‘Freezing Families’ Trend

🧊 𝗧𝗵𝗲 “𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀” 👶 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀. Why is it mandatory now? 👇

This trend has gained popularity in casual mobile game ads and is mandatory, especially in genres like match-3, merge games, or narrative-driven games.

I always thought Playrix is the OG of freezing families, but nope. Looks like it goes way back to Matchington Mansion.

Good old days of Matchington Mansion.

A freezing mother and child shivering in a dilapidated house.

A dramatic voiceover or visual urgency (“Help them survive!”).

Gameplay shown as the way to restore warmth, fix the heater, or renovate the house.

Then Lilly’s Garden (Tactile Games) jumps on the trend, Playrix, and slowly the whole casual genre. Looking at you, Arsen,y too 👀 Microfun is taking this to the extreme levels with all games.

You are using the “𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗲” concept or “𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀” in casual space.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴:
It triggers empathy and urgency, people instinctively want to help children or families in distress.

Viewers want to see what happens next. Will they survive? Will the home be restored?

Solving puzzles isn’t just about points — it’s now about saving someone.

These creatives often dramatize gameplay far beyond the actual experience, which can lead to poor retention and bad reviews. 𝗛𝗼𝘄𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿, 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝗩𝗢 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗖𝗣𝗜𝘀.