Deep Loot dev sees its future in free to play games without the 'whale' hunting

Deep Loot is one of those rare free to play games that I'm able to play without feeling like I'm being pushed to spend money. That's usually enough for me to abandon a game.

Balancing the game's monetisation system is something that developer Monster and Monster worked hard on achieving. That much it revealed in an interview with PocketGamer.biz.

"We spent a lot of time talking about the ethics of what we're doing," said Dave Fullick of Monster and Monster.

"Primarily we wanted the game to be rewarding to play regardless of what you spend. We knew we would have to make it at least a bit grind-y to encourage some players to want to spend to speed it up.

"We also wanted to make sure people feel happy if they do purchase, which is why the coin doubler doesn't just reduce the grind, it also gives you another bonus.

"Ultimately we wanted to make sure people who play for free also have a really good time because, although it sounds cheesy, we just want as many people as possible to play our game and have fun. The in-app purchases are really a kind of 'tip jar' with added value."

Monster and Monster's first game was sold at a premium price and barely sold any copies at all. Its second game was free to play and was much more successful.

This convinced the studio that free to play was the way forward for it. But, as you have read, Monster and Monster holds its ethics close to its heart.

As such, Deep Loot's IAPs are more generous than other free to play games. Monster and Monster has been deliberate in not targeting the "whales" that spend most of the money in these types of games.

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"There's currently a lot of debate regarding various approaches to monetising games," said Fullick.

"We know we walk a fine line ethically with the free-to-play model but we are hyper-aware of that, and our personal ethics inform everything we do.

"So we tried to choose price points that balanced our need to pay the rent against what we consider fair and value for money."

You can read the whole interview over on PocketGamer.biz.

In it, Monster and Monster talks about the Deep Loot's design, the studio background, and what games it has planned for the future.