I was playing some Criminal Case earlier today, and I just saw this pop up:
It brings up a pair of Facebook friends and asks you to pick one, then it puts it in the “New Recruits” box. Once you fill all ten, it asks you about sending the invitation requests to them, then says that they’ll join you soon! Of course, you can press the “skip” button, which cuts it out, but still.
This is a really clever thing to do! Most games just ask you to check off all of your friends in a gigantic list, but this turns it into an interesting game. What it’s really asking you “Who would probably be more into this game?” and shows you their pictures. Instead of a simple yes/no, it’s asking you to make a comparison and pick an answer. This is an acquisition mechanic that’s actually kind of fun!
I obviously don’t have the numbers to back it up, but my guess is that this method has a pretty sharp jump in invitations. The only thing I’m a little iffy about is that it asks you to select ten recruits at a time. A player might lose interest before completing it, and they might end up sending invitations to no one instead of the entire batch of ten. Still, this is probably the kind of thing they’re still gathering data on. I’ve been playing for a fair amount, and I only just saw this pop up today.
Grant's Games 