The hidden hooks of Traffic Escape

Today, let’s explore Traffic Escape by FOMO, one of the pioneering companies that helped define this genre with its innovative Core Game Loop. FOMO has been in the TOP-50 for an impressive stretch of time, proving its staying power in the industry.

So, grab your magnifying glass, and let’s ‘inspect’ Traffic Escape together!

The Portrait of our Funspector

Without the NoAds purchase, players could encounter up to a staggering 482 ads (!) in Traffic Escape during the 150 levels:

• 24 Rewarded Ads
• 142 Interstitial Ads
• 316 Banner Ads

Revenue & Downloads Overview

FOMO primarily focuses on the Android platform, likely because it’s easier to find the right audience for their game — especially regarding Ad Monetization.

Most of the Traffic Escape audience is primarily located in the US and India.

Level Curve

The level structure is simple – the group of 11 levels is repeated:

1. Normal
2. Normal
3. Medium
4. Normal
5. Hard
6. Normal
7. Medium
8. Gift
9. Normal
10. Normal
11. Super Hard
12. …

The level progression in Traffic Escape follows a ‘sawtooth pattern’, where simple levels alternate with more challenging ones.

In a set of 11 levels, you’ll find 4 hard levels, 1 reward level, and 6 simple levels.

Why is the sawtooth structure so effective?

• It helps maintain the player’s flow — preventing boredom from too many easy levels and avoiding frustration from overly difficult ones.

Additionally, this ‘sawtooth curve’ can be adapted to different difficulty progressions —whether linear, exponential, or something else.

COMPLEXITY

There are three main ways the game controls the complexity of each level:

(1) Number of cars (ranging from 20 to 36): The more cars on the road, the greater the chances of making a mistake. Additionally, as the number of cars and roads increases, it becomes harder for the player to maintain control and manage the situation.

(2) Number of moves: This determines how many mistakes a player can make during the level. On average, the game allows for 0 to 2 mistakes, depending on the difficulty. When a player reaches 80% of the level and realizes they don’t have enough moves to finish, they may start reflecting on the effort they’ve already invested. As a result, this can increase the player’s motivation to use boosters or revive to complete the level.

(3) Blockers: In the first 150 levels, the game introduces only 4 types of blockers.

Pedestrian	Two Lane Road	Traffic Light	Bulldozer
If a player hits them – he will Lose the Level	The amount of 2-lane roads and the specific of their interaction – how they cross each other	If the car goes on the red light, he will lose -2 moves. The traffic light switches the color every 4 sec	Only Bulldozer cars remove the rock obstacle from the road
open lvl = 7	open lvl = 9	open lvl = 40	open lvl = 70

• The Two Lane Road mechanic appears in 61% of levels, making it the most frequently used challenge element.
• In contrast, the other 3 types of blockers are much less common. Excluding the Two Lane Road, only 28% of levels have one Blocker, 1% have two Blockers, and the other levels don’t have any of them.

I believe Blockers and Core mechanics are excellent tools for boosting player engagement and keeping them ‘hooked’ through a compelling core game loop. That’s why it’s crucial to regularly review their frequency in the game, ensuring they’re used effectively to maintain both challenge and player interest.

As a result, the game primarily regulates difficulty through the number of cars and the allowed number of mistakes. For example, on average:Base and Gift levels: feature 20-22 cars, allowing 2-3 mistakes.Challenging levels: feature 28-36 cars and only allow 0-1 mistakes.

Amazing FTUE experience

My First Time User Experience (FTUE) in Traffic Escape was excellent. It successfully engaged me and even sparked a bit of addiction:

• Simple but Effective Tutorials. Most tutorials are “soft” – they guide the player through the key mechanics without forcing them.
• The player CAN’T Lose the level until the 7th (the player has unlimited moves and no Blockers)
• Smooth UI/UX experience
• The mechanics are introduced in a well-structured sequence at the start:
  • So many NEW Features and Core Mechanics are introduced across 1-15 levels
    • Levels 1-4 are Tutorial levels, free from pressure or features
    • 2 Boosters and 2 Blockers
    • 4 Engagement Features, 3 Gamified currency income sources, and 2 Offers
  • From levels 15 to 30, the game captures the player’s attention by introducing level progression through good Meta visualization. This technique continues beyond the 30th level but follows the same pattern.
  • From levels 30 to 150, there are no significant new features or mechanics, except for a few key moments:
    • At level 36, they introduce a ‘Ticket’ that allows players to Skip Rewarded Ads. However, this feature doesn’t seem to impact player experience significantly.
    • +2 additional blockers are added to the core gameplay at levels 40 and 70, introducing more challenges.

Okay, now it’s a fucking long picture, but it’s worth it, trust me, I tried to make it in a landscape orientation ↓↓↓

When and How Traffic Escape Introduces Ads

• Banners appear right from the 1st level.
• The first Rewarded ad opportunity is presented at the 7th level.
• Interstitials begin showing after the 11th level.

Meta visualization

The meta progression is simple yet effective, designed to maintain the player’s focus by showing only a few levels at a time.

Starting from level 14, ‘FOMO’ makes an accent on ‘Medium – Hard – Super Hard – Gift’ levels:

• Highlighted them in a different color
• Made an accent on more considerable Level Reward: average Level Reward ~ 10 coins, Reward for this Special Levels are 25-50-100 coins
• Made an accent on a Multiplier for League Points – from x2 to x4

💡That is a good point for your UX and Game Design — to show the Player his benefits and privileges and emphasize them in advance.

REWARDED ADS

Traffic Escape cleverly integrates 12 Rewarded Ads Placements throughout the gameplay, creating an exciting dynamic between Engagement and Monetization. But how exactly do these ads influence the player experience? Let’s break it down and explore their actual impact.

Classic: Boosters and Revive

When it comes to Rewarded Ad Monetization, there are 2 main places every producer should focus on first. These are among the most powerful monetization touchpoints in puzzle games, whether you’re relying on in-app purchases or a hybrid monetization model

• Revive – allows the player to continue a lost level by adding +5 moves or saving a pedestrian, depending on the cause of failure.This option is available through Rewarded Ads or by spending Hard currency.
• 
• Boosters – Players can earn +1 booster for each Rewarded Ad, with no limit on how many can be obtained per level.Interestingly, boosters can only be acquired through rewarded ads or as rewards from in-game features— there’s no option to purchase them with Hard currency.

P.S. This information highlights that the game primarily relies on an Ad Revenue Monetization model, with only a small portion coming from In-App purchases. Would you agree?

FOMO places

Let’s start with the definition of FOMO — Fear of Missing Out — a psychological phenomenon in which individuals feel anxious or uneasy about missing potential rewards or opportunities.

Now, here’s something to think about: do you think these FOMO principles have any connection to the name of the company? 🙂

Journey Gift	The Journey Gift is a special reward that players receive every 11 levels, a testament to the effort and dedication they put into the gameThey propose +1 more Gift with Rewarded Ads. What makes this significant is the size of the reward: the Ad gift offers 3X more coins compared to the base gift:Base Gift = 50 coins + 1 BoosterAd Gift = 150 coins + 1 Booster
Shop Chest	Shop Chest – A Rewarded Ad chest that players can collect every 6 hours.This feature not only boosts player Retention but also provides a strong incentive for watching Rewarded Ads.
Level Race	Level Race Start: Players must watch an ad to activate the race feature. In this race, 5 players compete to see who can complete 30 levels first.If the player chooses not to activate the feature, they miss out on maximizing the full potential of available rewards and opportunities. Notably that the 1st race is FREE, serving as a great example of a tutorial and FTUE element.
Time Booster	One of my favorites is the Time Booster – x2 for 10 minutes for Race points. Once the player activates the Race with an ad, winning becomes more important, and the booster greatly increases their chances. Without the x2 booster, winning the race becomes much more difficultThis feature is also part of the Daily Quest tasksWhen players complete a ‘Super Hard’ level (with X4 race points), the urge to watch an ad to boost this multiplier to X8 (X4 * X2) becomes even stronger.This mechanic is a great way to prolong player sessions, as it’s optimal for players to keep playing while the booster is active (a strategy often seen in Match-3 games.).

Daily Challenge

In the Daily Challenge, players can watch ads, but that’s not the only benefit of this feature.

The tasks in the Daily Challenge motivate players to engage with ads throughout the game and play extensively. To complete all tasks, players need to:

• Play 70 levels (which translates to watching around 70 Interstitials and approximately 140 Banners).
• Watch 7 Rewarded Ads (or use boosters, etc.).

Players who want to skip a task can compensate by watching 1-4 ads in the Daily Challenge.

Lucky Wheel

The Lucky Wheel mechanic varies across games, but in Traffic Escape:

• Players can spin the wheel by Watching an Ad.
• Another option is to use a Golden Ticket, though I only received one as part of the tutorial for this feature.

Why it’s good:

• This feature is also part of the Daily Quest tasks, giving players an extra reason to engage.
• Players can test their luck and win between 25 to 250 coins or 1-2 boosters.
• Additionally, they can double their reward (by watching an extra ad, of course), with the chance to win up to 500 coins or 4 boosters.

Interesting Fact: Whether by coincidence or design:

• When I spun the wheel for FREE, I won 50 coins.
• However, after watching my first Rewarded Ad, I hit the biggest win of 250 coins—5x my initial reward. This created a strong ‘anchoring effect’, making my choice feel even more valuable.
  • Naturally, I watched another ad to double my reward, turning the 250 coins into 500 coins (5X * 2 = 10X).

Skip Level

The game offers two moments where players can choose to skip a level:

• After being stuck on a level for an extended period
• After losing the level

I’m not a fan of this approach, as it detracts from the gameplay experience. However, it makes sense from an ad monetization perspective, as it can help prevent player churn and offer more opportunities for players to stay engaged.

A Quick Look at the Numbers

I’m going to talk more deeply about the numbers and economy in future articles (coming soon). But I want to highlight the following points:

• the size of FREE Rewards is avg ~ 25 coins
• when it comes to LiveOps Events, the reward is typically ~ 50-100 coins
• the size of Rewarded Ads Rewards is 100-200 coins, which is
  • X4 – X8 from FREE Rewards
  • X2 – X4 from LiveOps Rewards (which is not easy and fast to achieve)
    • as a result, Reward from Ads look big and valuable

When it comes to the Cheapest Offer, the game typically offers a minimum of 2,000 coins = for 1 Revive. This is a common and popular approach in many games.

At the same time, players might ask themselves, “How should I spend my coins?”

In similar games, the main options are usually Boosters and Revives. In Traffic Escape:

• Boosters can only be obtained through watching ads.
• Revives can be acquired either through ads or with hard currency. However, collecting 2,000 coins requires a lot of gameplay or ad-watching in other places (avg 10-20 Ads), while a single ad is enough to buy a revive instantly.

As a result, collecting coins makes sense only if you want to participate in Challenges (150 / 500 coins) or purchase a new car skin (1,500 coins).

Why Traffic Escape can have not good enough Long term metrics?

The Core gameplay of Traffic Escape is Simple: if you play carefully and attentively, you’ll pass the level. The game often presents a clear “best solution” right from the start, making it relatively easy for focused players to win.

However, this simplicity comes at a cost. As players progress, the game can start to feel repetitive and even boring, especially for skilled players. The lack of real puzzle-solving challenges, elements of chance, and replayability diminishes deeper engagement.

Another area for improvement lies in the variety of Core mechanics, such as Blockers and Boosters. While these elements are essential for making the gameplay deeper and offering monetization opportunities, Traffic Escape only includes 2 boosters and 4 blockers across 150 levels. This limited variety restricts the potential for creating more dynamic and engaging gameplay.