Making an Impression…

Credits: Philippe Poirier (Art Direction), Jean-Michel Amour (Game Design), Camille Benyamina, Dan Kemp, Anh Thu Le, Michael Klukowski (Art), Jean-Samuel Roux (Animation), Katherine D’Astous (Copy), Ragan de la Rosa(UX Design)


The FTUE (First Time User Experience) of Cat Force went through numerous rounds of iterations, with the over-arching goal of maintaining a healthy D2 Retention. It was expected that users would drop-off through the process, however we wanted to limit that as much as possible. Achieving a ‘healthy D2’, would be indicative that our FTUE was making it’s impact on our users.

Early FTUE (MVP)

When Cat Force was transitioning into PVP, the early thinking from the team was to not only teach the users the game’s mechanics, but to also get users immersed into the world of Cat Force. This was done via the storyline where the user was referred to as the ‘Hero’…the one to come and save Clawtopia from the Dark Army(Enemies).

A few screens of the FTUE where the user is pushed story content alongside match-3 game mechanics.

Temporary FTUE Flow where user goes through 2 Battles to understand basic game mechanics.

FTUE (now with the infused Story)

As a continuation of branding the game, a ‘Naninovel’ was added, in which characters were added along the way to give more personality and supply more context, and connection to the game. While there were initial concerns for user drop-off by adding more screens in the FTUE funnel, the data showed D2 was not severely affected.

A few screens from the updated FTUE, in which characters and storyline were added for more engagement and connection to the game.

Updated FTUE Flow, now with the added Character/Naninovel Story at the end of each battle.

FTUE Feedback

While FTUE was running, an FTUE audit was done by upper management towards the other Playtika studios for feedback. A point of concern was raised by the UX research team towards framing the enemy of the game. While the enemy within game was promoted to be ‘The Dark Army’, in actuality the real enemy was the PVP opponent that was matched to the user.

UX Research finding on the Cat Force Narrative to the User. Credits to: Lev Poretski (UX Researcher)

FTUE Update (Final)

In response to the concerns over the branding voice, the game designer, copy writer, and myself combed through the FTUE and went through a few updates:

  • updated copy to where the User is now facing a ‘Rival’ rather than entering the game to ‘help save Clawtopia’

  • reduced the cast of characters, to push a bit more of the gameplay and mechanics, and pulled back on the storyline aspect

  • streamlined the FTUE even further (notably after the 4th battle…see flow below), as there was a noticeable drop-off in that portion of the FTUE

A few screens from the FTUE based on research feedback. The term ‘Rival’ was now added to make it clear to the user they are playing against an opponent.

Final FTUE Flow as it stands now, with the slight scale back of story, in favor of gameplay and features.