Games on the Rise: Week 4, August 2024

GAMES ON THE RISE # 4, WEEK, AUGUST, 2024 Hey there! 🤘Let's get to the last August edition of our…💫 Games On The Rise💫I created this list to introduce you to some games that have started to grow. 🚀This means that these games had initial market validation with their mechanics and themes. 👍I'm highlighting 3️⃣ titles in the list of games on the rise in the last week of August.➡️ “Downhill Race League” by BoomBit.The big Polish publisher 🇵🇱 brings an excellent downhill skateboard 🛹 simulator to the market.Its highlight is the game art, with highly polished details.The sound of skateboard wheels is exciting. 🤩In my opinion, a title with the potential to become a successful Hybridcasual.On September 1st, BoomBit's new game appeared on the Top Free 200 list. 🏅“Downhill” began its scaling stage two weeks ago and has so […]

Carlos Pereira September 10

Journal

Unique Approach for Interstitial Ads in “Found It”

🕵️‍♂️ Lion Studios ' Unique Approach for Interstitial Ads in "Found It"! 🕵️‍♀️ made by Urmobi led by Alexandr Podosinnikov , Mykyta Myronenko , Serhii Tokman, Daria Spodina , Georgiy Galchuk , Oleksandra Barabanova , Galina Nesterenko , Andrii Kravchuk , Uliana Kaziuka , Арсений Мисюрин , Anna Bobanova , Serg Taranenko , Roman Shekun and many more from Ukraine. In games with super high session lengths, where completing a level takes time, keeping players engaged is key! 🕰️🔥 We've all experienced those frustrating moments when ads pop up unexpectedly, interrupting gameplay. 🚫 Not the best user experience, right? To address this, many studios are adding timers before ad breaks to give players a heads-up. ⏰But Lion Studios took a creative turn with their game "Found It." Instead of a simple timer, they motivate and praise players with pop-ups like, […]

Vamsi Penmetsa September 9

Journal

Does Nothing care nothing about their employees?

Does Nothing care nothing about their employees? Nothing. The London-based smartphone company just mandated a full five-day-a-week return to the office. One of the reasons stated by Nothing’s CEO:“Remote work is not compatible with a high ambition level plus high speed.”While that statement is pure conjecture, here’s some math:Average London one-way commute time = 60 minutes Commute time per work day = 120 minutes Average number of UK work days per year = 250Commute time per year per employee = 120 minutes X 250 = 30,000 minutes That’s approximately 500 hours of unpaid, unproductive commute time per year for each employee. Compare that to approximately zero hours of commute time per year for remote work. Multiply 500 hours by 450 Nothing employees (not all UK-based). I don’t know about “high ambition”, but losing 225,000 hours of potential productivity per year […]

Jon Leslie September 9

Journal

Designing with Perspective: How Cameras Shape Levels

03 - Designing with Perspective: How Cameras Shape Levels When designing levels, the choice of camera system is a critical factor that shapes not only the technical possibilities but also the artistic direction and, most importantly, the player's perception of the environment. In the image, three distinct urban elements—represented by differently colored shops—illustrate how spatial composition shifts depending on the camera perspective.Camera-Dependent Constraints and Opportunities in Level Design:🎥 Top-down 2D- 🛑Constraints: With only one wall facing the camera, composition is more restricted. This requires careful design to ensure that the limited perspective feels natural on screen.- 🟢Opportunities: Despite these limitations, top-down views allow for highly abstracted environments, where composition plays a key role in guiding the player. This perspective is ideal for puzzle-based gameplay or minimalist design.🎥 Isometric- 🛑Constraints: The addition of depth introduces challenges with occlusion and visibility, particularly in complex, multi-layered […]

Jesus Machina September 9

Journal

Idle Arcade Market Radar #1

🕹️ Idle Arcade Market Radar #1 📊 🦖 Dinosaur and Evolution Themes:1) Raptor Evolution by Feavy Games👽 Alien Invasion and Animal Themes:2) Supernatural Frog by Full Fat led by Paul Adams , Oliver Brown and many more Merges "Alien Invasion" by CrazyLabs with a snake and frog twist.3) Animal Tamer 3D by Gnarly Game Studio led by Ferhat TEPE , Mehmet Gurdal and many more: Combines "Alien Invasion" by CrazyLabs with cowboy mechanics.🍬 Food and Shop Themes:4) Idle Sweet Shop by Udo Games led by Türker Karahan , Alisan Caglar , Murat Y. ÖZKAN , Gökhan Güngör and many more: Focuses on making candies.5) Perfect Diner by Onetap Global: Combines "Burger Please" by Supercent with dining mechanics.6) Highway Arcade by Yalp Games LLC: Merges "Burger Please" by Supercent with highway tolls.🎤 Music and Entertainment Themes:7) Idle Rockstar by Noor Games […]

Vamsi Penmetsa September 9

Journal

Games on the Rise: Week 3, August 2024

GAMES ON THE RISE # 3, WEEK, AUGUST, 2024 Last week some new games appeared at the top of the charts for the first time.➡️ “Bus Mania - Car Jam Puzzle” by ZPLAY has had almost 1.4MM downloads.Released on July 31, the new puzzle from the Chinese publisher 🇨🇳 mixes parking jam mechanics with “Block Jam 3D”, and has customization and car collecting metagame 🚗, following the path of “Chrome Valley” by Space Ape Games Ape.➡️ “Highway Overtake - Car Racing” by HyperMonk.The new title from the Turkish 🇹🇷 publisher is an excellent mix of Arcade Racing and Idle.Following the motto “good games come from simple ideas”, “Highway Overtake” simulates an everyday situation: driving in a hurry to avoid being late. 🕜😅It has realistic game art and “Tap & Hold” mechanics. 👆📱The game also brings layers of depth, with several […]

Carlos Pereira September 9

Journal

It’s Time for Games to Embrace Aggregation Theory

It's Time for Games to Embrace Aggregation Theory In tech writer Ben Thompson's infamous aggregation theory, economic power derives from supply ownership—train barons owned the track and leveraged that power up and down the supply chain. The internet flipped the relationship: with near zero switching and distribution costs, suppliers instead aggregated user demand to leverage suppliers. Consider Amazon: aggregating millions of customers gained power over suppliers, compelling them to compete on its platform and play by its rules. In a post-ATT and "black hole games" world, gaming unwittingly embraced this dictionary, and distribution has become all-powerful.Previously, games saw a lite version of aggregation theory, as platform owners like Sony and Microsoft owned the track (and thus users), allowing them to set the game's rules. But something funny happened: cross-play, progression, and commerce crumbled console platform power as Epic leveraged Fortnite's […]

Phillip Black September 9

Journal

Impulse – Brain Training Scaled to $6 M A Month

A hyper scaling app masquerading as brain training making 🚀 $6mil in the last 30 days!Impulse is a brain training app with significant revenue & download growth in the last months. The app offers hypercasual games and cognitive training programs to improve IQ, memory, and mental abilities.Their creatives showcase multiple gaming creative trends, mainly psychological tests, and "only psychopaths can solve these" hypercasual headline variations. This UA know-how is probably one of the main differentiators between the other "apps" trying to achieve this same result.It uses clever monetization strategies, including subscription plans and discounts, to encourage users to upgrade to premium.The app's ad monetization is heavily segmented, with different ad experiences based on the user's usage and payment status. The app also includes prompts that resemble the official Google Play UI to encourage users to make in-app purchases.Regarding team size, […]

Matej Lancaric September 9

Journal

Importance of Clear Rewarded Ad Placements in Lucky Defence

Lucky Defence by 111퍼센트 has quickly scaled to $300k/day in IAPs and about $24k/day in ads, but it's missing out on some key ad monetization opportunities. Let’s dive into the main ad placements to highlight best practices for Western Rewarded ad placements. 🎮💰 For Western-targeted games, Rewarded Ad Placements need to have these 3 essentials: - Notifications: Make sure players know when an ad opportunity is available. 🔔- Clear Rewards: Indicate exactly what reward will be given for watching the ad. 🎁- Visibility: Ensure the placement is visible to the majority of users. 👀Lucky Defence has two main menu RV ad placements: the Daily Fortune and Double Points ads. The big issue? These placements don’t show users what rewards they’ll receive and lack notifications indicating availability. This results in low engagement rates. 🚫Additionally, 7 out of 9 Rewarded Ad placements […]

Felix Braberg September 9

Journal

Engaging FTUE: Make or Break Your Game

Creating an engaging FTUE can make or break your game.Here’s a cheatsheet to get it right:1. Onboarding 🚀• Start with a strong hook to captivate players.• Clear objectives guide the player smoothly.• Introduce features gradually.• Keep tutorials short and effective.2. User Flow 🌐• Ensure easy access to gameplay.• Make controls accessible.• Provide progress indicators.• Use an intuitive UI.3. Core Gameplay 🎯• Focus on game feel.• Implement a fun mechanic.• Allow for immediate action.• Keep rules easy to understand.4. Visuals 👀• Use smooth animations.• Prioritize art style consistency.• Ensure readability.• Add some juiciness to the experience.5. Progression 📈• Set clear goal setting.• Offer early rewards.• Implement retention hooks.• Enable fast initial progression.6. Monetization 💰•Clarify your value proposition.• Time your introduction wisely.• Consider ads integration carefully.• Ensure monetization doesn’t disrupt user experience.

Anton Slashcev September 9

Journal

Hey, Look! A Cool Design 🎨

I just stumbled across this super cool offer design in Coin Master by Moon Active. It's a "Buy 1, Get 6 Free" deal, and I have to say, I love how they’ve made it feel like a real win for the player! Wanted to share this with you all—hope it brightens your day! 🎉😊

Michael Kopelovich September 9

Journal

1 Game: 0.72% of All Mobile Game Ads in US

One game alone is displaying 0.72% of all mobile game ads in the U.S.! Based on Apptica Ad Monetization data, here's the list of the top 10 games getting the most ad exposure in the U.S. last month: 1️⃣ Phase 10: World Tour2️⃣ Bubble Shooter: Pop & Blast3️⃣ Spades Plus - Card Game4️⃣ Rope Hero: Mafia City Wars5️⃣ Solitaire6️⃣ UNO!7️⃣ Tennis Arena8️⃣ Brain Who? Tricky Riddle Tests9️⃣ Superhero: Battle for Justice🔟 Brick Out - Shoot the BallThese games are not just grabbing players' attention, but also dominating ad traffic, making them the top choices for advertisers to push their campaigns. 💰

Yagiz Gur September 8

Journal

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