Platform game with levels, and leaderboard - ideas please.

Games
#1

Hi,

I have almost finished a game and have a query about game design.  I have just implemented GPGS for achievements and was going to add a leaderboard. I am looking for some input to help me work through the ideas in my head.

My game has 40 levels, in two themes (20 each), that get progressively harder.  My wife and I are debating the best way to implement a leaderboard.  The first levels take a matter of seconds,  but some of the later levels take me a lot longer, maybe 2-3 mins if I don’t die, but I often die so much much longer.

I was originally going to have three leaderboards; 1 - 20, 21 - 40, and 1 - 40, based on the time it takes the player to complete.  I was going to make it accumulate time, i.e. not just count the best run on each level, but accumulate failed attempts etc in total time.  The player would be able to reset the time if he wants to restart.

My wife thinks that my idea will frustrate and drive away players and that there should be a leaderboard for each level that players can repeat as often as they like, and that these best times should be used for the main leaderboards 1 - 20, 21 - 40, and 1 - 40.  I wonder if this would lower the competitiveness?

How about both?  A “campaign”(?) mode where all time counts, and a “simple” mode where each individual level is measured?  Is this too complicated?

Cheers,

Craig

#2

There is another multi-level Corona SDK game that uses leaderboards named Super Grav Bot. They use one leaderboard per level and as a player that makes sense for me. It encourages me to replay certain levels in order to move up that leaderboard. As a player, I don’t think I would care about a leaderboard for a group of levels.

On a side note, when you do leaderboards like this, grouped or by individual level, it is easy for any person to see how far other people are progressing. This is a double edged sword. If you have a great game that LOTS of people play, then this kind of leaderboard will encourage healthy competition. On the other hand, if you only have a few hundred players, the leaderboards for the higher levels will make that very apparent as they will be empty or nearly empty as most players (of all games, good and bad) tend not to ever make it to the hardest levels.

#3

There is another multi-level Corona SDK game that uses leaderboards named Super Grav Bot. They use one leaderboard per level and as a player that makes sense for me. It encourages me to replay certain levels in order to move up that leaderboard. As a player, I don’t think I would care about a leaderboard for a group of levels.

On a side note, when you do leaderboards like this, grouped or by individual level, it is easy for any person to see how far other people are progressing. This is a double edged sword. If you have a great game that LOTS of people play, then this kind of leaderboard will encourage healthy competition. On the other hand, if you only have a few hundred players, the leaderboards for the higher levels will make that very apparent as they will be empty or nearly empty as most players (of all games, good and bad) tend not to ever make it to the hardest levels.