Insights and tips about the games industry

In the last few years, the Hyper-casual genre has established itself as one of the fastest-growing game categories on the app stores, not only in the number of downloads but also in the quantity, variety, and originality of new products. Beginning as a subgenre of casual, Hyper-casual has consolidated as a category in its own right and started accommodating subcategories like ultra-casual, idle, mergers, and so on. Some of these subgenres have become classics, but we can see a new genre emerge in the Hyper-casual scene from time to time. Constant testing and iteration lead to permanent game upgrading and improvement, translating into new, different games and hybrid genres. This was the case for Farm Land, developed by studio LolTap: Homa Games’ latest release and member of the new Arcade Idle category. The process began in late 2020 with the...

We’ve just launched our new mobile intelligence platform, GameIntel. With it, you can follow market trends, see which games have the best performance indicators, and supercharge your game research and ideation. But what exactly can you do with GameIntel? Well, how long is a piece of string? It really depends on what you’re looking for and what questions you need answering. But to get your creative juices flowing, and give you an inside look to our new platform, here are a few things to get you started. 1. Be the first to know about breakout hits Nice and easy one to kick us off. You can track the top charts in real-time, around the world. Free or paid. Updated hourly. You’ll get all the key information you need about these hit games. All of the key info about each game...

Editors note: This article was written by the publishing team at Voodoo. You can check out the original version here.  How do you take a strategy-based, connect & conquer style game, and transform it into a successful hyper-casual hit? Game Worthy, a Vancouver-based studio composed of programmer Kaue and game artist Fred, managed to do just this with their latest game, City Takeover. Hitting outstanding KPIs and entering the top 100 iOS US immediately upon its release, this game is nonetheless very different from other games in the genre. It demands a bit more thought, concentration, and strategy… in other words, it’s more difficult than your typical hyper-casual game. Read on to find out how Game Worthy, teaming up with Voodoo, managed to transform one of their favorite childhood games into a hyper-casual hit. Ideation & inspiration Here at Voodoo, we...

That’s a fairly obvious statement. Lavish visuals and meticulous game design are nothing without the likes of quality code and robust AI. But there’s another layer that sits behind everything else that’s equally important – particularly in the era of games as live entities. Simply put, you absolutely need a quality backend for any connected game to thrive. That’s true whether you have online multiplayer to consider, a connected user community to serve, or the likes of seasonal events and updates to consider. Equally, an intuitive backend can both accelerate and optimize your game development workflows, making the likes of achievements and social integration, leaderboard implementation, or in-game currency creation a trivial task. If any of those factors are part of your game, a backend is arguably as important as your chosen engine. Can I make my own backend? It...

Raise the curtain and turn on the spotlight, because we’ve got an exciting new tool for you. It’s called GameIntel. And it’s here to bring accurate game-industry insights to developers of all shapes and sizes, whether you’re a small indie outfit, or a serial top-ranking publisher. With GameIntel, you’ll be able to follow market trends in real-time, see which games have the best performance indicators, and supercharge your game research and ideation. What’s more, you’ll also have access to the popular Benchmarks+ service included within your GameIntel account. You can try it out for free here or read on to learn more (including how to claim a special discount — up to 40% off 12 months access to GameIntel). Details below. Why did we build GameIntel? Most mobile intelligence tools cost a small fortune. With GameIntel, you now have an...

Editor’s note: This article was originally written by Sara De Vries, Content Creator at Coda Games. You can find the original here.  In hyper-casual gaming, coming up with the next hit game idea can be one of the most challenging parts of game development. Choosing the right game idea is crucial to avoid losing time and money spent building an unsuccessful game. So what exactly is the best method for game ideation in hyper-casual and how can you start implementing it today? Luckily, we sat down with our gaming experts here at Coda to understand the best methods developers can utilize in the initial ideation phase to help increase their chances of success in publishing. 1. Monitor Trends One misconception when it comes to game ideation in hyper-casual is that your game idea needs to be entirely brand new. This...

As developers, accessibility is often one of the last things we think about – that’s if we think about it at all. Which is a shame, because we could be alienating a huge group of players. The good news is that making a mobile game more accessible really isn’t difficult. Hang on – what’s accessibility? Before we get into the details, let’s talk about what accessibility actually means for developers. It’s about designing apps that all people can easily use, regardless of whether or not they have a disability. So that’s things like including subtitles for the deaf or hard of hearing, or adding options for people who are visually or cognitively impaired (among other things). Simple, right? And when you look at it like this, it’s a bit of a no-brainer. Why wouldn’t you want the widest range of people...

Editor’s note: This article was originally published by Kinsey Dardanus, publishing expert at TapNation. You can find their version here. Bubble Sort is a worldwide leading puzzle-game, on both Android and iOS, totaling more than 15 million players across the world. We originally launched this game on December 19th 2019, and since then we’ve been at the top for a whole month. But what’s the secret sauce behind this game’s success? The short answer: deep player behavior analysis, and lots of level difficulty improvements. But there’s much more to it than just that. At TapNation, our data scientists and engineers have developed tools and algorithms to monitor, analyze and test our gameplay and difficulty curves in order to improve our KPIs. And in this blog, we’ll give you a sneak peek behind the curtain, and share some of the techniques...

They say that good things come in threes. Which coincidentally, is just the number of new updates we have for you this month. Here’s what they are: The first update is, we’ve created new pages within our tool for our DataSuite. In short, you can now order the Metrics API and Player Warehouse directly from your GameAnalytics account. The second one, our mobile app is now on Huawei’s AppGallery. So you can download our pocket-sized tool on Huawei devices. And our third and final one, we’ve just added a new dimension to our core analytics tool, called the iOS Consent Status. Let’s dig into the details. We’ve made it easier to order DataSuite Our DataSuite have been out for a while now (essentially more advanced data tools for your studio). Up until now, this was very much a ‘custom order’...

You might be familiar with the concept of split testing. Also known as A/B testing, split testing compares different versions of your assets to see how each performs with your players. At the conclusion of your test, you adopt the variant that showed the best response. Split testing is a critical part of the game development process. It’s pretty much baked into any user acquisition campaign, with ad creatives and app store assets quick and easy to A/B test. But a traditional split test’s quantitative data can only tell you so much. And this kind of testing is only possible once the game is up and running. That’s why feedback testing is so important. It provides qualitative data to show you the why behind what is and isn’t working. What is feedback testing? Feedback testing is essentially surveying players to...

When you’re developing a hyper-casual game, it’s not enough to just publish it and hope it takes off. You need to do extensive, iterative testing to get an indication of the best possible UA performance as well as in-game metrics.  So where to start? Here are our top tips for maxing out your metrics: Know what you’re testing for and what KPIs you’re looking at Vague testing methods will only get you vague results. The first thing to decide on is what the purpose of your test is. Are you running a marketability test? Exploring a game concept? Or are you testing creatives? Once you’ve decided what question you’re trying to answer, be clear on what KPIs you’re going to measure with. Is it the CPI? IPM? CTR? Retention? You need to know all of these before you start testing....

Editor’s note: This article was originally published by Voodoo. You read the original version here.  Lumbercraft, the hit game by the studio Noor Games, is not a typical hyper-casual game. With a successful fusion of a core hyper-casual game mechanic and more casual objectives, Lumbercraft is a great example of innovating in the hyper-casual sphere and exploring the possibilities when thinking of the up-and-coming hybrid-casual space. Let’s take a look at the studio behind the game, the game mechanics, and some key takeaways from the development process. Noor Games are a 5-person studio from Armenia and have been working with Voodoo for over a year, regularly tuning in to our live streams and keeping up to date with our resources for studios looking to create hit hyper-casual games. Thanks to their hard work and commitment in the hyper-casual sphere, their prototypes have...