In an business the place the lifespan of a cell recreation is commonly measured in weeks, Andrei Kulakov is designing for the lengthy recreation. With a pointy understanding of participant psychology, metagame, programs design, and the rising prospects of generative AI, Andrei Kulakov has spent over a decade creating experiences that go far past the floor mechanics.
His signature strategy: weaving metagame programs into informal titles to maintain participant curiosity, reward mastery, and construct narrative depth. We spoke with Andrei Kulakov for an interview concerning the philosophy behind his work, the technical selections that form it, and the place he sees the way forward for interactive leisure heading.
Business Roots at Elvista: Thousands and thousands of Gamers, Measurable Influence
A lot of Andrei’s work over the previous a number of years has been performed below the banner of Elvista, one of many main cell recreation studios in Jap Europe. Elvista’s video games–informal, elegant, and accessible–have been put in on tens of hundreds of thousands of gadgets worldwide, with titles like Solitaire, Hearts, Spider, and Belka dominating card recreation charts on each Android and iOS.
As a lead recreation designer and key inventive power at Elvista, Andrei formed the course of a number of flagship initiatives. His contributions weren’t restricted to recreation mechanics: he launched foundational metagame layers, co-developed dwell occasion programs, and helped architect the participant retention methods that underpin Elvista’s most profitable video games.
His improvements have led to important boosts in participant retention, session period, and monetisation, significantly in markets just like the US, Germany, and India. Elvista’s inside analytics present a direct correlation between the launch of Andrei’s metagame campaigns and a 15–25% improve in long-term engagement metrics.
“At a sure level, gameplay loops aren’t sufficient,” Andrei says. “Gamers want a way of development that lives outdoors a single match. That’s the place metagame is available in–not as ornament, however as a structural layer that offers the sport its long-term life.”
Metagame design–the set of programs that exist round or past the core gameplay, equivalent to development mechanics, achievements, story arcs, or customisation–has been central to lots of Andrei’s initiatives. In his solitaire video games, for instance, victories earn gamers collectible playing cards.
As soon as a full deck is accomplished, it unlocks a novel visible type that the participant can use in future video games. “It’s a small however highly effective shift. You’re not simply profitable a match–you’re working towards a private assortment. That alone can flip a 5-minute recreation right into a month-long behavior.”
The identical precept guided his work on conventional card video games like Hearts, 101, and Belka, the place he launched episodic narrative campaigns. “We wished to mix the rhythm of traditional gameplay with a way of story,” he explains.
Every marketing campaign provides a lightweight RPG construction: gamers face off towards more and more troublesome AI opponents, culminating in a boss battle–all introduced by temporary dialogues and character interactions. New chapters are rolled out with updates, retaining the expertise recent and alluring gamers again.
Constructing Significant Loops with Light-weight Programs
What stands out in Andrei’s strategy is how economical it’s. These aren’t large-budget video games with cinematics or a whole bunch of options. As an alternative, they’re elegantly constructed programs that serve a goal: extending the emotional and mental engagement with the sport.
“After I design metagame programs,” he says, “I ask: what emotional arc is the participant on? How can we assist them really feel invested past a single session? And the way can we respect their time whereas doing that?”
The reply typically lies in modularity. His campaigns and collections are constructed to scale–simply up to date, thematically distinct, and technically light-weight. That makes them excellent for the cell area, the place updates should be quick, and file dimension issues.
Extra not too long ago, Andrei has began integrating generative AI into his workflow, not as a novelty, however as a sensible software for producing scalable content material.
“We use AI to prototype dialogue timber, generate card descriptions, and even create placeholder artwork throughout early design,” he says. “It’s not about changing creativity; it’s about accelerating iteration. AI lets us discover narrative choices sooner and see what resonates in playtests.”
He’s additionally exploring generative programs that may assist dwell operations, tailoring in-game occasions or challenges based mostly on participant behaviour. “We’re not there but, however the course is promising: dynamic content material that responds to every participant individually. It’s the dream of each metagame designer.”
A Philosophy for Sustainable Play
On the coronary heart of Andrei Kulakov’s work is a perception that video games ought to respect the participant, not simply by providing polished mechanics, however by giving them causes to return again, to care, and to really feel that their time is rewarded.
“My aim is to construct video games that develop with the participant,” he says. “Video games which might be easy at first, however reveal deeper layers of which means, progress, and identification over time. That’s the magic of the metagame–and the explanation I’ll by no means cease chasing it.”
Along with his monitor document of revolutionary design, his technical fluency, and a imaginative and prescient formed by each empathy and experimentation, Andrei Kulakov stands on the forefront of a worldwide group of recreation builders redefining what long-term engagement appears like.
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