River Fence: The Evolution of a New Trend in Mobile Games

🎉 𝐑𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 👇 Idle games have long-inspired genres, often requiring innovative marketing to compensate for their "low-action" gameplay. In March 2022, Idle Lumber by AppQuantum set a new standard by introducing a unique element in their creatives—a river fence that stops logs. This idea evolved further in September 2023, establishing a trend that’s been catching on ever since.It took a bit of time, but other games eventually picked up on this mechanic. By May 2024, Idle Fishing 2 (Multicastgames LLC) cleverly adapted the river fence concept, transforming it into a net that fits seamlessly into their gameplay. And then, things really got interesting. In July 2024, AppQuantum took this trend to the next level with a new publishing deal with Rockbite Games Armenia Games, releasing Idle Outpost. This game quickly scaled […]

Matej Lancaric November 8

Journal

350+ feature references from the top 100 mobile games.

I've collected 350+ feature references from the top 100 mobile games. What's inside:🎮 FTUE (First Time User Experience)🎟️ Season Pass🎁 Daily Bonus🔥 Starter Pack🛒 Shop🏆 Win/Lose Screens📖 Storytelling...and much moreHow to get it:1. Comment 'references' below.2. Add me as a connection so I can DM you.3. I'll send you the link to the Figma board → Duplicate and use it as you wish.References are gathered using the Playliner platform.

Anton Slashcev November 8

Journal

𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗣𝗢𝗞𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗖𝗚 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗚𝗢 𝗡𝗢𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘

𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗣𝗢𝗞𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗖𝗚 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗚𝗢 𝗡𝗢𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘• Prior mobile Pokemon CCG 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘐𝘈𝘗. Yes, that’s right.• The new game is polished but revolves around timer-based pack openings.• 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝘂𝘆 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺.• Over $20M so far, but downloads 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁.• Japan dominates ($26/download; U.S.: $4.36).• Strong collection loops with Codex moments at pack openings but a weaker version of physical CCG.• And yes, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆.• 𝗠𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗖𝗖𝗚𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗲𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀, far from Pokemon Go’s $800M annual revenue.• Failure to evolve beyond Snap’s lukewarm success, weak meta, or UGC adoption. Markets failed, too (Artifact).• Inability to build strong meta loops or explore UGC. 𝗦𝗣𝗔𝗖𝗘 𝗔𝗣𝗘 𝗚𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗦 𝗗𝗘𝗖𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗗; 𝗠𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗖𝗘𝗟𝗟 𝗧𝗜𝗧𝗟𝗘𝗦?• Turning into 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻 (Space Ape brand dead), but games have declined the last year.• They’ve been working on Boom Beach and Hayday, so they […]

Phillip Black November 8

Journal

Top must-read reports & webinars this week for Marketers

⚡️ Top must-read reports & webinars this week for Marketers! 1️⃣ Put AI to Work for Marketing Teams [Webinar] by OpenAIA deep dive into how AI can streamline marketing processes, where OpenAI shares insights on integrating AI tools effectively, from content generation to predictive analytics.🔗 https://lnkd.in/eCRzkK9c2️⃣ Q3 Quarterly Trends Report [Report] by SingularHighlights the latest in mobile marketing trends, attribution challenges, and key industry benchmarks, with insights from Digital Turbine, Mobile Growth Association, RevX, yellowHEAD, SHAMSCO & Marcus Burke.🔗 https://lnkd.in/ec3gUhAV3️⃣ State of Digital Advertising 2024 [Report] from Sensor TowerFor understanding shifts in ad spend, format performance, and consumer behavior trends in 2024.🔗 https://lnkd.in/eUHHcsM3

Julie Tonna November 8

Journal

Games on the Rise #5

GAMES ON THE RISE # 5, WEEK, OCTOBER, 2024 The last week of October brought some interesting games on the rise! 📈 ✨Some of them have different mechanics and perform well.I've highlighted 4️⃣ titles.➡️ “Clue Master - Logic Puzzles” by Lion Studios.It's an outstanding logic puzzle game with a detective theme. 🕵️‍♀️Its UX is straightforward, similar to life simulators such as “BitLife” by Candywriter, LLC.Btw, the “Clue Master” developer is Regulus Studio, an Indonesian company led by Armandarius Darmadji, which has a successful simulator in its portfolio, “Family Tree! - Logic Puzzles” (US$1.2MM IAP revenue), also published by Lion.I loved “Clue Master”! 💞I played it for over an hour and a half non-stop! 🤪And it seems that I'm not the only one who thinks so…According to AppMagic, “Clue” has been growing in revenue and downloads recently, with a high market […]

Carlos Pereira November 8

Journal

Pocket Pair, the creator of Palworld, cited the patents Nintendo is suing them under.

Pocket Pair, the creator of Palworld, cited the patents Nintendo is suing them under. And boy, is it Japanese patent law nuts. It's enough to radicalize me against patent protection of any type in games (I'm looking at you, Shadow of War). While something might be lost in translation, the breath is insane.𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗡𝗼. 𝗝𝗣𝟳𝟱𝟰𝟱𝟭𝟵𝟭𝗕𝟭It tries to patent, among other things, how players capture and train virtual creatures over time, including evolution mechanics.— It specifically discussed how multiple evolution paths change stats based on player input (e.g., a creature gets more health because you pet it).𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗡𝗼. 𝗝𝗣𝟳𝟱𝟮𝟴𝟯𝟵𝟬𝗕𝟮This one is sore nuts, trying to patent how players interact in biomes, like altering terrain or weather conditions. It includes progression systems like resource points based on in-game gathering activities!𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗡𝗼. 𝗝𝗣𝟳𝟰𝟵𝟯𝟭𝟭𝟳𝗕𝟮This one is more technical, and I'm unsure how to read […]

Phillip Black November 8

Journal

ASO depends on daily install volume

Let me present you this painting 🖼️ 🎨 I did it while I was starting in a country from scratch with only one Facebook campaign (no ASA)The final piece of art is simple but clear.I call it:"ASO depends on daily install volume"

David Vargas November 7

Journal

Harsh truth for puzzle game developers:

Harsh truth for puzzle game developers: ✦ You can assemble a ‘’top-tier’’ team,✦ You can analyze the market inside and out,✦ You can utilize the ‘’state-of-art’’ mechanic,✦ You can produce a ‘’decent-polished’’ game,But if you aren’t:✧ Acquiring enough new users,✧ Monetizing aggressively without notice,✧ Using multiple networks for certain time,✧ Keeping your UA campaigns up for long time,You won’t get the results you expect.Take a moment to look at Appmagic Analytic link:https://lnkd.in/dGmX8jJ7There is not a single 2024 Puzzle Release on top.It all looks like ‘’big’’ players are making money.They all started from the bottom though.In today’s puzzle environment its not ‘’just’’ about:↳ Innovation on gameplay,↳ Aggressive UA campaign,Its about how long you can last spending:↳ Money on UA campaigns,↳ Time innovating with ‘’data’’,↳ Time and Money on your team.Its tough out there, But it is still, doable…Cheers! PS: Matej 🦩 […]

Gökhan Üzmez November 7

Journal

Trash Tycoon Idle Empire By Supersonic & Funcell

🔥 HYBRIDCASUAL IS ON FIRE! 🔥”TRASH TYCOON IDLE EMPIRE” BY SUPERSONIC & FUNCELL Hi, Mobile Gaming Family! 😍 The big publisher Supersonic from Unity has posted an insightful case study (link in the comments) on its recently released Hybridcasual game, “Trash Tycoon Idle Empire”. ♻️👷Idle Tycoon is one of the game genres closest to Hypercasual.Despite the depth of the narrative, its clicker mechanics are very accessible. 👆Not by chance, several Hypercasual publishers have released Tycoon titles. And now, in the Age of Hybridcasual, Tycoon has moved onto the development roadmap of the big publishers.“Trash Tycoon Idle Empire” is developed by Funcell Games .Funcell is a prominent studio with a portfolio of games with more than 300MM downloads. 🤯They developed big hits such as “Idle 9 Months” (46MM) and “Dog Life Simulator!” (34MM). 👏According to NextBigGames , life simulators are one […]

Carlos Pereira November 7

Journal

Playstudios to Cut 30% of Workforce: 200+ Layoffs Ahead

Playstudios, a game studio that runs online and mobile social games, is planning to reduce its workforce by about 30%, which will impact over 200 employees. This cutback is part of a reorganization plan aimed at saving up to $30M each year. Playstudios expects to spend between $14 million and $16 million, mostly for employee transition and severance costs. The company anticipates most of these layoffs will be completed by the end of this quarter. At the end of 2023, Playstudios reported having 697 full-time and 13 part-time employees across eight countries. After this announcement, Playstudios' stock dropped by 4.3% to $1.32 in after-hours trading. This reorganization news follows a disappointing third quarter, where Playstudios reported a loss of $3.1 million (or 2 cents per share), compared to a profit of $3.8 million (or 3 cents per share) during the […]

Ömer Yakabagi November 7

Journal

App Store gets a More Powerful Search

🌟 The App Store gets a “More Powerful Search” … but what does it mean? 🌟 With the latest iOS 18.1 update, Apple has rolled out a “More Powerful Search” for the App Store.It allows users to find apps using natural language - like on ChatGPT, for example.On paper, this sounds like a game changer for app discovery.After giving it a try, I was not really convinced…I did a couple of test searches before updating my iPhone.First, I looked for “Best travel app to book everything for my city trip” - no results.Then, I searched for “Popular games to match candies & sweets” and only found small, unknown apps (even for me, who works in the gaming industry).So, what happened after I updated to iOS 18.1?Well, honestly, not much changed…I got the same results for both.A bit disappointing, to be […]

Julie Tonna November 7

Journal

Super Cool Event in “Twisted Tangle” by Rollic Games

💡 Super Cool Event in "Twisted Tangle" by Rollic Games 💡 Just came across a brilliant event mechanic in "Twisted Tangle"! 🎉 Here’s the twist: the points or XP you earn to progress through event rewards are based on the seconds left on the timer when you complete each level. ⏱️ So, the faster you finish, the more points you get! 🚀This approach is fantastic, especially for puzzle games with timed challenges. It’s skill-based, so it feels super satisfying for players who master each level. Plus, from a monetization perspective, it’s genius! Players are motivated to beat levels quickly, which could lead to increased booster usage—and when those boosters run out, maybe even some purchases. 🛒What do you think of this timing-based reward system?

Michael Kopelovich November 7

Journal

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