But how do you build community features for a solo game?

That’s the big question game developers are still exploring. I believe there are a few leads that could help you.

Vivec city in Morrowind. Great amount of content to dig… hundreds of secret stuff.

Optional content that helps understand the game’s lore and story

Some people love stories and the hidden parts that come with it. Whole communities are built around debating complex parts of the scenario. Take Lost and their 43k subreddit for instance. The show is already finished but the community is still speaking about it.

While writing your scenario, think about what the players need to know and what sub-plots you can hide. It can be done through books, items or voice over. This optional content will strengthen the need for a community. If it’s all mandatory, they will all get through it and loose this “Hey guys, I stumbled on this!” feeling. Ultimately, hire a good narrative designer.

FFXII. The Seitengrat is an invisible bow. Impossible to find unless you get a guide… fuck this.

Obvious or secret optional challenges

The different layers of challenges are a great way to improve your game length and boost your community. Here’s how to do it:

Add game difficulties

Play the game using specific content (like using only melee weapons in a game with guns)

Play the game under timed constraints (speedrunning)

Into the Breach

For instance, Into The Breach makes very good use of achievement and give ingame rewards for them. Every squad has a specific play style that can be hard to get. You just need to ask a few friends and understand how to play those squads.

User content to across multiplayer platforms

When players can create content and share it, your game length and value grows. The key word here is: autonomy. How much can your community share and build things without your help?

For instance, Skyrim is known for having hundreds of great mods. They improve or change in some way how people play the game. It can be by improving the art style, adding new quests or new sounds.

Procedural and mix oriented mechanics

The key word with procedural games is adaptation. The best way to adapt to unplanned risks and situations is to learn the core mechanic. Those mechanics are unexplained to add mystery. Players progressively expose the stats and patterns behind the algorithm.