Mobile gaming market is flooded with RPG, Strategy, Match3, Infinite runners, card gathering. But time to time some new genres stand out.
"Riding high on the US app store chart is a new genre which is bridging the gap between storybooks, games & time-shifted TV."
At first glance, 'Episode -Choose your Story' seems like a more evolved successor to the narration based Hollywood Kim Kardashian game, but it's clearly n to something else..
The interactive story-telling platform is fast transitioning into time-shifted TV format than a game and has a large female audience; and fan following among tweens, teens and moms.
Gameplay
Browsing through the app/game feels like looking at content on Netflix or Hulu where you see slick, polished posters of different drama series and episodes ranging from mystery, murder, adventure, romance to other young adult themes.
Browsing and selection of UI is similar to popular media and video consumption platforms like HULU and NETFLIX (as seen below) which resonates with most young players existing mental model - of how to consume this content - and creates a strong mental model of time shifted media content rather then just a game or interactive comics.
It is interesting that the UX/UI is designed more closely to resemble a " time-shifted" media consumption platform rather then game UI or comic browsing apps.
Progressing through a story episode is quiet simple. Just select a story episode, keep tapping and when a branching point occurs in the story flow, advance ahead based on choices made by the player. One story can have multiple episodes, like a series season, which require you to earn/purchase passes to watch them.
Brief Youtube video of one of the Episodes below, showcasing the gameplay
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/4eVVh3SDd6I?rel=0&enablejsapi=1&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gamedeveloper.com" height="100%" width="100%" data-testid="iframe" loading="lazy" scrolling="auto" class="optanon-category-C0004 ot-vscat-C0004 " data-gtm-yt-inspected-91172384_163="true" id="559741375" data-gtm-yt-inspected-91172384_165="true" data-gtm-yt-inspected-114="true"></iframe>Why is this format such a hit?
"It seems to tap into an existing & ever growing millennial mental model: Time-shifting TV"
Time-Shifting: Traditionally is the recording of (TV) programming to a storage medium to be viewed or listened to after the live broadcasting. Typically, this refers to TV programming but can also refer to radio shows via podcasts.
This is a growing trend among millennials and trailing millennials.
Key Extracts:
Consuming narration based media content shifting on mobile amongst teens
On-demand consumption of such media & ability to control (play, pause, share)
Quick binge watching of 2-3 episodes at each sitting
Drama, mystery, romance, murder themes that act as driving force
Episodes app seems to be incorporating all these key attributes very well.
Content Consumption
Flow of the actual content is quiet similar to chatting apps such as Snapchat, What's app, Instagram and Facebook with short dialogues formats rather than long form text found in books. This resonates with the smartphone users today and young audiences who spend a majority of their time reading and writing short form messaging on day-to-day basis.
