Yahoo Games | Launching 125 games on Yahoo
User problem: Yahoo added 125 games to its website but there was no content provided for any game.
Solution: I wrote content for 125 games: a short teaser, an about section, and how to play section with rules, scoring, and glossary. I also wrote a style guide for future games added.
Tools:
My content design process: Understand each game 🠮 Write content for the games 🠮 Edit category descriptions 🠮 Create style guide
Understand each game
The games spanned many categories: card games, board games, casino games, puzzle games, and word games. I was familiar with some of the games but many were complete new to me. I played every game and wrote down quick thoughts for them.
Write content for the games
I started by writing a short teaser for each game. These short teasers had to be a quick sentence or phrase to capture the reader's attention when browsing for games. I opted for either a simple description on how to play the game (For example "Swap coconuts to create words on a grid") or a playful teaser (For example "How many dragons can you hatch?").
I then wrote an about for each game, a short description of the game (2-3 sentences) and why the player may want to play it. Since the goal of the games website is to attract non-Yahoo users to Yahoo, I used SEO principles. For example, I noticed that many people were searching for games to play "with friends," "online," or "with family," so I used those terms in the about section.
Finally, I wrote a how to play section for each game, including an overview, the objective, glossary (if applicable), and scoring (if applicable). While some games were simple enough in which I could write the about from playing the game, others were more complicated, for example Texas Hold'em. For more complicated games, I used online references to ensure I was accurate in my descriptions.
Edit category descriptions
Each game category has a description to attract users. These descriptions are fun, playful, and short. Another content designer had already written category descriptions. Since I had the best understanding of all the games having played them and written content for them, I edited the category teasers.
Solution: I wrote content for 125 games: a short teaser, an about section, and how to play section with rules, scoring, and glossary. I also wrote a style guide for future games added.
Tools:
- Figma
- Google Sheets
- Google Documents
- Content design
- Copywriting
- Overall: 4 weeks
- First draft: 2 weeks
- Editing: 2 weeks
My content design process: Understand each game 🠮 Write content for the games 🠮 Edit category descriptions 🠮 Create style guide
Understand each game
The games spanned many categories: card games, board games, casino games, puzzle games, and word games. I was familiar with some of the games but many were complete new to me. I played every game and wrote down quick thoughts for them.
Write content for the games
I started by writing a short teaser for each game. These short teasers had to be a quick sentence or phrase to capture the reader's attention when browsing for games. I opted for either a simple description on how to play the game (For example "Swap coconuts to create words on a grid") or a playful teaser (For example "How many dragons can you hatch?").
I then wrote an about for each game, a short description of the game (2-3 sentences) and why the player may want to play it. Since the goal of the games website is to attract non-Yahoo users to Yahoo, I used SEO principles. For example, I noticed that many people were searching for games to play "with friends," "online," or "with family," so I used those terms in the about section.
Finally, I wrote a how to play section for each game, including an overview, the objective, glossary (if applicable), and scoring (if applicable). While some games were simple enough in which I could write the about from playing the game, others were more complicated, for example Texas Hold'em. For more complicated games, I used online references to ensure I was accurate in my descriptions.
Edit category descriptions
Each game category has a description to attract users. These descriptions are fun, playful, and short. Another content designer had already written category descriptions. Since I had the best understanding of all the games having played them and written content for them, I edited the category teasers.
Impact: The Yahoo Games website shipped globally. Every single game on the website is one that I wrote copy for.
Examples:
Examples: