How Race Events Drive Engagement in Mobile Games

Race events have become a powerful tool in mobile gaming, fueling competition and keeping players hooked. Whether completing levels, collecting items, or earning points, these events turn gameplay into a thrilling race against time and other players. Here’s why race events are so effective: 🏆 Competitive Edge: Live leaderboards and real-time tracking push players to keep playing and outperform their rivals.🎁 Tiered Rewards: The faster you race, the better the rewards! Top finishers get exclusive prizes, but everyone walks away with something.⏳ Time-Limited Challenges: With only a limited time to win, the urgency keeps players engaged and returning for more.Examples like Candy Crush Soda Saga’s Rainbow Road and Royal Match’s Sky Race showcase how race events create excitement and drive continuous play.These events increase playtime and provide opportunities for monetization and community building. If you’re looking to boost engagement, race […]

Michael Kopelovich August 28

Journal

Innovative Scrolling Offers in Coin Master

Just came across a fascinating feature in Coin Master that I haven't seen before—a scrolling endless offer sequence. Instead of the usual set of 6 offers, players are invited to scroll through a sequence of 12 offers to see all the rewards. This adds a new layer of engagement and curiosity to the purchasing experience.What caught my attention even more was the pricing strategy employed. The sequence is structured as follows:- Paid: 49.9 (800 spins)- Free- Free- Free- Free- Free- Paid: 39.9 (800 spins)- Free- Free- Paid: 17.9 (800 spins)- Free- FreeStarting with the most expensive paid offer, the same reward is then offered at a reduced price further down the sequence. It taps into the psychological principle of "commitment and consistency." If a player buys the first offer, they may feel more inclined to buy the subsequent ones at […]

Michael Kopelovich August 27

Journal

Improve Monetization or Engagement?

This is the main question when developing a new feature in Live Ops. Monetization: ↳ Improve monetization to increase revenue from the player directly. Examples: • Battle Pass• Piggy Bank and new offers• Holiday Events• Loot Boxes• Casino mechanics (Roulettes, slots)• Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment Engagement: ↳ Improve engagement by increasing retention and/or playtime, hoping to indirectly boost revenue. Examples: • Daily Bonus• Win Streak• Social Features (Clans, Friends, Leaderboard, etc.)• Happy Hours• Meta-related Features Both approaches aim to eventually improve LTV, but in different ways. Is it possible to improve both at the same time? In most cases, no.Trying to enhance both often leads to zero results.

Anton Slashcev July 18

Journal

Candy Crush Saga’s Unique Challenge For More Lives

The innovative challenge mechanism activates in Candy Crush Saga by King when a player has exhausted all lives, presenting an exclusive opportunity for an additional attempt to conquer the level. This unique feature, offers a player the chance to earn 1 life as a reward for successful completion of the level. This daily-available challenge surfaces once all lives are depleted, opening a challenge window that grants players an extra shot at level completion, making it a strategic and engaging addition to the game's dynamics. ✅ 𝐄𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 By offering an additional attempt after all lives are spent, the game effectively encourages players to continue engaging with it, even after facing setbacks. This can increase the time spent in the game and improve player retention rates. ✅ 𝐑𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 The incentive of receiving an extra life for completing the challenge […]

Oxana Fomina April 29

Journal

Boosting Virality with Irresistible Free Subscriptions

Empires & Puzzles Game by Zynga has an innovative approach to attracting new users and increasing the virality. Through friend invitations, players can obtain a subscription! By inviting friends to join the adventure and helping them reach level 10, the inviting player unlocks an exciting reward—a subscription to elevate their gaming experience. The more friends the player invites, the longer his subscription duration becomes, with a staggering potential of 120 days of free subscription. Engagement Milestone determination. The new user must reach level 10. Determine what level a new player needs to reach in your game to understand the benefits of the game and be more likely to stay in it. Reaching this milestone allows players to fully grasp the game's benefits, making them more likely to remain actively involved and committed to the experience. Retention Retaining existing users becomes […]

Oxana Fomina July 17

Journal

Toon Blast Live Ops: Piggy Bank for FREE!

Mindblowing event in Toon Blast, Coin Shower! The game has an event with the Piggy Bank mechanic. It would seem that everything is as usual—the player goes through the levels, accumulates currency in the piggy bank, and opens it when a sufficient amount of in-game currency is accumulated. So what's so special about it? The accumulated currency goes to the player for free. Engagement The player needs to earn a minimum of 100 coins and a maximum of 200 coins to break the piggy bank. For completing each level, the player receives five coins, which means that in 24 hours (the duration of the event), the player needs to go through 20-40 levels. This leads to an increase in the length and frequency of sessions. Monetization The player spends more to complete levels than they get. To pass so many […]

Oxana Fomina May 29

Journal

Increase Player Engagement, Retention, And Monetization?

This approach can help to increase player engagement, retention, and monetization by providing new content and features in the best possible way. Let's analyze this approach by comparing the two games Toon Blast by Peak and Angry Birds Dream Blast by Rovio Entertainment Corporation. According to AppMagic, Toon Blast has a cumulative revenue per download of $9.65, while Angry Birds Dream Blast only has $3.83. In 2022, Toon Blast's revenue was five times higher than that of Angry Birds Dream Blast, despite only having twice as many downloads. I compared and analyzed the event calendar of the two games.The following features of Toon Blast's live-ops strategy, in my opinion, contribute to more effective user monetization:1. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. Toon Blast offers a mini-game event and a separate gameplay event, both of which […]

Oxana Fomina April 24

engagement