Mini game type ads

Recently I've noticed a new type of ad that has been appearing. The ad is a "tutorial" (I think game of wars and modern warfare/strike, whatever those games are called. lol) have had them.

It's a really simple thing where you just place farms and towers and just makes me think of a mini tower defense game, but it's being delivered through the Unity ad system.

We were looking at how this is done and if it was something we could do for our own game. I'm not sure if it can be customized or anything since both games were doing the same thing, but if we could do a mini version of our game where they get to play a simplified level, that would make a pretty cool ad.

So the question is, how is this ad being made and is it something where we can make a mini version of our game or is it limited? We looked into doing some ads, but video was the only option available.

Oh, and for those that haven't seen the ad yet, it lets you drag buildings around and drop them. It's a fairly simple tower defense type thing where guys are charging your wall.

 

So basically a tougher/'funner' captcha system?

 

No, it's a Unity ad. Instead of a video, it's a game. It could work for a captcha system I suppose, but it's a very basic mini game. Drag tower to plot. Drag farm to plot. Generate income. Upgrade towers. And you have several plots so you can put stuff anywhere there is a plot. Pretty simple. You do a few waves to protect your wall and then the option to install or close out comes up.

 

Hi @Brathnann,

Correct, we're experimenting with "playable ads" in our network. You will likely also have seen other ad networks offer these types of ads.

Technically the playable ad is implemented in javascript. There is no Unity feature to build a "mini-version" of your game, if that's what you are asking.

/Rasmus

 

Thanks! Good to know. Would be nice if we could build this in Unity, but at least it may be an option down the road using javascript. We found it interesting because the chance to get installs may be higher with that sort of ad.

 

Hi @rasmus-unity ,
is playable ads are developed like we develop a game in unity using javascript??

 

Hi rasmus-unity,
is playable ads are developed like we develop a game in unity using javascript??

 

Not using Unity unfortunately Search for "html5 game development" to find information about how to develop games using html5.

We're following this area ofc, but I cannot share more information now.

Thanks,
Rasmus

 

Bump....
Any update on playable ads in Unity?

 

Yes, see the presentation by Ralph Hauwert from GDC Unity keynote this year on "Unity for small devices" (working title) - 1:30:32 into video:

/Rasmus

 

@rasmus-unity

Cool, So it is available in 2018 beta?

 

Also see this presentation from GDC - "Unity at GDC - ECS for Small Things":

. But apparently nothing public available yet. What is your interest/plan for this?

/Rasmus

 

My primary plan is to create interactive contents for Playable ads.

 

@rasmus-unity - I have a game that would be very well suited to mini-interactable ads through Unity. Is there any way to get on the Alpha/Beta for the new uTiny editor?

Kindest Regards,
Garry

 

Yeah, this is still of interest to the company I work for as well. Looking forward to hearing more on the ability to make our own playable ads in Unity.

 

Hi guys,

we are also interested in playable ads in Unity. What is the current status? Are there examples?

Thx
Daniel

 

https://unity.com/solutions/unity-for-small-things

They mention here, it's still in closed alpha. Hopefully it gets into open beta soon.

 

Hi @Brathnann, thanks for your interest. You should be able to sign up for "Unity for Small Things" at https://unity.com/unity/features/unity-for-small-things

/Rasmus

 

Thank you, I didn't see a sign up link, but I did "share my interests", if that is the same thing.

 

Yes, that should be the way to get access. Good luck with your playables

/Rasmus

 

Hi,

Rather than create a new thread, I'll just tag on some feedback for Playable Ads as it's related. Essentially we've turned them off due to these reasons:

• UX - we carefully craft our user experience with tutorials. Our concern was getting our players on board and then a Playable Ad completely baffling them with limited UX or a type of game not directly related to our style of game.
• UX related again - one advert with a man running down a corrider completely baffled us how to end it and get back to our game. We have 'Allow Skip' after 90 seconds, which is great for videos but excruciating for the player if they want to end the Playable Ad. Either because they don't understand how to play it or in this this case, the Playable Ad had got to the end and the cross in the top right hand corner didn't seem to do anything for awhile. I'm guessing waiting for 90 seconds to pass?

What I'd like to see is a seperate option for 'Allow Skippable' for Playable Ads and maybe something more prominant to be able to exit it. I'd be more happier to turn them back on and not worry that some future Playable Ad will cause our players misery

 

Curious, I have played several games with playable ads and I don't actually have to play them. They have a count down that once expires (no different than a video) the ad allows me to close.

Are you saying the playable ad forces you to play it in order to close it?

In the games we make at our company, choosing to play an ad is an option, so the player knows they are not playing our game at that point if a playable ad pops up.

 

@Brathnann we don't allow players to skip the videos until after 90 seconds (if the video lasts for that long). We want them to be a little bit annoying to pay to remove them. However, it's still a relatively painless experience waiting for the video to end and hitting the close button. Whether it's better to let them skip them is a separate matter

With the same rule applied to Playable Ads, myself and and the developer have struggled to tell whether there is a countdown or if we have to play it to the end, plus on one particular Playable Ad the close button is hard to see. We've ended jabbing at the screen and bringing up the App Store in frustration by accident. So there's definitely something more confusing about them and a feeling, how do I get out of this?

So my feedback was to make a seperate option for Playable Ads to be skipped (so we can keep videos as non-skippable) and something more prominant to close it.

 

I am super interested in using Unity to create and deploy playable ads. The current tools the industry tends to lean on to develop playable ads, are ok. (not sure if I can name them on these forums or not)

I'm in marketing at day, and indie gamedev at night. My primary role in marketing is developing playable ads. I have been trying to get more information in this space for some time. Though there isn't a ton of information on it. (likely due to how lucrative it is to build and sell them) If anyone has tricks of the trade or more information concerning tools for developing playable ads, or specific ad network requirements - please reach out. I am always open to discussing further.

From my experience in relation to the timed close button - this is typically handled by MRAID overlay. Which throws the close button and/or a CTA. In some cases we give the user a few seconds to engage and then automatically trigger game play to entice the user to interact. The user however doesn't have to interact and can wait for the close button to appear to skip. Similar to video ads.

Depending on the ad network you are running the ad on - you are able to track data like : time it takes for engagement, CTI, CTR, if the user skips or not. This gives you some insight on how to potentially improve the performance of your playable ad.

In terms of length of a playable ad - you should generally stick to a 30 to 40 second experience. Interactions should be short and sweet. Target a single aspect of interaction of the app or game you are advertising - and build a fun experience from it.

 

Hi Rasmus,

I'm not sure understanding, does Unity 2018.3 will allow me to create playable ads ?
I thought using WebGL but Admob guidelines doesn't talk about the .unityweb files.

So more clearly I want to know if I ask my team to start developing native playable ads or does Unity will give us the capability to build it.

Thx