Midcore Made You Click (And Lied About It)

Let’s be honest: Midcore games didn’t just define the genre. They defined the art of misleading ads. Remember this? A hero climbing a deadly tower… (not in the game) Epic boss fights with 5-button combos… (not in the game) A full-on dungeon crawler? Nope. Just a turn-based RPG under the hood. And the wild part? It worked. For years. Because showing the actual game was either: 1. Too complex 2. Too boring 3. Or just too mid So they did what marketers do best: They sold the fantasy. Not the product. --- 🧠 The “Promise” Era The golden era of fake ads wasn’t about fraud. It was about emotion-first targeting. UA teams optimized for: curiosity frustration problem-solving instinct Not clarity. It was smart — until it broke. Now, everyone’s seen the traps. Everyone’s watched tower puzzles turn into turn-based […]

George Tsomaev April 23

Journal

Top 10 Hybridcasual Games in Q1 2025

Top 10 Hybridcasual Games in Q1 2025: The Great Puzzle Takeover 🧩 With the trend of Hypercasual games enhancing their UA and monetization, we knew it was time—our quarterly reports had to go Hybridcasual too! 🏁So, here we go!In this article, we’ll cover:📈 The dynamics of the Hybridcasual games market: +67% YoY in net IAP revenue 🔎 Key Hybridcasual market trends: meta and boosters from Match-3 and Social Casino 👑 Leading titles and how they innovate: analysing the success of Сolor Block Jam, All in Hole, Mob Control, and Screwdom The full report here.Let us know in the comments what you think about this format 💛

Andrei Zubov April 23

Journal

Just hit my 1-year anniversary in MONOPOLY GO

🎉 Just hit my 1-year anniversary in MONOPOLY GO — and they surprised me with 500 dice! This kind of loyalty reward is simple but so effective. A personalized moment, clean design, and a strong gift that reminds players why they keep coming back. 🙌

Michael Kopelovich April 23

Journal

For those looking to understand the mobile market.

For those looking to understand the mobile market, A treasure trove of data in Udonis' 2025 blog post...Some highlights:• There are over 700,000 mobile games on iOS/GP• Users spend 3.5 hr/d on mobile devices, 11% on games• Roblox was most downloaded mobile game in 2024.• Azur Games was the most downloaded publisher, by a long shot (1.4B DL)• Monopoly GO was the highest-earning game • Tencent was the top-earning Publisher• US aOS Banner Ad eCPM are 2x iOS' ($0.60 vs. $0.27)

Matthew Emery April 22

Journal

Chess.com App: Record revenue after 16 years

Chess.com's Chess app scaled to $200K a day Its record revenue after unbelievable 16 years in the mobile stores. How is this possible? 😱 This is an all you can eat buffet for everything Chess. The feature set is super robust from around 10 different modification of main chess gameplay such as blitz, ranked, limited time from 3 minutes to 14 days a move ⏲️ to single player content of puzzles to solve in level based fashion and of course a chess coach with fully fledge coaching lessons. The best part about this app is that it takes great focus on analysis of your previous matches, training you and giving you real advice. In the end you will really be better at chess, not just play a game. The most unbelievable part is that there is NO UA. Yes, you […]

Jakub Remiar April 22

Highlights

Mobile Gaming Today: April’22 Week

Ciao Fam, Heading to HGC Berlin soon. Hit me up if around 🕺🏻 👌🏻 Top Gaming Content » Royal Kingdom’s Hollywood Power Play: Last Hurrah or Royal Rebirth? Launching a new Match-3 game in today’s mobile market is like trying to sell umbrellas in the Sahara. Saturation, soaring CPIs, and razor-thin differentiation margins make even the most technically sound games struggle to scale. When Dream Games soft-launched Royal Kingdom two years ago, they entered this same storm, which quickly showed itself. After years of pivots and a rocky soft launch, Royal Kingdom is back. This time with what may be mobile gaming’s priciest celebrity campaign, starring LeBron James, Jimmy Fallon & Shakira. Dream Games’ high-stakes play has reignited speculation: is this a desperate revival, or the launchpad for a broader Royal IP? Now, nearly a clone of Royal Match, Dream’s […]

Ömer Yakabagi April 22

Journal

10 funding options to bring your game to life.

In recent years, I've secured funding for 6 different projects. Here are 10 funding options to bring your game to life:---- 1. PUBLISHERS ----• Funding: $50k to several million• Terms: Revenue share, milestone payments, creative control clauses• PC/Console Publishers - https://lnkd.in/eXpN_nve• Mobile Publishers - https://lnkd.in/eFrqyyWh---- 2. VC INVESTORS ----• Funding: $300k to $10M+• Terms: Equity stake, convertible notes, valuation-based funding• List of VCs Investing in Games - https://lnkd.in/eExR25kB---- 3. ANGEL INVESTORS ----• Funding: $10k to $500k• Terms: Early equity, advisory roles• Top Angel Investors (Shizune) - https://lnkd.in/edy-UVy3• Playcap - https://www.playcap.gg/---- 4. ACCELERATORS ----• Funding: $20k to $150k+• Terms: Equity for funding, demo day presentations• Accelerators List - https://lnkd.in/eHY5acAg• Incubator List - https://lnkd.in/ehW4qwPu---- 5. CORPORATE GRANTS ----• Funding: $5k to $500k• Terms: Non-repayable funds, reporting requirements• Epic MegaGrants - https://lnkd.in/eq-FTZsQ• Indie Fund - https://indie-fund.com/• Games for Change Grant - https://lnkd.in/egUEbe8d---- 6. […]

Anton Slashcev April 22

Journal

The One Gameplay Sequence That Appears in Every Top Merge Mansion Ad

📢 The One Gameplay Sequence That Appears in Every Top #MergeMansion Ad You’ve probably seen whether the CG intro is dramatic, funny, mysterious, or romantic…Once we hit gameplay, it’s always the garden.This mid-section gameplay loop appears in at least 5 top-performing Merge Mansion (Metacore) creatives this month (via AppMagic).Let’s break down why this tiny moment is doing so much heavy lifting and what we can learn from it.1. The Promise Is Finally RealMerge Mansion built its brand on intrigue: 🧓 Grandma has secrets 🧩 There’s something hidden behind that door 🏚️ It’s not just another merge gameThis segment is the gameplay payoff. You merge → unlock a key → open a hidden door.It validates the storyline and sets Merge Mansion apart from all those fake meta-creatives.According to Mistplay's research on high-value casual players, seeing ad narrative reflected in actual gameplay […]

George Tsomaev April 22

Journal

Best Game Devs don’t work at Blizzard, Riot, King, Playrix, or Supercell.

Unpopular opinion: the best game developers don’t work at Blizzard, Riot, King, Playrix, or Supercell. Some of the best minds in game dev are building alone or in tiny teams. And they’re not just making noise.They’re topping the charts.Recent proof:• Lethal Company – Solo dev. Outsold AAA titles. Viral on Twitch and TikTok.• Balatro – Made by a small team. Hit $1M in sales in 1 day.• Palworld – Team of 40. Outsold Call of Duty and Pokémon.• Dave the Diver – Built like an indie. Game Awards nominee. Massive commercial success.These aren't lucky breaks. They're signals.At big studios:• You work on one piece of a massive machine• There’s process, politics, and polish• Creativity comes with constraintsIn small teams:• You move fast• You take risks• You make weird, unforgettable gamesThere’s no safety net. No backup plan. Just vision and execution.The […]

Anton Slashcev April 22

Journal

New Market Research Drop: Sports, Puzzle & Simulation Games

New Market Research Drop – Sports, Puzzle & Simulation Games In this latest part of my market research series, I dive into three of the most promising mobile game categories based on actual performance data:- Success rate of newly launched games- Top-1 and top-3 revenue concentration- Share of revenue coming from new titlesPuzzle games show massive scale but intense competition.Sports games offer longevity, but breaking in is tough.Simulation games are dominated by incumbents and hard to crack.The analysis is based entirely on AppMagic data and built for F2P game developers looking to validate their next move with data, not guesswork.

Jukka Hilvonen April 22

Journal

Live Activities Beyond Games: Real-World Example

👀 Exploring Live Activities Beyond Games: A Real-World Example Just took a ride with Gett and noticed this very slick use of Apple’s Live Activities on the lock screen. It tracks your ride progress in real time, lets you know when the driver is about to arrive, and even gives you the option to always allow Live Activity updates from the app.This kind of UX is so amazing.✅ Keeps the user informed ✅ Reduces app-switching ✅ Feels premium and personalWhile more and more apps are tapping into Live Activities for delivery, ride-hailing, and fitness… I’m still hoping to see more MOBILE GAMES do something cool here — especially for live-ops, streaks, or energy timers. The potential is there 👀

Michael Kopelovich April 22

Journal

Blend Textures and Icons with ChatGPT

🥚 Had a long Easter weekend off! So I had some time to play around with 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗚𝗣𝗧 and ended up diving into its 𝗧𝗲𝘅𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 functionality.You can blend Textures like Candy or Fabric and combine it with your existing 𝗔𝗽𝗽 𝗜𝗰𝗼𝗻, to create visuals that feel hyper-realistic, tactile, and just way more scroll-stopping.The effects are subtle but powerful, it instantly makes your icon 𝗣𝗢𝗣!🧠 It tricks the brain into thinking the icon is more “real”. 👀 It grabs attention and make your icon stand out. 🎯 And it can lift your store performance without a full rebrand.Check out the slides for a few examples 👇

Richard Kos April 22

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