Zynga CEO Mark Pincus says that its games are like J.J. Abrams' Lost

In a recent interview with Technology Review, Zynga CEO Mark Pincus (pictured above) compared the structure of his studio's games to how the plot of Lost, one of the most talked about series on TV, was put together.

"I spent time talking to people like J.J. Abrams, who was one of the creators of Lost, because I thought there were so many similarities between the way he structured Lost, and its plot and character evolution, and the way that we try to structure games," Pincus said.

Pincus elaborates, saying that both Lost and Zynga games like FrontierVille contain several story arcs at once. Lost contained smaller plot lines such as character back stories and relationships juxtaposed by the grandiose story lines like the Smoke Monster and The Others. Comparatively, "A long arc of aspiration in FrontierVille might be finding your spouse or unlocking the Gold Rush territory, and a short arc that you need to do to achieve the long arc is something like building a cabin that then requires other short arcs like cutting down trees," Pincus explained.

When asked how Zynga hooks in players like Abrams' show kept viewers' glued to the TV every week, Pincus claimed that his studio's goal is to master the five-minute session gameplay model (sound familiar?) to provide those that claim to "not have the time" a reason to play. Oddly enough, the head of Zynga claimed hen doesn't like seeing players who devote long periods of time to Zynga games, but what about money? Regardless of the Zynga gameplay model, let's just hope FrontierVille doesn't end like Lost did.

Are you hooked on games like FrontierVille like you were on shows such as Lost? What do you think of Zynga's five-minute session philosophy? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.