Mobile Games Benchmarking

How do you usually approach (early stage) mobile games benchmarking? This article discusses about benchmarking and introduces couple methods (/’schools’) over it.The article is partly related to (/complements it) also my previous article about importance of Business Modeling (https://gamesalchemy.substack.com/p/6-why-business-modeling-your-f2p):How To Approach Benchmarking?There seems to be on high level few ‘schools’ to look into:One goes deep in understanding KPIs from macro tools such as Sensor Tower, data ai, AppMagic and other sources of data (ad networks, MMPs, industry reports, industry peers, etc.), and using them in combination for benchmarking.‘Schools’ that with current commercial sentiment aim, e.g., for hybrid casual games to have 40-50% (or even more) D1 and < $1 CPIs (US) for starting point — to invest further (kinda overlooks benchmarking, but counts in a target profiling of top 5-100 games in certain categories).‘Schools’ that start with scientific approach where […]

Antti Kananen January 6

Highlights

Mobile Gaming Today: 41

Hej Fam! Curious about how you celebrated the New Year! Hope you had a great one 🕺 For me, this one has been the worst. Why? 👇🏻 NYE Germany: Several killed after Fireworks Chaos Is it just about people dying? So many injuries… Animals & Plants, Halloo? 🇩🇪 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Though, here’s a COOL update from 2024: 🥁 tooo-too-too-toooom! 🥁 Made it to the Top 10 Mobile Gaming Content Creators! 🌍 Super grateful for all the love and support. Thank you, Gaming People! Weekly Quote Mobile Marketing » User Acquisition & Creative Learnings 2024 🌊 Soft-launch Sonar #7 📱 Mobile Gaming in 2024 🔧 LiveOps Full Breakdown 📈 Evolution Pull-The-Pin Trend 🎁 Interesting Offer in Coin Master 📉 Decrease the CPIs. Whatever it takes! 👾 iOS Games: Top Free ASO & ASA Tools 🤔 User Reactions to Gen AI-created Content? 💐 […]

Gamigion January 6

Journal

‘Unorthodox’ Product and Positioning Strategies

Let's talk about 'unorthodox' Product & Positioning strategies no-one is currently looking into! This article focuses on covering and discussing 'unorthodox' Product and Positioning Strategies that are beyond current commercial sentiment in F2P Mobile Games Welcome to the ‘Unorthodox’ Side of Things! However, despite this, there are lots of opportunities out there no-one is currently looking into; OR they work on them in total secrecy! Shh-h! We’re exploring the shadowy place here. What I mean by ‘unorthodox’ here is everything that is basically beyond the current commercial sentiment and state / phase of the mobile games industry. Here are few examples of 'unorthodox' Product & Positioning strategies that are 'forbidden': Genres and sub-genres no-one is looking to invest in. As publishers, VCs and investors tend to avoid certain midcore, hardcore, and other markets with certain characteristics, there's less money flowing […]

Antti Kananen January 6

Journal

How to Design Difficulty in Puzzle Games

How to Design Difficulty in Puzzle Games Based on the Playliner research, here is a guide to designing difficulty:1. Offer multiple difficulty tiers • Easy, Hard, Super Hard — with clear visuals to indicate the level.2. Use attempts, not win rate, to tune difficulty • Low attempts (1–3) = Easy • High attempts (20–35) = Hard3. Follow a recommended difficulty curve • Start easy (Levels 1–20) to build confidence • Add a hard spike (Levels 20–30) to create challenge • Introduce progressive increases and major paywalls after Level 504. Gradually introduce mechanics• Let players master core gameplay before adding complexity.5. Reward wisely• Scale rewards with difficulty. Tougher levels should yield better prizes.6. Test and iterate• Track completion rates. • Adjust blocker levels. • Fine-tune using player feedback.• Alternate between challenging and easier phases. Make the game feel “just challenged enough” […]

Anton Slashcev January 6

Journal

Startup fundraising lessons

Startup fundraising lessons: 1. Common VC wisdom:- Raise for 18-24 months runway- Add 6 months for fundraising- Target 30% buffer for unexpected spend- But here's what they don't emphasize...2. The "hard truth":- You're not in the "money-saving business"- VC money = rocket fuel- Purpose is growth, not survival3. Signs that can spook investors:- <4 months runway when starting fundraise- Raising at same terms as last round- No clear path to next milestone- High burn rate pre-product market fit4. What actually matters:- Progress toward next round's metrics- Clear plan for use of funds- Ability to extend runway if needed- Strategic cash deployment vs. hoarding5. Common advice that's oversimplified:- "Raise when you don't need money"- Reality: Raise when you have momentumRemember: Your runway is countdown to either mega success or your next fundraise. Plan accordingly.

Joakim Achren January 6

Highlights

Jobs in Mobile Gaming: 26

🎨 First Week - Jobs in Mobile Gaming 👉🏻 Data from Gamigion.com/jobs 🕺🏻 Dev 💻 Art 🎨 Product 📱 Marketing 🎯 Business 💰 Data 📈 QA ⚒️ 💻 Dev Technical Director Unannounced Title Scopely 🇪🇸 Senior Analytics Engineer Scopely 🇪🇸 Staff Engineer - Monopoly GO! Scopely 🇪🇸 Senior Engineer - Monopoly GO! Scopely 🇪🇸 Senior Gameplay Programmer, Squad Busters Supercell 🇫🇮 Software Engineer Zynga 🇨🇦 Mobile Game Engineer Zynga 🇹🇷 Lead Technical Product Manager Zynga 🇨🇦 Senior Game Developer - Gram Games Zynga 🇹🇷 Technical Operations Specialist Moon Active 🇮🇱 Game Developer Moon Active 🇵🇱 Solutions Engineer MobilityWare 🇺🇸 Ad Tech Product Manager MobilityWare 🇺🇸 Director of Engineering, Ad Tech MobilityWare 🇺🇸 Full Stack Developer - Match Hotel! (Istanbul & Ankara) SciPlay 🇹🇷 Unity Team Leader SciPlay 🇮🇱 Senior Software Engineer Plarium 🇮🇱 Unity Developer CrazyLabs 🇪🇸 Freelancer Creative Ads […]

Gamigion January 6

Journal

Top Tools for Game Development in 2025

Top tools for game development in 2025 Here’s your ultimate list of tools, broken down by category:Planning 🗂️ • Asana – User-friendly, but limited customization (⭐ 4.5/5) • Jira – Great for agile teams, steep learning curve (⭐ 4.3/5) • ClickUp – Highly customizable, can overwhelm (⭐ 4.4/5) • HacknPlan – Built for game dev, lacks flexibility for other projects (⭐ 4.2/5)Communication 💬 • Slack – Easy integrations, but too many notifications (⭐ 4.6/5) • Discord – Ideal for real-time discussions, less formal than Slack (⭐ 4.4/5) • Google Meet – Smooth with Workspace, fewer advanced features (⭐ 4.3/5) • Zoom – Reliable video, some privacy concerns (⭐ 4.5/5)Documentation 📚 • Notion – Versatile and customizable, can lag (⭐ 4.6/5) • Confluence – Well-integrated with Jira, feels outdated (⭐ 4.2/5) • Google Docs – Real-time collaboration, limited advanced features (⭐ […]

Anton Slashcev January 5

Journal

Pika 2.0 vs. Kling AI vs. Runway ML

Saving the King! 𝗣𝗜𝗞𝗔 𝟮.𝟬 𝘃𝘀. 𝗞𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔𝗜 𝘃𝘀. 𝗥𝗨𝗡𝗪𝗔𝗬 𝗠𝗟 PIKA 2.0 is catching up👇Using multiple tools together is pretty cool. You can clearly see the difference. Even though a monthly subscription adds up with all the AI tools, you must keep testing them. Each of them is good for different use cases!Weekend fun with Dream GamesPS: I know this is far from ideal, but it is still a huge step forward.

Matej Lancaric January 5

Journal

What makes a Good Leader

I get asked a lot about what makes a good leader, or what skills to focus on, but leadership isn’t about knowing everything—it’s about trusting the right people. At Kwalee I have the privilege of managing close to 200 talented individuals across multiple disciplines. Some of these areas I have zero experience in when I started. Yet, our success isn’t the result of one person trying to master everything—it’s the result of empowering great leaders who do.The late, great Steve Jobs said it best when he said “we don’t hire smart people and tell them what to do, we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do” and I’ve always tried to listen to that advice.Probably the most important lesson I learned in my leadership journey is this: delegation is key. Not just assigning tasks, but trusting […]

John Wright January 5

Journal

Interesting offer in Coin Master by Moon Active

Spotted an interesting offer in Coin Master by Moon Active! While the design feels a bit crowded for my taste, the concept of 'Bigger prize, same price' is definitely intriguing. Always exciting to see what tests and features studios are trying out to engage players! 🎁✨ Has anyone tried a similar approach and seen any interesting results? Would love to hear your thoughts!

Michael Kopelovich January 5

Analysis

How Boom Beach Could Be Set Back to Growth?

This article focuses on analyzing Boom Beach’s current state and suggests couple theoretical ideas for how it could be set back to growth. Note: This article is constructive, giving a straight-forward analysis on a game’s current state — with also suggestions and ideas for future improvement. The sole intention is to provide here an insightful article and as a goodwill-basis give open ideas and principles for improvement. This article has data from AppMagic. Current State of Boom Beach When looked over the long haul, Boom Beach by Supercell has seen long-term engagement decline (despite bringing great amount of revenue and success — which is still something everyone needs to acknowledge) over its lifecycle; a common “trend” for many mobile games as their player bases gradually lose interest after peak growth. Side Note: These things are common “trends” in games such […]

Antti Kananen January 5

Journal

Why playable ads kick ass in UA: 101 guide

Actions speak louder than words. Doing is always better than showing. Don’t talk about buying your wife flowers. Buy them. It’s the same with playable ads. Why show what your game is about when you can get people to play it? Video ads get boring too, and playable ads can add some spice to your UA campaigns. For the unfamiliar, playable ads are minigames that give users a brief glimpse of what your game looks like. Here’s everything you need to know about them. More: How to Create Playables Where did playable ads come from? Playable ads used to be developed by ad networks for advertisers. However, advertisers didn’t have the control to test or experiment with different creatives. Now, there are a lot of drag-and-drop tools that make it easy to develop. Alternatively, you can also easily produce them […]

Matej Lancaric January 5

Journal

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