Building a game that people play for years is no easy task and has no magic formula. However, at GDC 2015 Clash of Clans developer Jonas Collaros took a shot at deconstructing the hit game's development history and asking: what lessons can developers learn from Clash?

The mobile, free-to-play marketplace is rife with challenges, even for veteran developers, and Collaros believes the greatest challenge is maintaining a focus on the essentials.

A project's essential needs change again and again, especially over the span of years. In exploring the "three eras" of Clash development, Jonas revealed the specific needs, challenges, and pitfalls they encountered along the way.

It was a thoughtful, earnest talk that offered some useful insight into both Supercell's design process and the challenges of maintaining a popular mobile game throughout years of play. If you missed Collaros' talk at GDC back in March, you can now watch the whole thing for free over on the GDC Vault.

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its new YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC, GDC Europe, and GDC Next already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

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