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Targeting Older Audience Segments?

If you are targeting older audience segments (+35yo) --> This is what you are looking for ๐ŸŽฏ Today I am sharing a real data case with one of my clients.In this case, our core audience was men over 35. After setting up the initial campaigns in Meta, I started experimenting with the creatives as I usually do.We had all kind of angles and concepts (UGC, static banners and motion videos) within the same ad group because we had not more budget to create separate testing ad groups. However, by analyzing the engagement metrics of our videos, we identified the key elements that resonated with our core audience. I primarily rely on the following metrics to evaluate the performance of creatives::-CPA-CPI-Outbound CTR-Hook Rate-Hold Rate-Install Rate-IPM-CVR from Install to Target ActionWith these metrics, you can easily determine which creatives perform best and […]

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Game Tutorial Guide

Game tutorials can make or break the player experience. 1๏ธโƒฃ Keep it short โ€ข Players want to play, not sit through walls of text. โ€ข Focus only on essential actions or controls. 2๏ธโƒฃ Make it interactive โ€ข Let players learn by doing, not just watching. โ€ข Use simple tasks to build muscle memory. 3๏ธโƒฃ Show, donโ€™t tell โ€ข Demonstrate mechanics visually. โ€ข Use minimal text or voiceover. โ€ข Let players experiment safely. 4๏ธโƒฃ Offer quick feedback โ€ข Reward success with sound effects, visual cues, or in-game rewards. โ€ข Correct mistakes gently and immediately. 5๏ธโƒฃ Integrate into real gameplay โ€ข Merge tutorials with actual levels or scenarios. โ€ข Avoid jarring transitions from โ€œlearning modeโ€ to the real game. And avoid these common pitfalls: โŒ Over-explaining โœ… Use visual cues like arrows or lighting instead of long text. โŒ Too many controls […]

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Rivergame’s Portfolio: $7M A Day

Rivergame's portfolio is crossing ๐Ÿค‘ $7 million revenue a day this month! This Chinese Mobile games company, specializing in 4X titles is killing it. Not only do they have the #1 grossing game in the genre, but also top 4, top 6, top 11 & top 12 ๐Ÿคฏ spots. How did they do it? 2 key tactics - templatization & marketing strategy. Each of their games is using their own signature 4X template, which they are perfecting after launching Top War in 2019. Similar to Habby's (Archero) setup. Each game they create, they just reuse the work in their next game as the template grows more robust, it doesn't matter if the current game fails. Since launching Last War in 2023 they scaled 3 more games in less than 2 years ๐Ÿ˜ฑ! As you see nearly 30% of daily revenue […]

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Churn Breakdown in Mobile Games

What causes player churn? 1๏ธโƒฃ FTUE Issuesโ€ข Poor tutorials: Confusing, unclear, unskippable.โ€ข Immediate frustration: Bugs, lag, unresponsive buttons.โ€ข Misleading creatives: Fake gameplay, bait-and-switch.โ€ข Weak hook: Boring loop, no early reward, no motivation.2๏ธโƒฃ Core Gameplay Problemsโ€ข Bad controls: Unresponsive, laggy, clunky.โ€ข Shallow gameplay: No depth, no synergy, no evolution.โ€ข Weak feedback: Poor game feel, unclear UI, no haptics.โ€ข Pacing issues: Inconsistent, no rewarding highs.3๏ธโƒฃ Progression Barriersโ€ข No challenge: Repetitive, no skill mastery, auto-play.โ€ข Difficulty spikes: Unfair levels, paywalls, OP enemies.โ€ข Poor progression: Grinding, unbalanced, overly long.โ€ข No long-term goals: Weak achievements, no endgame.4๏ธโƒฃ Economy & Monetization Mistakesโ€ข Pay-to-win: OP items locked, skill ignored, imbalance.โ€ข Confusing monetization: No value, too many ads, premium spam.โ€ข Aggressive currency sinks: Endless drain, frequent pop-ups.5๏ธโƒฃ Miscellaneous Issuesโ€ข Community & support: Toxic chat, slow support, no follow-up.โ€ข Poor communication: No patch clarity, no dev feedback.โ€ข Technical problems: […]

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Four Things from GDC

๐—™๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐—š๐——๐—– ๐Ÿญ. ๐—ช๐—ฒ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐™ฌ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™ฉ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™ก๐™ž๐™ซ๐™šThis revelation insight from former Machine Zone CEO Gabe Leydon spun my head throughout the conference. He's right: our passion isn't dead, but it's undoubtedly been crowded out. Mobile obsesses over acquisition, while HD fixates on fundraising. New platform dreamsโ€”web3, AR/VR, HTML5, UGCโ€”have largely fizzled. Yet these platforms persist, surviving but not thriving. Mock AR/VR as the "Dippin' Dots of Games" if you like, but at least those developers burn with genuine passion.The rest of the industry must reignite the will to surviveโ€”the kind we see from firms like Supercell, Lessmore, and Hypehype.๐Ÿฎ. ๐—”๐—œ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—น๐˜†-๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ; ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„Michail Katkoff made an excellent observation about the absence of the "world-changing" bravado heard from SF founders intoxicated by Paul Graham essays. Instead, the talks were pragmaticโ€”topics like " 'Angry Birds' and AI […]

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How Turkey became a Mobile Games Powerhouse

How did ๐—ง๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐˜† became a mobile games powerhouse b/t 2020-2025? ๐Ÿ’ช Here's an eye-opening retrospective from Investgame."Following Peakโ€™s landmark acquisition, a wave of entrepreneurship emerged, with over 80 new startups founded by or employing former Peak employees. Approximately half of these startups remained in the gaming sector, fostering knowledge transfer and driving the ecosystemโ€™s rapid growth." - InvestgamePersonally, I hadn't realized the impact of the Peak acquisition on the local industry.This also, (coupled with the agile / 'fail fast' culture) explains the dominance of Casual in Turkish development.

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Engaging Mini Games and Where to Find Them

Like any business, games exist to generate revenue. Without a solid monetization strategy, even the most passionate developers struggle to sustain their projects. But every successful developer knows that a gameโ€™s ability to make money is deeply tied to its retention metrics. While revenue is the ultimate measure of success, retention serves as a crucial intermediate indicator that is often prioritized even over direct revenue figures. And the strategies to ensure strong retention evolve over different stages of a gameโ€™s lifecycle. In the short term (call it D1 to D7), a compelling core loop is essential: a mechanic that is easy to pick up but challenging to master, providing endless variations without becoming stale. In the long term (call it D180 and beyond), retention hinges on intrinsic motivation: social engagement, a thriving community, and compelling end-game content. But what about […]

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System: Successful Games’ Formula

The formula for a successful game isn't magic, it's a system. Hereโ€™s the blueprint: ๐Ÿญ. ๐Ÿ“Š ๐——๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฎ โ€ข Research trends and player behavior โ€ข Analyze competitor strengths and weaknesses โ€ข Gather player feedback and track key metrics ๐Ÿฎ.ย ๐—›๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ โ€ข Grab attention in 5 seconds โ€ข Define your unique selling point (USP) โ€ข Align advertising with what makes your game special ๐Ÿฏ. ๐ŸŽฎ ๐—š๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜† โ€ข Focus on fun and engaging mechanics โ€ข Set clear win/loss conditions โ€ข Create an addictive core loop ๐Ÿฐ. ๐ŸŽจ ๐—ฉ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜€ โ€ข Establish a distinct art style โ€ข Make your game visually unique โ€ข Add "game juice" for a polished feel ๐Ÿฑ. ๐Ÿ“ˆ ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป โ€ข Offer upgrades, new skills, and unlockables โ€ข Design a smooth difficulty curve โ€ข Keep players coming back for more ๐Ÿฒ. ๐Ÿ† ๐— ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ฎ โ€ข Define short-term and long-term goals โ€ข Add non-gameplay rewards […]

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Most Played New Games of 2025

If I donโ€™t play my competitor's games as much as my own, I shouldnโ€™t call myself a game designer. Period. โ— There are over 7500 games published in 2025,87% of them didnโ€™t even get 1k downloads.Actually, only 2% are slowly scaling.You may wonder what is the difference?Those 2% figured out what works.A game developerโ€™s job isnโ€™t just to create,itโ€™s to analyze, adapt, and innovate.That means to:๐ŸŽฏ Identify your real* competitors,๐Ÿ”” Set alerts for new launches, and updates,๐ŸŽฎ Play these games to understand why? *If youโ€™re designing in isolation, youโ€™re guessing.And in this market, guessing is the fastest way to fail.Thatโ€™s why I use AppMagic:โ€”> to track trends,โ€”> to analyze competitors,โ€”> to make data-driven design decisions. Its really not rocket science.You canโ€™t design great games,If you donโ€™t know whatโ€™s already working.Every hit game has a blueprint.Are you studying it ?PS: Yes, […]

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How to Evaluate Game Ideas

36 questions to evaluate your game idea ๐— ๐—”๐—ฅ๐—ž๐—˜๐—ง ๐Ÿ“ˆ 1. How big is your genre? 2. Is the niche growing or declining? 3. Are new devs entering your niche? 4. How could your niche change in the future? ๐—–๐—ข๐— ๐—ฃ๐—˜๐—ง๐—œ๐—ง๐—œ๐—ข๐—ก โš”๏ธ 5. Who are your main competitors? 6. What makes them successful? 7. How does your game stand out? 8. Why did similar games fail? ๐—”๐—จ๐——๐—œ๐—˜๐—ก๐—–๐—˜ ๐ŸŽฏ 9. Who is your audience? 10. What do they value in a game? 11. What do they say about similar games? 12. What desire does your game fulfill? ๐—š๐—”๐— ๐—˜ ๐——๐—˜๐—ฆ๐—œ๐—š๐—ก ๐ŸŽฎ 13. Is your concept unique enough? 14. Does the art style stand out? 15. Whatโ€™s the core gameplay loop? 16. What will keep players coming back? ๐—ฃ๐—œ๐—ง๐—–๐—› & ๐—˜๐—ซ๐—ฃ๐—˜๐—ฅ๐—œ๐—˜๐—ก๐—–๐—˜ ๐ŸŽฌ 17. Can you pitch the idea in one sentence? 18. Can you imagine […]

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Jobs in Mobile Gaming: 22 March

ยป 886 Jobs in Mobile Gaming This Week! ๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿป Data from Gamigion.com/jobs ๐Ÿ•บ๐Ÿป Dev ๐Ÿ’ป Art ๐ŸŽจ Product ๐Ÿ“ฑ Marketing ๐ŸŽฏ Business ๐Ÿ’ฐ Data ๐Ÿ“ˆ QA โš’๏ธ We support Gaming Recruitment ๐ŸŒฟ Here's the State of Recruitment Survey, an opportunity to share your experience! More? You can win a Nintendo Switch Lite, Meta Quest 3, or vouchers! Let's give it a shot ๐ŸคŸ๐Ÿป ๐Ÿ’ป Dev Unity Client Engineer - Scopely ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง Associate Technical Product Manager - Star Trek Fleet Command Scopely ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ช Platform Account Engineer Scopely ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ Senior Software Engineer I Zynga ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Senior Manager, Engineering Zynga ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Senior Software Engineer- Unity Zynga ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Principal Software Engineer I Zynga ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Senior Director of Engineering - ZMGT Zynga ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Senior UI Engineer - Echtra Games Zynga ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Senior Software Engineer (Client) - Words With Friends Zynga ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Gameplay Technical Director - […]

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New Match-3: Block Genre?

Is Block ๐ŸŸฅ the new Match3? Block Blast by Hungry Studio continues to scale past 1,2 Million downloads a day ๐Ÿค‘ its the 11th most downloaded App on all of the stores and 2nd most downloaded game after Garena FF for last month. On the other side Color Block Jam by Rollic did $12 Mil. in IAP ๐Ÿ’ฐ revenue last month. We have already covered Block Blast on two & a half gamers podcast in January, but since then it has aggressively grown its active users by nearly 40% ๐Ÿ˜ฑ. And the giant market appeal of this core gameplay (which stems from Tetris) is starting to be very obvious. In June it should comfortably hit 500 Mil. lifetime downloads ๐Ÿ†.Interestingly, the next game in the genre charts based on downloads is Color Block Jam, which is still heavily monetized by […]

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