Real estate mobile game for a gaming company

Property Magnate is an up and coming mobile real estate game, available on both iOS and Android, that has been designed to emulate as closely as possible the real world of property development in the UK.

We created Property Magnate which offers for sale over 30 million cyber versions of real properties available in the UK. Using data from Zoopla, which gathers information such as house prices and area trends, as well as property pictures, we were able to build a powerful app which enables players to buy properties at a pre-set price and provides them with a lifelike experience.

Overview

Having worked in the property industry for more than 30 years, the owner of Tycoon Gaming Limited spotted a great opportunity for a property related game and asked HeadChannel to design and develop a mobile game application which would allow players to buy, sell and rent cyber properties and thus build their own property empires.

Fun factors

As simple as the game may seem, the play can often last for hours but never gets boring. To improve the user experience, we equipped the game with the following features:

• Dashboard – where the current value of your assets and your daily profit are displayed
• My properties – where you can find all the properties you own with details including pictures, current value and a short description
• All properties – you can easily search for a property via street name, town or post code or through one of the built-in estate agents. If you’re looking for a particular property (eg. your own home) but cannot find it in the game, simply ask the ‘Acquisition Agent’ to find it for you and it will be added to the game
• Buying properties – when you first start playing you are given a number of free credits which can be topped up at any time using your credit card. You then buy properties with the credits in your game account.
• Selling properties – you can sell any property you already own, either to another player (for the price you determine) or back to the game (for a price based on the original value in Zoopla but adjusted over time in line with current market trends)
• Leader board – where you can review your position compared to the players with the greatest asset value (the total value of money and properties); the very goal of the game is to become the wealthiest player.

Why it’s a great app?

• Real Values – Using real property values and estate agents adds a sense of realism and bridges the gap between the game and reality
• Looking at all factors – By taking into account more detailed factors that come within the property market, such as added costs, a greater level of immersion is offered
• A competitive market – An ever changing and deep market with a wealth of options will keep players constantly returning in order try and expand their portfolio
• Rewards – Offered to the most successful property magnate to keep the players invested and keep the competitive spirit high
• Long term investment – This game offers a unique experience within the market by being designed for players to manage properties for months on end as would be required in the real world giving a sense of ownership unmatched in other games
• Navigation – smooth and simple with options available to the player clear and easy to understand
• Player Choice – Players have multiple options in regards to dealing with their property to keep them engaged. From selling via the market maker to using estate agents or using acquisition agents to buy property

Given the nature of the game, it is beneficial for both its owner and the players:

The owner generates income from the credits purchased by the players, The players are not only entertained but they can also improve their general trading skills while learning about property values across the UK at the same time HeadChannel have been instrumental in launching the game both on time and on budget. The service has been excellent and the game looks and feels just as I imagined. Brilliant!.

David Harding, MANAGING DIRECTOR Tycoon Gaming

Project facts

• Team – Developers 5 (Team Leader 1, iOS dev 1, Android dev 1, Mid devs 2), QA 2, BA 2, PM 1
• Project management – Scrum for production and Kanban for maintenance
• Technology – ASP.NET ZERO, .NET Framework, MS SQL Server, Android API, AngularJS