Save the King trend grew popular in 2024.
๐ฅ”๐ฆ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ ๐ฒ” ๐๐๐ “๐ฆ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด” ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฝ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฐ.
I spent ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ on this trend research, so you don’t have to! Was it Royal Match or another game that brought it first? ๐
๐ฅ๐ผ๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฐ๐ต (๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ญ) โ features special mini-levels where the player must quickly solve puzzles to save King Robert from peril. These are presented as the Kingโs Nightmare levels, in which King Robert is trapped in a dangerous situation (like a room filling with water, a dragon threatening him, or spreading fire) and the player has limited moves or time to rescue himโ.
โ
This โprotect or rescue the monarchโ idea in Royal Match ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ถ๐๐ผ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป. It builds on a long history of games and storytelling where safeguarding a royal character is central. It goes from ancient board games and classic tales to modern video games and mobile puzzles. But lets not go that far.
I found a very interesting thing. The lines are very blurry because the Sensor Tower data only goes into 2022, but there are ๐ง๐ผ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐น๐ฎ๐๐ “๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฒ” ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐๐ป๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฌ, way before Royal Match was released. Guess what? The Dream Games team is a former Peak team, right? Not only did they have the genre expertise on the product side, but they might also have brought a very interesting UA weapon with them, and they perfected it over the years.
We also see Dice Dreams (SuperPlay / Playtika) and Candy Crush Saga (King) saving their characters in creatives.
๐๐ณ ๐๐ฒ ๐น๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฐ, ๐๐ผ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ด๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ “๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฒ” ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต. Because, simply, there is no other option. Look at how Match Factory (Peak again, btw) or Match Villains (Good Job Games) started jumping on this trend.
The latest addition to the party is Magic Sort (Grand Games). Awesome iteration.
