Tears of the Kingdom adds another tenet to its game: Creative exploration. And that’s why it appeals to absolutely everyone. We look at exactly what we can learn from Tears of the Kingdom and how its design philosophy helps the game appeal to every type of gamer out there.

Lifeline was one of the first mobile games to use push notifications as a core mechanic for their game, which led them to over a million downloads and seven sequels. But what was the secret sauce that led to such success? We spoke with Mars Jokela – Lifeline’s game designer – and Dave Justus – the writer behind the scenes – to ask them what advice they had for other developers and what it was about Lifeline that worked.

As Zynga releases their first Web3 game – Sugartown. Rather than in-app purchases or advertising, the game would rely on players buying, trading (and potentially earning) assets. Here's everything we know, and what it means for you.

Tennis Clash was one of the most downloaded mobile games in 78 countries when it launched. And it’s had over 50 million downloads on Google Play alone. We look into some of the key factors of its success.

In the next five years, almost a third of people will have a headset of some description, and there’ll be about 2.5 billion players. But how do you make the shift to this incredibly lucrative new area? We asked Cloudhead Games.

Augmented and virtual reality are steadily on the rise. And game developers are now seeing an opportunity to branch out and create mixed-reality experiences. We speak with one of the key players in the space, Resolution Games, to get their advice on breaking into the sector.

What does the stellar mass market success of games like Marvel Snap, Marvel Contest of Champions and CoD Mobile share in common? No, it’s not just that they are all popular IP/Franchises. Find out in this guest post from Om Tandon – industry specialist, game consultant and UX Director.

It’s been a busy year. Mergers and acquisitions left, right, and centre. New ownership of Twitter. More progress with NFTs and Web3. Even tighter regulations with the app stores. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. But one thing that hasn’t changed is new hit games entering the market. And boy, we’ve been spoiled for choice over the last 12 months. So to end the year on a high, we rounded up our top 22 games to hit the charts this year. So grab your phone and get comfy. Here are the top games we loved playing this year. If you want some inspiration for games to binge over the holiday period, look no further. 22. Spinner Merge by Sunday.GG Think of this as a hyper-casual Beyblade game with a merge mechanic mixed in the middle. What we liked...

One of the reasons why hyper-casual games are so popular is due to how quick and easy they are to make. Simple controls, artwork, and game design make it easy for any developer to pick up. But hyper-casual isn’t the only way to go. There are other ways to build a game on a budget. One way is narrative. We’ve talked a lot about how to add new layers to your games by simply layering in a story. And we discussed how you need three Cs: character, conflict and change for your narrative. This time, we’ll look at the top games that use storytelling as a core mechanic and show you that you don’t need sparkling design and intense gameplay to create a hit. You just need an extra C: Choice. Because choice is how you can differentiate a book...

We learn by playing. When we enter the world, we’re full of curiosity, and play has always been at the centre of how we satisfy that curiosity. Sadly, it’s beaten out of us when we go to school, and taking tests suddenly becomes a chore. But it doesn’t have to be. It’s possible to learn while having fun. In fact, that’s exactly what some apps are doing. And it’s working. Games are the most popular genre on the app store. They’re masters in the art of keeping users engaged and happy. So how can we learn from them? What is gamification? You’ve probably heard the term ‘gamification’ before. But if you haven’t, it’s the act of taking gaming elements and mechanics and applying them to your non-gaming app. Often to ramp up retention and engagement. And it works. If we...

Roblox has been blowing up over the last couple of years. Having initially launched back in 2006, the social gaming platform now boasts over 30 million games (what they call experiences), 52 million daily active users, and over 12 million creators worldwide. Recently, we’re starting to see more and more hit games launching on the Roblox stores – with one particular publisher shining bright in the ocean of Roblox devs: GameFam. Despite only founding the company in 2019, they’ve worked with a range of Roblox developers and helped publish over 30 successful titles on Roblox. So what’s their secret? How do they help these developers stand out? We’ve reviewed three of GameFam’s top published games: Twilight Daycare by Night Studio, All Star Tower Defense by Top Down Games, and Car Dealership Tycoon by Foxzie. Each one of these boasts over one...

As we’ve mentioned before, the hyper-casual market is being forced to change. With more competition, higher CPIs and tightening margins, developers need to increase their retention if they’re going to continue making money, now more than ever. And to do that, they must layer more mechanics and elements into their games. We’ve explored how and why developers can – and should – shift from hyper-casual to hybrid-casual. But if you’re still struggling to see how that might be possible, let’s look at a few games that have used meta mechanics to make their game more engaging. Here are six games that have a short, simple and satisfying core loop, but have layered in meta features to increase their retention. Let’s dive in. 1. Archero: How to add progression systems well Developed by Habby, released 24th March 2019. This was one...