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.

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Felix Latest Article - https://www.felixbraberg.com/post/the-end-of-gam-and-admob-placement-refreshes