onboarding • Added traffic surprises, including BIG RIGS • Adjusted gameplay balance & difficulty • TONS of tweaks and polish Look forward to more from Mr. TRAFFIC in the coming months, we’re still having fun with him
Not quite, it's TED-209 The outfit is revealed (to the unlock pool) at Lv.40, or you can watch an AD to 'TRY' whenever you like. His Pew-Pew Enforcer has an awesome 'thunk' to it
Anyone else stuck on the level 3 “Change one outfit”? I used to play this game all the time but now it won’t grant me the task, no matter how many times or when change outfits. Good game, but can’t progress anymore!
Link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mr-traffic/id1524518584 Can you catch the reindeer? We just released Mr. TRAFFIC Ver. 2.0 on the App Store, now even more 'arcadey' with new gameplay, new unlocking and monthly costumes kicking off with the 'Festive Collection': What's New In This Version • Traffic is more relaxed and consistent - take your time! • Watch out for special traffic: Sports (fast!), Trucks (slow!), Taxis (impatient!) • Simpler, fairer progression (removed coins and ad-upsells) • Play to unlock stuff: complete achievements to ‘reveal’ costumes for unlocking • Added ‘Lucky Box’ IAP to costume screen (if you want to unlock faster) • Added dedicated Game Center button (replaces ‘Jobs’) • Disabled ‘Time Out’ meter and function (no longer needed) • Disabled ‘Costume Skills’ (things werewas too complex) • Updated UI (for that authentic traffic sign look) • Skippable Ads every 3 games… • … ANY IAP will remove ads FOREVER Thanks for playing!
Hey, how are folks finding the update? We made quite a few changes so interested to know what's landing and what's not - ALL feedback, super appreciated - travis
Traffic does seem more consistent and relaxed initially, until the inevitable snarl-up occurs. The super impatient taxis, very slow trucks plus sports cars give more to think about. And good to have traffic sign style UI Can’t fault it really. Still a top game that forces me to think quickly. 489,486 players can’t be wrong. A UK/Australia/Japan drive-on-the-left option would add some cultural diversity.
You're not the first to ask for an 'drive on the other side of road' option, it's on out backlog, but every time I mention it Jake (developer) gets a headache
Hoppy New Year! New Series 02 'Spring Collection' is here: Here's what's new! • Unlock LION DANCE TED, BUNNY TED and CUPID TED • New Missions & Achievements • Added Game Center rivals to beat and climb the leaderboards • Added Series 02 In-App Purchase - can now purchase Series 01 or 02 items • Added ‘Lives’; watch ad for +3 lives or ANY In-App Purchase for infinite lives (removes ads FOREVER!) New gameplay changes: • Added STOP TIME - charge Ted and tap when ready to freeze traffic • Adjusted gameplay/traffic balance & difficulty • Adjusted speed of Big Rigs • Added amber cars (tricky turners) • Added new traffic events including 'Bunny' - collect the pretty eggs! • Added more food: animals become tasty steaks on hits • Fixed missions: SANTA, SNOW, CHEF, ZOMBIE, BABY • Tightened up the graphics; new lighting, models, UI • A metric TON of tweaks and polish Next month: Series 03 'Cosy Collection' Link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mr-traffic/id1524518584 This months CNY influenced 'Spring Collection' was super fun to create, I especially love how Cupid Ted just kept getting fatter and fatter with each step of the process. If folks enjoy seeing this stuff let me know, I'll start to share previews?
What happened with Ver.2.0?! Last month we released Mr. TRAFFIC Ver.2.0 just in time for some holiday cheer, and some players were - to put it mildly - 'not happy' ("...Worst update ever...", "...ruined the game...", "...idiotic developers..." etc). Thankfully Ver.2.1 (out now!) addressed many of the key concerns, chief among them; ‘Stop Time’ and game balance, but what happened? What were we thinking? Some background. Mr. TRAFFIC is essentially made by two developers, myself and Jake (his first game), it started life as a little prototype to help get me back into making games after being away for a while, we never planned to release it but friends kept ‘pestering’ to play more, so we agreed to spend 8 weeks (double that!) making it. It launched in April 2022 to around 1M players. Since then we’ve been super busy on a BIG new Dumpling iOS project, more on that later this year. At Dumpling we tend to tinker with released projects as a ‘breather’ between other things - for instance we've been playing an unreleased completely re-tooled version of AR Smash Tanks! for years - as we continued to play Mr. TRAFFIC we felt unhappy with some aspects of the game. So as a holiday project we set out to overhaul some elements: 1. TRAFFIC, GAME BALANCE & ‘STOP TIME’ Chief niggle for me was the traffic system and balance, the pace of the game felt too random and hap-hazard, which makes play disposable rather than compelling, procedurally generated gameplay is a fine balancing act but ultimately the player needs to ‘feel’ that they can manipulate the game accordingly. First key change was to severely reduce the 'impatient timers' - that is the amount of time before a car thinks “f*** it!” and just goes. This change surprised us by how much more cathartic the game felt, it became satisfying to simply fire off lots of traffic and we started to see different players spend time with the game, and because the pace of the game was more directly in the players control, failures started to feel like the players mistake, not the games. This change also inadvertently provided a stronger sense of progression, nice and calm to begin with, but after a couple of minutes and with so many cars on-screen, timers inevitably start to kick in and things naturally feel more chaotic. A simple change, triple wins! We also 'normalised' all of the traffic speeds - I've no idea how this got past us originally? - making the speed of the cars much more predictable, which allowed us to create 'special traffic’ - car-chetypes as I would call them (sorry!) - identifiable vehicles that mix things up; red cars that go fast, blue lorries that go slow, tricky turners and impatient taxis. I’d always felt the game was too '0-11' without much of a ramp up in-between, so with these variables and some simple rules we created more a 'run' based structure with how things unfold, each game ramping up consistently but in a varied order to keep things surprising. Now that we were happy with how the game felt and unfolds we could re-introduce ‘Stop Time’ - a meter that builds and allows players to tap and stop time for a short period - and balance it all accordingly. We've still plenty more to do in updates, notably around ‘Hazards’, but we’re reasonably happy with how the pace of the game feels now. 2. COINS Yup, we got rid of the coins system too. Players love shiny things, they offer a clear reward and use for unlocking things. What gives? Admittedly we had implemented coins as a flexible mechanism to give value to ads; free coins, double coins, try costumes, re-roll rewards, get new jobs, gifts… etc and it worked! Players open the game, grab coins from incentives, maybe unlock an outfit and then check-out. I felt players were 'playing' the ad-meta more than the game itself - anecdotally I also wasn’t happy with my kids being shown ‘Cheeks of War’ or whatever nonsense gets pushed beyond our control - and that these coin-based incentives were ruining engagement and the value of playing the game. For example the ‘TRY’ feature, something we successfully introduced in Dashy Crashy; you watch an ad to test-drive an item, which sounds great…? Until you see the impact on players motivation to continue playing and collect it ‘properly’, the short-cut subverts the satisfaction of achieving something. Speaking of which, with the ‘Daily Jobs’ system now redundant we re-tooled that too to more to a set of achievements, with players having to first complete varied tasks to ‘reveal’ costumes for unlocking. So, with coins removed - along with our primary source of revenue - we added a simple points system awarding a ‘Lucky Box’ for every 100 points earned, and a 'Lives' based system to communicate when an ad will occur, along with a simple upsell (ANY In-App Purchase will unlock infinite lives, essentially removing ads from the game entirely). At this point it's probably clear that we’re motivated to creating game-loops that can stand on their own, without free-to-play, ad-driven shenanigans. Putting value back into play is something we’re constantly thinking about, and it seems to be working; since Ver.2.0 release we’ve seen out retention (people coming back to play the game) and play sessions improve on average 8-10%. 3. 'COSTUME SKILLS' Lastly, in Ver.1.7 we introduced the mix-&-match costume skill system only to then remove it entirely in the next update. Why? The basic idea was to allow players to mix-&-match head, body and items to create a unique ‘buff recipe’, awarding % buffs based on what you were wearing and essentially allowing players to ‘tune’ the variables of the game to play how they wanted to play (and we saw some crazy combos/exploits too, which we love!). But ultimately it just didn’t feel as fun as we'd hoped and a touch too ‘meta’ for a game intended to be pick-up-and-play. That’s not to say we’ve dropped the idea entirely; some players may have noticed the 3/3 easter eggs that occur when you wear some complete outfits - like a 'set bonus', for instance try Toilet Ted, or Baller Ted - this is very much the direction we’re heading in, working on playful surprises, rather than pure stats. This change is going to take some time, but once in-place it should give even more fun (value!) to costumes, taking us perhaps a step closer to replacing ads with a 100% In-App Purchases model. Watch this space. So, that’s been our key focus! We’d set ourselves a goal of monthly content updates, kicking off with a Ver.2.0 Festive Collection just in time for the Christmas Holidays… then most of the team got COVID. I’m based in Shanghai, along with some of the art team, after 3 years of stringent controls and lockdowns, zero-covid regulations were dropped and EVERYONE got sick (and I mean EVERYONE! Shanghai was a ghost town). So, with weeks wiped off the schedule and the Dec 23rd deadline a week away, we spent a week recovering and pulling together what we had, including some elements still being tinkered with or removed altogether. On a positive note, releasing such an update did provide great insight into what’s important to our existing players and new players alike, which we’ve used to guide development down the road. Anyway, long story long, that’s what happened to Mr. TRAFFIC Ver.2.0 and trust you'll find Ver.2.1 much better -travis
