Hybrid casual Tower War: The evolution of core gameplay, growth & creatives, admon excellense (#93)

This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #93. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously. Panelists: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jakub Remia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠r,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric⁠ Youtube: https://youtu.be/Gn49tbtPvYU Join our slack channel here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-235cralar-rzJNo5gNa~yrYrrun7PDjQ PGC Party signup - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pgc-london-after-party-kwalee-x-bambassadors-x-two-a-half-gamers-tickets-788126897767?aff=oddtdtcreator Agenda 00:00 Epic intro 01:25 Introduction and Game Overview 04:02 Tower War's Rapid Growth 05:29 Similarities with Other Games in the Genre 14:56 The Evolution of Tower War's Core Gameplay 19:48 Monetization and Hidden Features 25:13 Improvements and Missed Opportunities 26:51 Interstitial Ads and Gameplay 32:13 Different Approaches to Ad Placements 35:20 Ad Revenue Breakdown 38:31 Overall Evaluation and Rating 42:45 Creatives 46:13 Experimentation with Visual Styles 50:38 PvP and Hyper-Casual Headlines 53:48 Confusing Creatives and Inconsistent Visuals 54:24 Evolution of Games and Revenue 55:07 Game Revenue and Downloads 56:02 Top Games and Revenue 58:20 User Acquisition Channels 59:50 Advertising Spend on Facebook 01:01:25 UA Summary and Recommendations 01:02:45 Game Design and Progression 01:03:29 Retention and Long-Term Potential --------------------------------------- Matej Lancaric User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant ⁠https://lancaric.me/⁠ Felix Braberg Ad monetization consultant ⁠https://www.felixbraberg.com/⁠ Jakub Remiar Game design consultant ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar/⁠ --------------------------------------- Takeaways Saygames has seen significant revenue growth, with the top month reaching over $5 million in IAP revenue. My Perfect Hotel and Tower of War are the top games in terms of revenue and downloads. User acquisition is primarily driven by Applovin, Google, and Facebook, with Mintegral and TikTok also playing a role. Advertising spend on Facebook is relatively low in the US, indicating a focus on the EU markets. The game's core gameplay and progression mechanics are strong, but there is room for improvement in adding more mechanics and progression layers. Retention rates are relatively good, with around 40% on day one and 3% on day 60/90. --------------------------------------- Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it! Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple! Please share feedback and comments - [email protected] --------------------------------------- If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lancaric.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej Lancaric Latest article - https://open.substack.com/pub/lancaric/p/stay-ahead-in-ua-for-2024-my-top?r=7qqaf&utm_campaign=podcast&utm_medium=web&showWelcome=true Do you have UA questions nobody can answer? Ask ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Matej AI⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - the First UA AI in the gaming industry! https://lancaric.me/matej-ai Felix Latest Article - https://www.felixbraberg.com/post/the-end-of-gam-and-admob-placement-refreshes