The lead designer of the hit game Draw Something is Garrett Peek, he was the former Associte Creative Director of OMGPOP, but he now works at Zynga as a UI Designer. Draw Something is significant because it's a big reason why Zynga bought OMGPOP for $210,000,000.
Garrett reveals the origins of Draw Something and how it became a hit game.
Who created Draw Something?
Draw Something is the 3rd version of OMGPOP's Draw My Thing - a flash game on OMGPOP.com which was ported over to Facebook in 2011 and then made into a smartphone application in 2012.
The name of the game was discussed for quite some time - the process entailed sending out emails to everyone in the company, to ask for the staff's suggestions - 'Draw Something' was finally chosen because it's marketable, familiar to existing players, and easily searchable.
How did the first version of Draw Something look like?
You’d recognize the UI and the structure, but the gameplay was very different. Originally there was a keyboard entry field for guessing words, a turn timer, achievement unlocks, and a point system. Many of these features were carried over from our flash version of the game, but they didn’t ultimately make the cut. We took an axe to anything that wasn’t fun and ultimately rebuilt the experience several times to enhance the game on mobile. The process was highly iterative.
How long did the game take to make?
Draw Something took about 6.5 months to develop, other games were being built at the same time. The schedule was really tight and the development teams were working on 2-4 games at the same time.
What inspired OMGPOP to create Draw Something?
The game took some hints from Zynga's 'Word with Friends' - thats where Draw Something's asynchronous gameplay came from. An intuitive match menu and a volley approach to gamplay proved to be really popular among casual gamers.
Also, the game was built entirely from scratch, the development team's experience with the earlier game, Draw My Thing, gave them ideas which were used in Draw Something and after a number of tweaks and refinement, it's become really polished.
Draw My Thing was actually OMGPOP's most popular game and that was why the team decided to focus on it.
Some features were trimmed in an effort to make the game as fun and intuitive to play - the development team had to consider that people might not always be good at drawing but they didn't want that to be a deterent. Some of the most competitive features of the game were taken out - like the timer (so players wouldn't feel rushed), points system (so as to encourage more collaboration)
OMGPOP's plans to keep Draw Something fresh would be to approach the game as a platform for communication. The studio feel that they've created something that's inherently fun and enjoyable - a game that allows people to connect with each other in a genuine way, so much so that players wouldn't even mind if they had lost the game. Draw Something taps onto the fundamental human need to communicate and share and that's why the game wouldn't be just another fad.
New features that are planned for the game will help to keep players engaged, fans of the game can look out for a chat system, the ability to share and save images, and new challenge modes - all these will go towards increasing the amount of fun that can be had with Draw Something!
