Story and pacing
Which resource do players run out of first, and is it the one you planned?
The first thing that runs out shapes the early story of a base builder, because it decides what the player learns next. This entry shows how to find that first shortage per player, including the awkward case where two run out in the same moment.
Split a long match into early, middle and late game without it flickering back and forth
To read pacing you need to know which part of the game a number belongs to. But a city whose size wobbles around a line would jump between phases all the time. This entry shows a simple rule that keeps the phases steady.
When does a growing city stop growing, and for how long?
Players enjoy watching their numbers climb. A long stretch where nothing moves is where they lose interest, but a collapse is something else and should not be mixed in. This entry shows how to find the longest flat stretch in a growth curve.
Does the helper message really make players do the thing it suggests?
Many players follow a hint, but many of them would have done it anyway. To know what the hint adds you need a comparison group that was stuck in the same way and saw nothing. This entry shows how to set that up and read the result with its limits.
How much of a session do players spend with nothing useful to do?
In builders and strategy games the pace dies when the queue is empty and nothing can be afforded. This entry shows how to measure that waiting time from simple snapshots, without letting a player who walked away ruin the number.
Do the turns in my strategy game get slower and slower in the late game?
More units and more options often make later turns take much longer than early ones. This entry shows how to compare the start and the end of games fairly, and why one player who left the table must not distort the result.
Are some random maps much easier or harder than the rest, or is it just chance?
With generated maps, a few seeds will always look lucky or cursed by chance alone. This entry shows how to tell a seed that truly stands out from the noise, how many games it needs, and why more seeds mean a stricter limit.
At what point in a match is the winner already clear, but play goes on?
If the outcome is settled long before the end, the last part of the match is a formality for the loser. This entry shows how to find the moment of no return from a simple lead curve, and what to do with moments where nobody leads.
Is the top mission chosen because it is better, or just because it is on top?
People pick what they see first. If you always show the same mission in the same place, you cannot tell taste from habit. This entry shows how to swap the order for some players and separate the two effects with a simple calculation.
How long does a mission really take when many players never finish it?
The average time of those who finished is too optimistic, because the slow ones often give up and vanish from the data. This entry shows a way to include the quitters properly and get a median that does not flatter the mission.
Do players notice a new mission objective, or does it pass them by?
A new goal that appears in the middle of a busy screen may never be seen. This entry shows how to measure how many players react in time, how long they take, and why those who left too early must be kept out of the count.
Do most players open a strategy game with the same first buildings?
If nearly everyone starts a match the same way, the opening is not a choice, it is a ritual. Here is how to count openings fairly, which players must be left out, and what share should make you look at your starting resources.