In mid-2020, Pingvi Video games approached Azur Video games for publishing companies with two pre-made puzzle video games. Regardless of their sturdy growth background, it was their first foray working with a writer.
Throughout a number of years of working collectively, the studio expanded and produced six profitable puzzle tasks, producing over $14 million in whole income with their success because of their concentrate on a selected area of interest and viewers.
Whereas creating a brilliant hit is all the time troublesome (and infrequently primarily based on luck) the studio’s gradual accumulation of experience has confirmed that success could be achieved in almost 100% of circumstances.
On this article Milana Gelmanova, Producer at Azur Video games takes a take a look at the street to this success throughout these six titles (and new recreation Artwork Grasp 2), along with insights from Ildus Galiulin, Pingvi Video games’ Proprietor and CEO.
Ildus Galiulin: We began in 2010 with Flash and video games for social networks. We made profitable net racing video games with on-line PvP components and ported them to Android and iOS and that is how we gained expertise in Unity.
Then we took on a large-scale hidden object recreation with a number of content material, but it surely took a really very long time to launch. We started to purchase site visitors solely after 3-4 years of growth however acquired border metrics that couldn’t be corrected.
In consequence, we switched to less complicated puzzles. We made two tasks and put them within the shops, and whereas natural site visitors was coming in, there was no price range for advertising and marketing. That’s after we began in search of a writer. We talked with totally different publishers, however discovered a reference to Azur Video games instantly. We have been launched to the producer, Milana, then examined each tasks, signed the deal and began working.”
Sport #1: Faucet Faucet Match, and Sport #2: Match Pairs
Milana Gelmanova: Our first tasks with the writer have been Faucet Faucet Match and Match Pairs.
Each tasks concerned discovering matching pairs, however the implementation of the mechanic differed between the 2. Faucet Faucet Match makes use of a hard and fast subject the place the playing cards should be linked by a line, whereas Match Pairs options randomly scattered playing cards that should be dragged on prime of one another to make a match.
Each of the video games had well-developed core mechanics, which led to good retention charges proper from the beginning.
US market metrics:
Faucet Faucet Match:• R1 50%, R7 17.5%, R30 11.7%• LTV $0.88
Match Pairs: • R1 41.6%, R7 18.0%, R30 8.7%• LTV $1.39
In 2020, we managed to realize CPI in our area of interest with Faucet Faucet Match at $0.48 and Match Pairs at $0.90. Whereas a CPI of $0.50 to $1 was thought-about good again then, the competitors available in the market has grown considerably. A CPI of $1.50 is now the norm. Nevertheless, success on this market requires experience within the style and a stable understanding of enhance the product or offset the upper CPI charges.
Ildus Galiulin: Many video games on this style endure from a standard drawback and that is that gamers lose curiosity in them over time. Our aim was to create a recreation that might stay addictive even at stage 500.
Our aim was to create a recreation that might stay addictive even at stage 500
Ildus Galiulin
We knew that visuals in match puzzles might develop into monotonous, so we added numerous skins in numerous types. To stop gamers from getting confused with the pictures in Faucet Faucet Match, we developed a booster that allowed them to alter skins throughout the recreation. This modification was primarily based on the workforce’s evaluation of participant behaviour, and it resulted in a major enhance in rewarded advert views.
We performed numerous experiments with recreation complexity and stage design to optimise participant engagement and retention. To make the participant onboarding course of easy, it’s essential to hit the fitting rhythm and supply ranges that step by step enhance in issue. In essence, we take a look at the analytics to establish the place gamers are struggling essentially the most, take a look at the win fee, then alter issue ranges, stage order, timers and distinctive gadgets accordingly. Though we initially thought simplifying the sport can be the perfect strategy, it resulted in decreased participant curiosity, playtime, and retention.
For instance, we found that later ranges with a decrease win fee (12-14%) and longer completion occasions (5-6 minutes) have been truly extra participating for gamers. When gamers struggled with these ranges, they might typically watch rewarded adverts for additional time or boosters similar to hints, reshuffles, or pores and skin adjustments.
We added hardcore components with bombs in Faucet Faucet Match and hearth in Match Pairs — playing cards like that have to be eliminated rapidly or the participant loses, which have been well-received by the respective audiences. We tried so as to add boosters to fight the problem of those components and even take away them altogether, but it surely negatively impacted the sport’s metrics. We additionally added a mechanic the place the playing cards shift after every transfer to some ranges, which improved participant engagement as properly. Lastly, we discovered that the challenges in our video games have been notably interesting to feminine gamers.
Under is a few Faucet Faucet Match gameplay:
Milana Gelmanova: We performed a radical evaluation of feminine gamers enjoying Faucet Faucet Match and Match Pairs, which is relatively smaller than that of the hypercasual style. On the outset, our common CPI was increased, however the payoff was that we attracted extra devoted gamers. To keep up their loyalty, we targeted on delivering seamless core gameplay, a handy UX, and hanging steadiness in-game. In consequence, our viewers continued enjoying for an prolonged interval – sometimes, a puzzle recreation participant’s lifetime lasts for greater than a yr, and ranges from one to a few years for Match-3.
Subsequently, we analyzed the info for these tasks and found that greater than 15% of our income got here from gamers that have been greater than a yr outdated – an outstanding achievement when it comes to advert monetisation and the precise nature of the puzzle style. Remarkably, we didn’t alter the sport mechanics however as an alternative enriched them with various skins, occasions, and day by day challenges. Two and a half years for the reason that launch, the metrics of the tasks are as follows.
Faucet Faucet Match:• CPI $1.11• R1 24%, R7 8.7%, R30 6.2%• LTV $1.6• Playtime: quarter-hour
Match Pairs:• CPI $1.55• R1 25%, R7 7.2%, R30 5%• LTV $1.84• Playtime: 12 minutes
The profitability of the video games stays regular, as we’ve spent over $4 million on buying site visitors and proceed to actively help them. As an example, in Faucet Faucet Match, we’re planning to introduce extra options similar to a background changer, which incorporates animated choices, together with extra skins and achievements.
Sport #3: What’s Fallacious
Our subsequent venture was What’s Fallacious. It departed from the traditional idea of evaluating two photos, and as an alternative targeted on logic greater than attentiveness. Gamers have been offered with an image and needed to spot what was mistaken with it, similar to a policeman sporting a saucepan on his head as an alternative of a cap or a woman speaking on a shampoo bottle as an alternative of a smartphone.
Regardless of having little content material, the prototype had good metrics:
• CPI $0.50• R1 31.5%, R7 8.7%, R30 1.6%• LTV $0.51
Creating new ranges was our major focus, as the whole lot was hand-drawn by simply a few artists. We additionally examined the steadiness, the beginning funnel of ranges, timers, and advert cooldown when CPI started to rise. We tried to carry it down by utilizing totally different advert creatives to no avail.
In the end, we found that the gameplay itself wanted to be reworked. Gamers discovered the objects they wanted to identify too difficult and far-fetched, so we simplified them and made them very apparent, leading to a rise in retention within the first few days. Principally, we managed to discover a low-cost answer to make the venture extra promising, however we’d should utterly overhaul the idea for it to work. In consequence, we deserted the concept and moved on to a different prototype.
Sport #4: Dice Match 3D
Our return to match puzzles concerned a unique approach. Firstly, we determined to make it in 3D to maintain up with present developments, whereas the viewers’s gradual shift in direction of three-dimensional puzzles like Faucet Faucet Match and Match Pairs bolstered our determination. Secondly, we wished to discover one thing extra hybrid than simply trying to find two similar gadgets. Though the shift to 3D didn’t carry any vital change, we gave the gamers what they wished, and that’s all that issues on this state of affairs.
Dice Match 3D requires gamers to rotate the sphere and acquire three similar cubes on the underside panel. If gamers add a dice, they will take away it by amassing two extra of the identical, or by utilizing a booster to cancel the transfer.
Our first metrics within the US have been:
• CPI $1.58• R1 36.2%, R7 12.8%, R30 4.3%• LTV $2.226• Playtime: 25 minutes
The venture was completed inside 1.5 weeks, because of the reuse of many components from earlier video games similar to skins, UI components, pop-ups, and numerous screens. In consequence, we had a totally practical venture on the prototype stage. Nevertheless, since our experience in 3D was restricted, not the whole lot turned out completely.
Ildus Galiulin: We spent a number of time on 3D optimisation and steadiness and we struggled to search out the fitting steadiness for some time. We tried quite a lot of approaches together with including a tutorial and making it interactive, displaying gamers after they have been near dropping, adjusting the timers and the variety of cubes, and extra.
One profitable addition was the dice with a query mark, which opens an image solely after it is added to the underside panel. Gamers loved this function, so we saved it. We additionally integrated the shifting cubes function from Faucet Faucet Match.
Nevertheless, we had an unsuccessful experiment with adverts. Sooner or later throughout lengthy ranges, gamers are proven an advert, and we wished to make this course of extra clear by including a progress bar earlier than the video performed, so the gamers can be prepared for it. This function did not work out, and we rolled it again.
Milana Gelmanova: Typically, there was constructive progress in our metrics, however we have been nonetheless scuffling with the core mechanics issue. We wished to check one other speculation, so we created a separate venture with the identical mechanics, however lowered the variety of cubes to 2. It was a lot simpler for the gamers, and we had respectable R1, however the metrics worsened in the long run. We might have continued to iterate, however we noticed much less potential on this venture in comparison with our different ones.
At present, Dice Match 3D is creating slowly since we’ve different, increased precedence tasks. We nonetheless have natural site visitors, good LTV, and concepts on enhance retention and cut back CPI and we run assessments on it each six months to discover totally different hypotheses.
Sport #5: Artwork Grasp
Usually, belongings and options from earlier tasks are carried over to new ones, however with Artwork Grasp, the strategy was barely totally different. Artwork Grasp is a colouring puzzle recreation the place the target is for gamers to decide on components from the underside panel and place them within the black and white areas to “full” the image.
Ildus Galiulin: The sport was impressed by some puzzle we noticed within the retailer, but it surely was too darkish and too troublesome, and we wished so as to add colours, use vivid vector graphics, and simplify the gameplay for our venture.
To cut back prices and velocity up growth, we reused a few of the artwork and major modules (similar to settings and advert tabs) from earlier tasks. As an example, we’re at present engaged on achievements that we’re going so as to add concurrently to all present and future tasks.”
Milana Gelmanova: On the identical time, a number of issues needed to be carried out from scratch – in any case, this can be a utterly totally different mechanic, which meant that the discharge model solely had round 20 ranges. Creating them was our main focus, because it took up nearly all of our assets.
The outcomes? Gamers favored Artwork Grasp:
• CPI $1.15• R1 55.8%, R7 16.4%, R30 6.9%• LTV $1.49
Under is a few Artwork Grasp gameplay:
Initially, the sport had a excessive churn fee with roughly 30% of gamers leaving inside the first three days. Nevertheless, implementing an interactive tutorial helped to deal with the difficulty. We rapidly added new content material and began experimenting with the sport’s steadiness and gameplay by analysing funnels, detecting anomalies, and rectifying them.
We encountered an issue with the interface the place the highlighted areas that wanted to be crammed in didn’t disappear after putting the sprite, which confused gamers. Eradicating the highlights resulted in improved metrics.
Artwork Grasp was the primary venture the place we launched day by day distinctive ranges. This function contributed positively to the sport’s efficiency, with a rise in retention of 0.5% on all days, two minutes added to common playtime, and an LTV increase of seven to eight %. We plan to incorporate day by day ranges in nearly all our tasks and are at present conducting A/B assessments in some.
Presently, we’re actively creating Artwork Grasp and creating new content material. The overall spend has exceeded $2 million.
Present metrics:
• CPI $1.11• R1 26%• LTV $2.35
Playtime is about 20 minutes, folks play for months, however our aim is to make them keep for six months to a yr.
Sport #6: Spot The Hidden Variations
With Spot the Hidden Variations, our new venture that featured the traditional “spot the distinction” mechanics, we determined to stay to the fashion of Artwork Grasp. The graphics overlap loads, and we are able to add them to each tasks concurrently with minimal assets wanted.
If there’s a useful resource scarcity, we generally use outsourcing. We now have well-developed pointers and nearly full automation of graphics meeting, so we are able to rapidly scale the velocity of recent content material manufacturing for any venture.
The primary model of the sport was launched again in 2021, and we step by step collected product and advertising and marketing knowledge whereas iterating. The metrics have been as follows:
• CPI $0.98• R1 49.7%, R7 18.8%, R30 6.2%• LTV $1.2
Under is a few Spot The Hidden Variations gameplay:
In December 2022, the sport grew to become primary by downloads within the ‘spot the distinction’ style. Luck had nothing to do with this. Like different tasks, we created Spot The Hidden Variations primarily based on accrued experience, so we knew what it could appear like, how it could differ from different tasks, and develop it instantly.
As normal, we began with steadiness – we do that for each venture, since getting it proper the primary time is sort of unimaginable. We labored with the problem of the preliminary ranges, in addition to adverts and timers. For instance, our recreation affords 150 seconds to finish a stage, and nearly all rivals within the style have 120 seconds. We tried to cut back this, but it surely resulted in a major drop in metrics.
Our recreation affords 150 seconds to finish a stage, and nearly all rivals within the style have 120 seconds. We tried to cut back this, but it surely resulted in a major drop in metrics
Milana Gelmanova
We additionally experimented with the variety of variations the gamers needed to discover on the extent. We tried 5, seven, ten, and even step by step elevated the quantity as the sport went on. Ten variations labored finest, so we saved it this manner (we tried including extra, but it surely didn’t work out ultimately).
We’re step by step scaling Spot The Hidden Variations. There are a number of concepts and plans, each when it comes to options and content material, and we’ll introduce day by day quests quickly.
Present metrics:
• CPI $1.11• R1 26%, R7 10.1%, R30 3%• LTV $2.42• Playtime: 9 minutes
The venture is steadily approaching ROI, has spend (greater than $4.5 million to date), and retains rising, which isn’t going to cease any time quickly.
Sport #7: Artwork Grasp 2
The thought for the Artwork Grasp sequel took place after we analyzed the ‘color by numbers’ area of interest, the place gamers want to color over a black and white image with the fitting colors from the palette. The competitors on this style may be very excessive and the site visitors is dear, so should you go there, the possibilities of success are low. You must search for distinctive options.
Because of this we mixed two concepts: coloring by numbers and Artwork Grasp half one. The gamers are offered with a black-and-white picture to paint, however they’ve to make use of puzzle items as an alternative of a palette to do it. We took all of the art work from the primary half and tailored it for the second. It become a mixture of the 2 mechanics and it labored.
After the primary assessments, Artwork Grasp 2 exhibited the next metrics:
• CPI $0.58• R1 51.0%, R7 23.2%. R30 10.7%• LTV $0.74
Ildus Galiulin: Our strategy is to discover concepts that merge a number of genres, and as well as, we’ve a wealth of high-quality artwork belongings that may be repurposed. It is secure to say that with out this, the creation of Artwork Grasp 2 would have been unlikely.
Milana Gelmanova: The content material was not a difficulty at this level, and the variety of ranges within the sequel is now nearly similar to the unique. At present, we’re increasing and integrating new advert networks, with the entire spend nearing $400,000.
Present metrics:
• CPI $1.11• R1 27.1%, R7 8.4%, R30 3.2%• LTV $1.9• Playtime over 20 minutes
One other fascinating factor: we have began incorporating advertising and marketing extra carefully with our merchandise. We’re including advertising and marketing content material and art work primarily based on trending themes like Wednesday or Home of the Dragon to our beginning funnels, and we have seen a constructive impression on each retention and conversion to installs. It is a technique we’re implementing throughout all of our tasks.
Making certain success
By concentrating their experience and iterating growth inside a selected style, recreation builders can step by step enhance their outcomes. Whereas it is doable to have a brilliant hit on the primary attempt, luck is the important thing issue on this occurring. Nevertheless, you’ll be able to nearly definitely accumulate expertise in a single area of interest and create a number of profitable tasks that carry out as a brilliant hit collectively should you base your selections on metrics and the suggestions offered by the writer.
Ildus Galiulin: Sooner or later, we wished to attempt our hand at hypercasual video games. We even made a prototype however realised that we lacked ready-made options for a wonderful image. It is a solvable situation, however we didn’t wish to undergo this course of once more and determined to concentrate on the puzzle style since we have already got a number of expertise with it, a number of concepts within the backlog, and a longtime content material base.
In a few years, a workforce of 5 folks has grown to twenty, with 11 members being the artists. Most of our tasks use high-quality art work, one among them additionally has day by day ranges, and we are able to’t afford delays in new graphics launch, particularly since a part of the viewers performs day by day all year long.”
Milana Gelmanova: In the event you take a look at all our joint tasks with Pingvi Video games from yr to yr, the expansion may be very vital. In the meanwhile, six tasks have introduced in additional than $14 million in income over 2.5 years, and the month-to-month spend has grown greater than 10 occasions and already reaches $1 million. All of this confirms that the choice to concentrate on one thing narrower is in the end extra advantageous and worthwhile than making an attempt to scale one venture primarily based on the hype round it.
From this yr shifting ahead, we wish to launch two new tasks yearly. This means that we have already got a imaginative and prescient and roadmap for each tasks, in addition to an understanding of the required budgets and assets, together with the share devoted to scaling our present video games.
