PUZZLE REPORT Competitive Research and Actionable Product Recommendations - Rackcdn.com
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PUZZLE REPORT Competitive Research and Actionable Product Recommendations
TABLE OF CONTENTS
IMPACT DRIVERS 3
Comprehensive Event Reskin
Mail Match in FarmVille 2: Country Escape
Product Insights
Purchasable Event Extension
FEBRUARY
Extend the Event in Homescapes
IMPACT ANALYSIS 11
Puzzle Event Investment
Puzzle Event Market Share Impact
LEVEL DESIGN 14
New Level Designs
MARKET WATCH
Soft-Launch & Breakout Apps
Notable Releases
16
2021
APPENDIX 21
L&G Puzzle Personas
Puzzle Product Council
Premium Partnerships
Puzzle Mechanics Taxonomy
IMPACT DRIVERS
Features and events that boost revenue, retention, or downloads
3
PUZZLE > EVENTS > COMPETITIONS
Comprehensive Event Reskin
Mail Match in FarmVille 2: Country Escape
4
REVENUE ANALYSIS
FarmVille 2: Country Escape's revenue was +56% and downloads were +4% 10Do10D after the release
of Mail Match. The event's initial release, Egg Packing Competition, saw revenue +18% and downloads
+10% 10Do10D.
The largest revenue spikes in both events correspond with 20% discount offers on a $7.99 IAP bundle of premium currency.
FarmVille 2: Country Escape
$60K Revenue Downloads 3K
Egg Packing Competition Mail Match
$40K 2K
Daily Downloads
Daily Revenue
$20K 1K
11/2/20 11/16/20 11/30/20 12/14/20 12/28/20 1/11/21 1/25/21
10Do10D = 10 days over 10 days. 5
Graph data is iOS, U.S. only.
FEATURE TEARDOWN 1 2
A two-stage competition offers a variety of purchasable event
boosts. The first stage awards an exclusive character to top-
ranking players, and the second stage awards an upgraded
3 4
version of that character.
Details
• Players gather resources to craft items for points (1, 2, 3, and video).
• Free and purchasable boosts increase points for completed items (4).
• Challenges award additional points (5).
• Premium currency allows players to:
• Buy resources. 5 6
• Buy event helpers with higher drop rates for rare resources (6).
• Complete items or challenge tasks.
• Increase production capacity.
• Event helpers are removed at the end of the event.
• An event IAP offers discounted premium currency.
• A leaderboard ranks players based on points earned.
• The top two ranks in the first stage win a permanent, event-exclusive character and advance to
7 8
the second stage (7).
• The top two ranks in the second stage earn an upgraded version of the character with a new
appearance and higher drop rates for some rare items (8).
Additional Information
• See the Mail Match library for more images and videos.
• View all competition event impact drivers in our Wiki.
6
PRODUCT INSIGHTS Improve the impact of event reskins by reskinning more assets. 1 Mail Match and Egg Packing Competition take an unusually comprehensive approach to event reskins by using distinctly themed points, items, boosts, helpers, and rewards for each event. People strongly prefer visual novelty in objects,1 so these small details go a long way toward keeping the experience fresh. As a high-spending FarmVille 2 player said, "They really put heart into this game. Most games just keep everything the same."2 In another example of a highly detailed reskin, Disney Emoji Blitz's Darth Vader Villain Event even switched the app's main UI to a special event skin—contributing to a +51% 5Do5D revenue spike (1). Enhance cosmetic rewards with practical benefits related to event tasks. Prestigious rewards, like exclusive characters, let elite players shine and help promote events to other players.3 One high- spending player told us that he only joins competitions if there's a "limited-edition character that hasn't been in a competition before."4 And Mail Match's two tiers of exclusive characters create a clear hierarchy that, in the words of another player, made her feel like she'd "made it to president level."5 The top-tier characters also have boosted drop rates for rare resources—a perk directly related to the event's crafting tasks. This alignment makes those characters even more desirable, since research shows that people strongly prefer rewards related to the 2 tasks required to obtain them.6 Hay Day took a similar approach with its unlockable boost rewards in Farm Pass, which saw revenue +56% MoM (2). Offer purchasable boosts instead of purchasable goals to hide pay-to-win mechanics. Pay-to-win has a cost: One study found that players who spent money to improve their performance were perceived as less skilled and elite. Still, seeing others gain advantages from purchases made players more likely to spend money themselves.7 So while pay-to-win can drive purchases, it can also degrade incentives over time. In fact, a high-spending player told us that her friend group banned the purchase of completed items during the event to "keep it competitive."8 Avoid allowing players to purchase goals directly. Instead, offer premium boosts that improve players' ability to complete those goals. 1 Roles of familiarity and novelty in visual preference 3 The Gamer's Brain, p. 141 5 Subject A ($200/month spend) 7 The Hidden Cost of Microtransactions, p. 10 2Subject A; Age 47 female, $200/month spend, 80 4Subject B; Age 25 male, $300–$400/month spend, 45 6Promotion Reactance: The Role of Effort-Reward 8 Subject A ($200/month spend) hours/week playtime hours/week playtime Congruity, p. 728 7
PUZZLE > EVENTS > PURCHASES
Purchasable Event Extension
Extend the Event in Homescapes
8
REVENUE ANALYSIS
Homescapes' revenue was +5% 16Do16D during the Magical Holidays event and +10% 22Do22D
when including the Extend the Event sale and extended event days.
Homescapes
$900K Revenue Downloads 60K
Magical Holidays Extend the Event
$600K 40K
Daily Downloads
Daily Revenue
$300K 20K
11/1/20 11/15/20 11/29/20 12/13/20 12/27/20 1/10/21 1/24/21
XDoXD = X days over X days. 9
Graph data is iOS, U.S. only.
FEATURE TEARDOWN
An event IAP allows players to extend the event by three days 1
and adds a collection multiplier.
Details
• During the Magical Holidays custom design event, players collect bells from levels to purchase
holiday decorations (1).
• For 48 hours following the 16-day event, players can buy a $3.99 Extend the Event IAP (2).
• The 48-hour timer starts when players log in on the first day after the event ends.
• The IAP extends the event by three days and adds a 5x multiplier to bell rewards.
Additional Information
• See the Extend the Event library for more images and videos.
• View all purchase event impact drivers in our Wiki.
2
Losses—especially large ones—produce stronger emotions than
equivalent gains,1 and players are more likely to spend money on
something they've already invested in.2 With these effects in mind,
promote event extensions by emphasizing the progress players will
lose if the event expires.
1Is loss-aversion magnitude-dependent? Measuring prospective 2 Throwing Good Money After Bad: The Effect of Sunk Costs on
affective judgments regarding gains and losses, p. 87 the Decision to Escalate Commitment to an Ongoing Project
10IMPACT ANALYSIS
Investment and revenue trends for feature and event releases
Tracked puzzle apps: Angry Birds 2, Best Fiends, Bubble Witch 3 Saga, Candy Crush Jelly Saga, Candy Crush Saga, Candy Crush
Soda Saga, Cookie Jam, Disney Emoji Blitz, Farm Heroes Saga, Fishdom, Gardenscapes, Gummy Drop!, Home Design Makeover,
Homescapes, June's Journey, Lily's Garden, Lost Island: Blast Adventure, Matchington Mansion, Panda Pop!, Pet Rescue Saga, Solitaire
Grand Harvest, Solitaire TriPeaks, Toon Blast, Toy Blast, and Wizard of Oz Magic Match
Tracked simulation apps: Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, Cooking Fever, Cooking Madness-Kitchen Frenzy, Diner DASH Adventures,
Disney Magic Kingdoms, FarmVille 2: Country Escape, Hay Day, Klondike Adventures, SimCity BuildIt, The Sims Mobile, Township
Tracked lifestyle apps: Chapters: Interactive Stories, Choices: Stories You Play, Covet Fashion, Episode - Choose Your Story, Kim
Kardashian: Hollywood, Love Kikki-Dress UP Queen, My Story: Choose Your Own Path
11PUZZLE RELEASES MANY PURCHASE EVENTS
Purchase events were the fourth most released puzzle event type in 2020 among tracked apps.
Puzzle Event Investment (2020)
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Releases
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Data does not include event types with fewer than five releases.PURCHASE EVENTS GROW MARKET SHARE
Purchase events were also the fourth most impactful puzzle event type in 2020, averaging +3.0% WoW
market share growth per release.
Market share growth is the average percentage change in an app's revenue market share for a given time period following a new release.
Puzzle Event Market Share Impact (2020)
Rewards
Levels
Collections
Purchases
Competitions
Missions
Custom Design
Challenges
Accelerators
Quests
Clubs
0% 2% 4% 6% 8%
WoW Market Share Growth
Impact models are made by Liquid & Grit by combining our data with revenue data from Sensor Tower.
13
WoW = Week over week.LEVEL DESIGN
NEW INNOVATIONS
New obstacles, boosts, and level requirements
14NEW LEVEL DESIGNS
Bonbon Blitz — Candy Crush Saga 1 2
• Containers with up to four highlighted corners hold boosts (1).
• Each adjacent match or boost clears one corner and triggers the boost inside.
• Clearing all corners clears the container (video).
Graham Cracker — Candy Crush Soda Saga
• Multi-space graham crackers are covered in single-space chocolate pieces.
• Adjacent matches or boosts clear the chocolate (2).
• Clearing all chocolate clears the graham cracker.
Move Rush — Candy Crush Soda Saga
• Players can spend gold bars to purchase 20-minute Move Rush boosts.
• Once per level, Move Rush grants unlimited moves for 10 seconds (3 and video).
3 4
• All of a level's boosts must be selected to unlock Move Rush for that level.
• Players can trigger Move Rush at any time during the level.
Snake Jafar — Disney Emoji Blitz
• Snake Jafar's meter fills over time.
• When the meter is full, Snake Jafar covers part of the board.
• Players must make matches or boosts behind Snake Jafar to clear him (4).
• Players collect swords by moving them to the bottom of the board.
• Collected swords decrease Snake Jafar's meter.
Energy Spheres — Gardenscapes
• Matches or boosts next to any energy sphere charge all energy spheres.
• Charging energy spheres four times causes them to explode and clear nearby pieces.
Container — Matchington Mansion
• Containers open slightly with each adjacent match or boost.
• Fully-opened containers reveal a boost, game piece, or hazard.
15MARKET WATCH
New apps and notable releases from established competitors
16SOFT-LAUNCH APP 1
My Pizzeria by Melsoft
App Details
• Players use ingredients to complete orders for customers.
• Unlike in other time-management apps, orders do not have time limits.
• Instead, players optimize the sequence of recipes based on cooking time.
• Players can customize their restaurant with free and premium decorations (1 and video).
• Restaurants can expand into additional areas (2). 2
• Completed tasks advance a story with seven chapters.
• Main and side stories progress based on player choices (3 and video).
Launch Information
• Soft-launched on 11/26/20 in France, Canada, and Belarus
• Average daily revenue since launch: $123
• Average daily downloads since launch: 239
• View My Pizzeria on the App Store
Liquid & Grit's Take
3
My Pizzeria is the sequel to My Cafe, Melsoft's 2016 restaurant sim. My Cafe currently
sits around the 90th spot for both highest-grossing RPGs and highest-grossing sim
apps in the U.S. App Store. But it was Melsoft's farm sim, Family Island, that made
waves in 2020 and now hovers just inside the 30 highest-grossing sims.
Equally notable is Melsoft's recent acquisition by Coin Master publisher Moon Active.
We expect My Pizzeria to apply the lessons learned from Family Island—along with a
healthy influx of new capital—to try to achieve similar success in the restaurant sim
subgenre. Given that My Pizzeria has the backing of two experienced publishers with
reputations for quality output, we think it's got a real shot.
17BREAKOUT APP 1 2
Kitten Match by Special Gamez
App Details
• Players complete match-3 levels to upgrade a custom design cat rooms and
collect cats.
• Cats must be regularly fed, watered, and cleaned (1).
• Players can visit other players' rooms to feed cats, clean, and leave feedback.
• Unlocking new rooms unlocks new cats (2).
3 4
• Players can buy cat outfits with currency that can be purchased or earned by
completing levels on the first try (3).
• A daily retention bonus rewards players for taking pictures of their rooms (4).
• A drip reward purchase bundle culminates in an exclusive kitten (5).
• A timed retention bonus grants larger bonuses for longer wait times (6).
• Rewarded ads allow players to double coins at the end of a level, increase the
value of chests, and shorten bonus timers.
Launch Information
• Released worldwide on 1/16/20
• 106th highest-grossing puzzle app as of 1/1/21
5 6
• Average daily U.S. revenue (90 days): $3,792
• Average daily U.S. downloads (90 days): 1,028
• View Kitten Match on the App Store
18NOTABLE RELEASES I
App Release Description 1
• Players choose from a board of 16 challenges represented by four colors of chocolates (1).
Candy Crush Chocolate Box
• Completing one challenge of each color awards a prize.
Saga challenge feature
• Players can complete three challenges per day.
• Stars earned from levels contribute toward a global goal of 500 million stars (2).
Kimmy's Booster
Candy Crush • Reaching the goal unlocks the new Move Rush boost for all players.
Challenge
Soda Saga • Once unlocked, all players receive one free Move Rush. 2
challenge event
• Additional Move Rush boosts can be purchased for gold bars.
• Players spend tickets to access the event via a normal or advanced gift shop.
• The advanced gift shop costs more tickets and offers greater rewards.
• Players choose a character for the event, each with a different gift preference.
• A match-3 mini-game has players match gifts for points (3 and video).
• Matches with the character's preferred gift award bonus points.
Ice Crush • Matches with four or more gifts grant boosts. 3
Game of Sultans
mini-game event • Players receive a letter rating based on the number of points earned.
SIM • Higher ratings grant better rewards and boosted XP for the chosen character.
• Achieving the highest rating fills a meter that awards three exclusive avatars when full.
• Individual and server-wide event challenges offer additional rewards.
• Individuals and clubs are ranked and rewarded at the end of the event based on points
earned.
19NOTABLE RELEASES II
App Release Description 1
Personal Event • Players visit each other's farms to help revive plants, fill orders, and serve visitors (1).
Hay Day Goals • Completed tasks fill an individual meter and contribute toward a global goal for rewards
mission event (video).
SIM
2
Solitaire Grand Daily Missions • Players complete daily challenges to earn rewards (2).
Harvest challenge feature • Completing a challenge replaces it with a new challenge.
• Players spend energy to clear a path and complete tasks on an event map (3 and video).
Big Screen • Tasks include removing obstacles, locating items, and helping characters. 3
Township Adventure • Completed tasks fill a meter that rewards players at milestones and unlocks the next
challenge event chapter when full.
SIM
• Completed chapters award permanent, event-exclusive decorations.
Quickly review all features and events
Filter the Library Tool by month and year to see all new releases.
20APPENDIX
21L&G PUZZLE PERSONAS
Survey data from 1,513 puzzle players produced five personas with distinct motivations: Gamer Gary,
Escapist Emily, Trainer Tracy, Challenger Chris, and Casual Carol.
Table: Player personas by demographics, monetization, engagement, and motivational buckets
Gamer Gary Escapist Emily Trainer Tracy Challenger Chris Casual Carol
Demographics
Size (N) 24% 15% 22% 18% 21%
Female (%) 53% 68% 73% 59% 66%
Age (mean) 35 36 42 40 34
Monetization
Propensity to spend across all platforms 15.0 7.0 4.8 7.0 4.3
Propensity to spend on F2P games 1.8 1.1 0.7 0.6 0.7
Engagement
Weekly play hours 6.6 7.4 7.6 7.8 6.7
Puzzle motivation 3.1 2.9 2.6 2.7 2.4
Motivational Buckets
Engrossment 0.7 -0.3 -0.2 -0.2 -0.2
Escape 0.0 0.6 -0.3 -0.1 -0.1
Utility -0.2 -0.3 0.7 0.0 -0.3
Challenge -0.2 -0.1 0.1 0.7 -0.3
Boredom -0.3 0.0 -0.2 -0.3 0.9
22PUZZLE PRODUCT COUNCIL
To boost our insights, Liquid & Grit gathers recommendations and intelligence from industry-leading
product experts.
Helen Grabarchuk Florian Steinhoff Florian Ziegler
Co-Founder and COO of PuzzleMove Inc. Mobile F2P Consultant Consultant in Mobile Gaming
LinkedIn Profile LinkedIn Profile LinkedIn Profile
Helen is a level design expert. At PuzzleMove Inc., Florian has built and led teams that created top- After over a decade of making games, Florian now
Helen develops new puzzle products for different grossing mobile casual games. advises game studios and companies on improving
platforms, focusing on mobile devices. their game products through his own consultancy,
For the last 10 years, he has overseen game projects
Lava Lake Games Consulting.
Helen spent over two years at Zynga as a puzzle during all phases—research, concept, prototyping,
content creator. pitching, pre-production, production, and live-ops. Before launching his own consultancy, Florian
worked at Electronic Arts on flagship titles, such as
After Zynga, Helen created concepts, puzzles, His most successful title is Jelly Splash, which
Need for Speed: No Limits. He also spent time at
testing, and puzzle content for dozens of iOS and reached a monthly player base of +30M.
King as a principal designer.
Kindle apps.
To find out more, check out his GDC talk on casual
At Mind Candy, he was the lead game designer on
puzzle games, difficulty curves, and the importance
titles that include the mobile hit World of Warriors.
of randomness here.
This gained Apple's Editor's Choice Award and
scaled the charts to the No. 1 game position in
most major markets.
23PREMIUM PARTNERSHIPS
Liquid & Grit partners with these premier market research and analytics companies to infuse our
reports with the most relevant and detailed gaming user personas, data, and statistics available.
Quadrant Strategies Kinrate Analytics Sensor Tower
Market Research Player Personas Mobile App Store Intelligence
Quadrant Strategies Kinrate Analytics Sensor Tower
Quadrant Strategies is a market research Kinrate Analytics offers game developers, Sensor Tower is relied upon by financial analysts,
consultancy that uses research to help the world's consultants, publishers, and cloud gaming VCs, and publishers who need to leverage data to
most prominent technology, gaming, and operators the best cross-platform game identify the fastest-growing apps, emerging
entertainment companies develop strategies for recommendation engine for targeted marketing, as markets, and more.
building their user base, increasing user well as a novel profiling-as-a-service solution for
Clients harness Sensor Tower's suite of app
engagement and spend, and strengthening their intelligent market segmentation and social
intelligence tools to:
marketing and brand plans. networking.
‣ Evaluate app economies and app vitality.
We do that using a range of quantitative and Other services include advanced market prediction
‣ Drive organic growth with the leading App Store
qualitative methodologies, including gamer analyses for identifying emergent gaming trends
Optimization platform.
segmentation and persona development, feature and access to unique AI-enhanced data of 140
‣ Get the best global download and revenue
testing, message creation, and loyalty and thousand game titles and 48 million game players.
estimates for the App Store and Google Play.
engagement modeling. The work of our senior
The products of Kinrate Analytics have been ‣ Discover top creatives and better shape user
leadership goes back many years, and includes
developed in university-led research projects in acquisition strategy.
long-term engagements for console and gaming-
collaboration with economists, psychologists, game
PC hardware-makers, individual games in a range
scholars, and data scientists.
of genres, and across consoles, PCs, and mobile,
and for some of the top game franchises.
24PUZZLE MECHANICS TAXONOMY
Family Definition Family Definition
Accelerators Increases in the power, impact, or efficiency of play Hazards Level elements/blockers that increase difficulty
Banks Features that save a % of spend to be unlocked later Interactions Social features with direct or indirect interaction
Bonuses Free bonuses given to players (e.g., retention or W2E) Leaderboards Stand-alone leaderboards
Challenges Goal-oriented tasks for players to complete Levels Anything to do with leveling
Clubs Groups that accomplish goals or compete with other groups Mini-Games Smaller, shorter games within games (e.g., scratch cards)
Missions Linear sets of tasks that players must accomplish
Collections Sets of items that players collect (often for a completion prize)
Notices Feature or product announcements
Competitions Features where players compete against other players
Other Miscellaneous features and outliers
Cosmetics Improvements or updates to the app or features
Profiles Features related to a player's settings, profile, and controls
Currencies Changes to currencies, economies, stores, and items
Purchases Anything to do with purchases
Custom Design Options for cosmetic customization
Quests Tasks that advance players along a map-like feature
Expansions Additional rooms, worlds, play modes, VIP lounges, etc.
Flows Specific flows, like the NUX, ratings, and surveys Rewards Rewards players receive for engagement or spend
25“I think one thing that's important to maintain is a sense of fear, always
doubting yourself... a good dose of insecurity helps your work in some ways."
— Gary Larson
LiquidandGrit.com
Brett.Nowak@LiquidandGrit.com
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