Creating a successful mobile game involves more than just great gameplay and graphics. To stay competitive in a saturated market, a game must also perform well. Developers and publishers are constantly tracking core metrics and making improvements to ensure their game’s success.
In this guest post, Milana Gelmanova, a producer at Azur Games, discusses Goolny Games’ Jelly Run 2048. She shares the game’s need for further scaling and how the team introduced a series of optimizations with new content and a mechanic that boosted almost all of the game’s metrics. Here are its secrets…
After a significant rework last year, Jelly Run 2048 by Goolny Games studio saw its installs surpass 20 million. This success led to the need for further scaling the project. Since it is a short-session runner, providing players with long-term goals became essential.
By introducing a new meta in August, the team saw promising results, with installs now exceeding 33 million.
Initially, the game displayed marginal metrics in the USA, including low retention rates (R1 34%, R7 5.9%), a high CPI ($0.78), and short playtime (3 minutes). Despite these challenges, the team believed in the game’s potential and decided to enhance it through multiple iterations in the first half of 2022. Efforts focused on expanding content, refining level design, adding new mechanics, introducing obstacles, and incorporating visual elements without altering gameplay.
These improvements made the project profitable and paved the way for further expansion with new features, bonus levels, animations, events, and various metas. While not every meta experiment succeeded, one particular mechanic significantly boosted nearly all metrics, doubling some of them.
The new feature revolves around a construction mechanic that allows players to collect cubes by completing levels and scoring points to assemble large figures. This mechanic introduces a collection of vex sculptures, providing long-term goals for players.
Players have shown a keen interest in completing their collections and unveiling new figures. The meta was designed to enhance long-term retention, and together with other updates like new skins and themed levels, it significantly improved all metrics:
- A 15% increase in retention across all days.
- A 30% rise in ad views.
- An almost 3-minute increase in playtime.
- A 25% increase in LTV globally, especially in the USA.
- A doubling of rewarded ad views.
The construction meta has proven to be a powerful engagement tool, especially in hyper-casual projects. By integrating collections, trendy items, and references, players are more engaged in the game.
For instance, Taxi Run players prefer cars with visual appeal or pop culture references over those with superior performance characteristics.
The challenge of collecting new sculptures incrementally increases to ensure a balanced progression system. Players can watch ads or use in-game currency to enhance their progress, adding depth to the gameplay and incentivizing engagement.
The construction meta has proven to be a powerful engagement tool, and the team is excited to explore its potential further. They are committed to continuously enhancing the visuals and fine-tuning the balance.
Tips for enhancing the construction meta:
1. Identify growth opportunities by incorporating long-term goals to boost retention.
2. Strategize progression by making advanced figures achievable after a certain number of levels.
3. Curate collections to provide satisfaction and a sense of achievement.
4. Incorporate challenges by varying cube levels to maintain player interest.
5. Add animations to enrich the gaming experience and set your game apart in the market.
6. Tailor monetization to the new meta by introducing rewards that facilitate progression acceleration.
Edited by Paige Cook
