Making a Nuts & Bolts Game? Think again!

Thinking about making a Nuts & Bolts game? Think again! 🧩🎮 The market may look appealing, but you should really rethink!

Quick analysis from AppMagic paints a clear picture; the genre has seen its peak, and is now on a downward trajectory:

From Q4/23 to Jul-Aug/24, the market saw fast growth, peaking in downloads and revenue. Now the story is different:
➕ Downloads: A steep decline, driven by a churning retention profile, rising CPIs due to saturation, and a weakening ROAS profile.
📉 Retention: Significant drops as competitive pressure and squeezed monetization strategies leave players disengaged.
📊 DAUs: Daily Active Users have seen a dip, as retention and monetization strategies falter.
💰 Revenue: Revenue has slowed across the segment as all compounds.

Issues with Current Strategies:

Games like Wood Screw Puzzle have ridden the wave but are now paying the price for short-term strategies. Aggressive Ad Monetization and weak IAPs have led to churning cohorts. The lack of meta and long-term engagement, and short-focused monetization, has squeezed players out; leaving the segment stuck in a churn cycle. For these games, a total overhaul is necessary to survive — but there’s a catch: rebuilding such games is more costly and riskier than creating a new game with healthier engagement, a balanced monetization, and a player-first approach.

Why Some Thrive:

Take Screw Jam — it’s fared better than others due to a balanced UX and a focus on engagement and monetization. By making Ads more optional and emphasizing IAPs; it has avoided few pitfalls. However, even this title is at risk, e.g., without innovations like deeper meta or meaningful features, it too could succumb to competitive pressures.

What Should New Entrants Do?

For those looking to bring fresh ideas to the segment, these directions could be worth looking in:
🏗️ Theme-Driven Depth: Exploration and builder metas, offering e.g., meaningful collections and progression.
✏️ Narrative-Meta: Take cues from Gardenscapes and Lily’s Garden. Add narrative-driven meta with personalization elements, creating a world that players can invest in.
🧩 Merge Inspiration: Inspired by e.g., Travel Town and Gossip Harbor, integrate customer-serving core and narrative-building elements to boost engagement.
🤝 Social Mechanics: Clubs, co-op modes, and fully social takes can drive retention and virality; build communities where players stay for their connections as much as the gameplay.
🐷 Social Casino-Meta: Explore Coin Master-inspired social meta, merging casual gameplay with social and competitive elements for engagement loops.

The segment is no longer easy win! Rising competition, burned-out cohorts, and squeezed monetization have pushed the market to a breaking point. It’s time to rethink what Nuts & Bolts games can be. 💡