Dubit's advice is to build a brand's Roblox game in a genre players already know, with a unique hook or twist to grab their attention. Straying too far from the well-recognised mechanics of Roblox's popular genres introduces risk: turn-based combat, for example, is not native to the platform.
Tower Defense and Simulators are two examples of well-known Roblox genres. Tower Defense is proven and evergreen. Simulators are accessible and replayable. Simple inputs plus exponential growth maximise retention and session length. Their loop of action, upgrade and rebirth fits how players expect to progress on Roblox. Big numbers, transformations and visual effects give players moments to share, and the genre scales easily with new zones, pets, multipliers and seasonal content.
How Roblox plays split across genres today is on which Roblox genres get the most plays. Why a new game evolves a popular genre instead of inventing one is on what makes a new Roblox game take off.
How do you know a Roblox game concept will work before building it?
Dubit tests a concept with real players in four phases before it becomes a full game. Each phase answers one question: do people want it, is the core play fun, will players come back and is it awesome. A game moves on only once the current question is answered. Dubit finds the fun by iterating on a prototype instead of designing it all up front. Roblox's engine, networking and infrastructure make it cheap to drive real players into one.
The first phase comes before any code is written. Dubit makes real-looking Roblox game store pages, with artwork, descriptions and screenshots, for several concepts and drives paid ad traffic to them. The ads appear in the same format as organic game tiles, so their click-through rate stands in for organic discovery. Interested players opt in to hear about the launch. Two metrics are tracked, cost per launch click and cost per opt-in. The concepts go up under throwaway groups, with no brand exposure.
The second phase builds a grey-box prototype with placeholder assets and no branding, progression or monetisation. It tests only whether the core repeated action is enjoyable. If it shows no engagement after iteration, the concept is killed and the team goes back to the next concept from the first phase.
The third phase adds a retention layer of progression, unlocks and goals, with generic graphics. The game launches publicly on Roblox unbranded, so there is no reputational risk. Dubit measures the retention curve over time. The game stays in that phase until the numbers work or it is shelved.
Why do Roblox games fail to retain players?
A new player who is not won over within seconds leaves, because on Roblox there is zero friction to join or to leave. Players click and are playing within seconds, with no download, payment or wait. Dubit designs around what it calls the 30 Second Rule. A new player must be retained within 30 seconds or they leave. So the core gameplay loop must be simple enough to learn in 30 seconds.
Depth is reserved for a retention layer of progression systems, unlocks and goals that evolve over weeks or months. Dubit's Roblox Game Design Pyramid has four parts. The Base Layer is the moment-to-moment gameplay, kept thinnest because of the 30 Second Rule. The Retention Layer keeps players engaged for weeks or months with progress unlocks, tech trees and achievements. The Core Loop moves players between the two, and the Superfan Layer is where the game becomes a hobby for a subset of players.
