10 votes

How my dumb mobile game got 400k downloads

Tags: mobile, apps, games

2 comments

  1. [2]
    mozz
    Link
    I play a decent amount of these type of "dumb" mobile games. Usually it's when I'm sitting somewhere like an airport or a doctor's office for an extended period of time. I'll browse the app store...

    I play a decent amount of these type of "dumb" mobile games. Usually it's when I'm sitting somewhere like an airport or a doctor's office for an extended period of time. I'll browse the app store and pick out one of the free games at random, and then after a few hours I'll uninstall it from my phone and move on. Yea they're shallow and mindless, but I don't see it as being any worse than the alternative of browsing through social media or reddit. I'm not looking to be mentally engaged, I just want something to do with my hands. Any tutorial longer than 10 seconds is a dealbreaker. Needing to tilt my phone sideways is a dealbreaker.

    I greatly prefer the ad based monetization of these type of games over the more polished games with in-game currency & loot boxes. They feel more "fair" and less manipulative. Everything is out in the open and you know what you're getting into.

    5 votes
    1. Kuromantis
      Link Parent
      I think the first part of his video is more based on his story making 'hypercasual' games for the sake of cashing in and realizing he didn't really want this when he succeeded. I think the video...

      I think the first part of his video is more based on his story making 'hypercasual' games for the sake of cashing in and realizing he didn't really want this when he succeeded. I think the video takes on the game dev's perspective rather than the player's and is more a warning to dev's making stuff like that. The second part I find kinda interesting since it talks about the industry in general and about why people play these games, and as you said:

      Usually it's when I'm sitting somewhere like an airport or a doctor's office for an extended period of time. I'll browse the app store and pick out one of the free games at random, and then after a few hours I'll uninstall it from my phone and move on.

      This is why he says 'engagement is extremely low' and why he does not like 'hypercasual' games, they're not engaging in the long term, which really fucked him as a (then naive) game dev because it was not what he expected, and why he does not recommend people to play them.

      1 vote