What is the most appealing aspect of games? Gameplay perfection? Perhaps a really intriguing story? Hyper-casual games have no plot and minimal content, but they are one of the most addicting genres in gaming history. Is this even possible?
Ketchapp, Lion Studios, and King. Have you seen their splash screens before? Are you familiar with Flappy Bird, Subway Surfers, or Jetpack Joyride? You’ve probably met at least one of them.
In 2017, hyper casuals ruled the mobile gaming industry, and their popularity is continuously rising. This Free2Play model accounts for more than half of worldwide gaming income. Interested? Let us investigate further!
What are Hyper-Casual Games?
While preparing to write this essay, We spoke with numerous gaming industry professionals and came to the following conclusion: hyper casuals are nothing more than arcades from the 1970s and 1980s with gorgeous visuals and nearly limitless access.
Hyper-casual games are so addicting that you find yourself returning to them again and again. Their appeal stems from the fact that they may be played whenever and anywhere you desire. Hyper-casual games, as the name implies, are evolved from casual games, but they feature simpler mechanics and quick gameplay. Typically, «tap to play» suffices.
They’re what We call «waiting room games,» and that’s precisely what they are.
We play these games in waiting rooms, on buses, while queuing, and during long university lectures. They contain short rounds and mechanics that are as simple as possible. You may play for two minutes or six hours and quickly master the gameplay and fundamentals. They are mostly one-touch or thumb slide games with a very minimal user interface.
When and How the Genre Came to Life?
As we already stated, these games are nothing new.
Their origins may be traced back to the early 1970s, when they were known as arcade games. Flappy Bird (2013) is widely regarded as a genre breakthrough. That’s when mobile games started being (successfully) monetized. We shall discuss business models later. At the time, the market was flooded with more advanced games or pure garbage. Mid-core and hard-core games were popular at the time. Simple 5-minute play games were almost non-existent. People fell in love with such names the moment they saw them.
“The ascendance of hyper-casual games can be credited to a number of things, from the way these games are able to fill an emerging gap in the gaming space, to advancements in ad monetization.” — ironsrc.com
Source: The rise of Hyper-casual & takeaways from Tap Tap Games, Game Camp
Why Have Hyper-Casual Games Achieved Such a Great Success?
If you asked me on the street why the hyper casuals were so successful, I’d probably say, «They’re fun and simple, that’s why.»
That is a reasonable response. But that’s not fair.
After considerable consideration, we believe the only accurate answer is that they are well-engineered. The fact that they are basic does not imply that they can be completed by one or two individuals. Although they are often produced by a small group of individuals over a period of 1-3 months, this is just and only the development phase, which in this instance plays a little role.
Successful hyper casuals are typically produced by publishers who have entire teams of game designers responsible for analytics, such as producing tables in Excel and calculating and controlling retention (primarily D1 and D7), LTV (lifetime value), and CPI (cost per install). This page contains further information regarding analytics in mobile games. Such publishers usually have distinct workers in charge of ASO (App Store Optimization). They build a potent marketing machine that makes user acquisition a breeze.
They have a flawlessly exact core loop because they are superbly thought-out.
Hyper casuals are a genre that is evolving slowly. It all began with simple 2D flat games. The developers then went 3D. From the beginning, they were mostly single-player games, but this tendency has recently changed, and since roughly 2018, hyper casuals have been provided more and more often (primarily by Voodoo) as «multiplayer» games.
Why are the words «multiplayer» in quotation marks? We recently examined Voodoo works and came to the conclusion that they are single-player games with really well-designed artificial intelligence.
Where did this remark come from? Wait 2-3 seconds after pressing the home button on your phone. Then go back to the game. Is everything in the same spot? Are there any other players? This is, of course, the inevitable result. Other players are really bots who provide the impression that the game is network-based. It’s a highly effective marketing ploy, given that the major audience for such games is generally young kids who may not realize they’re not playing with actual people.
Initially, such a game is intended to be infinite. This implies that a person may play it for tens of hours and still have something to do: they can beat their own high score and compete in graded tournaments.
This genre’s games are frequently referred to as «memeable» and «youtubable.» What does it imply? It is not uncommon for the game to be inspired by pop culture, social media, or current events. The «Pen Pineapple Apple Pen» video, which became viral on YouTube (with 273 million views), is a great example. Ketchapp (Ubisoft) created the «Pineapple Pen» game (over 10 million downloads) within a few days after its release.
«Run Sausage Run» (over 50 million downloads) is another fantastic example. The game was developed just a few days after the popular app Snapchat published a filter featuring a happy, dancing sausage.
Youtubability is incredibly advantageous in all sports. «Flappy Bird» became so popular because several well-known YouTubers videotaped themselves destroying their mobile phones in wrath while playing it.
Using pop culture and social media components in games is a terrific marketing approach that we would suggest to everyone.
Mechanics in Hyper Casuals
What kind of mechanisms entice players? What motivates them to play the mobile game for more than a few minutes or to return to it after a few days? Some distinct mechanisms may be identified in hyper-casual games.
To begin with, it is always a one-touch game. Why is this the case? Because playing with both hands while standing on a bus is tough.
The following key mechanic, which appears in all of those games, is a maximum 5-second instructional. After downloading and installing an app, there is usually an animated «tap to play» instruction. With such a little instruction, those mechanics must be really simple and straightforward.
The lesson isn’t really all that significant. «Helix Jump» by Voodoo is a nice example. It is likely one of the most downloaded hyper casuals ever (with 550 million downloads out of over 2.1 billion Voodoo game downloads), and yet its instructional lacks animation. Only plain text will be accepted.
The majority of hyper casuals are not grounded in reality. Your main character will most likely be a sphere, cylinder, or box. The entire universe is somewhat unrealistic. It is usually made up of basic forms.
The skins system is yet another mechanic. Almost every hyper-casual game has a store where you can alter the character’s wardrobe and, in some cases, the entire setting. It’s also an excellent location for the Ultimate Epic Legendary Gold Skin, which is now available for $0.99!
We allow the player to define their own goals, and the player will not become bored as quickly because fresh content will be added on a regular basis. As a result, despite the genre’s repetition, the game becomes more diversified.
As previously said, the genre is changing. The key trends in game design right now are level and mechanic variety. According to the research, endless runners tire sooner, which is why the majority of them are currently being turned into level-based games. In truth, they are the same games as endless runners, except with more UI, but the user instinctively believes they are climbing the level ladder.
These two models are frequently mixed. The player can choose between infinite mode and level mode at the start of the game. Allowing the player to select is an intriguing tactic, especially in the case of games that were launched in the past and are now being remastered.
Economy in Hyper Casuals
The economics of hyper-casual games is somewhat distinct. It is frequently less planned and developed than in other genres. Most likely because these are little and brief games. However, that is not the only reason.
- Resources: These are often the same as in other genres. There are soft currencies, such as coins, and hard currencies, such as diamonds or emeralds. Sometimes the game functions only on resources such as life, a resource that technically does not exist.The game generates this illusory possession, but it does not implement the variable responsible for life, therefore the resource just modifies the game’s state since the player might be alive or dead.
- Sources: The mechanism in hyper-casual games is frequently source-based. There are limited resources, and most of them are created by the system. The system is the only source of the previously specified life resource.
This genre offers nothing unique in terms of drains, converters, and dealers. They all have the same appearance.
Internal economic deconstruction. “Helix Jump” case study
The aforementioned «Helix Jump» is a prime example.
We can see that the player does not have a life bar, therefore they either live or die. Coins are a basic resource in this world. This resource is obtained through completing a level (really, falling or reaching consecutive thresholds when falling) or by watching advertisements. In turn, the coin dealer represents the shop and its contents (for example, skins). This game has no coin drains or converters.
Monetization in Hyper Casuals
This is unquestionably the greatest and most intriguing part of hyper-casual gaming.
Source: 2019 Predictions: #2 the Hyper-Casual Party, as We Know It, Will End, Abhimanyu Kumar
As we can see, if we want to dominate the mobile market, we need have an interest in this genre. Demand is increasing year on year and does not appear to be slowing down.
But hold on. It’s not as simple as it appears. It will be incredibly tough for you to break into the hyper-casual market. Three firms account for more than half of all downloads in the hyper-casual category (SayGames — 18%, Voodoo — 17%, and Good Job Games — 17%).
Source: 2019 Predictions: #2 the Hyper-Casual Party, as We Know It, Will End, Abhimanyu Kumar
Furthermore, fresh investors are continually arriving. People from outside the mobile game business and the gaming industry in general are gradually seeing the potential and investing large sums of money in mobile games.
Source: The rise of Hyper-casual & takeaways from Tap Tap Games, Game Camp
First and foremost, we must understand the distinctions between various forms of advertisements. There are three sorts of advertisements: banner ads, regular/interstitial ads, and rewarded ads.
- A banner is a sort of advertisement that often appears as a tiny (5% of the screen) graphic that is displayed during the duration of the game. It is often found at the bottom of the screen.
- Regular/interstitial advertisements can be images or videos that can be closed instantly or after 5 seconds. Profits are allocated for displaying the commercial and for its period of viewing.
- The most profitable advertising are those that are rewarded. Such an ad may be several, if not dozens, of times more profitable than a standard ad. It’s because the money for advertising is only paid to get gamers to download the game or perform some other in-game action. There is frequently no remuneration for simply viewing.Once this is established, we can easily conclude that hyper casuals benefit greatly from incentivized advertisements.In this genre, in-app purchases are basically non-existent. They can only be made by using the «no advertising» option or the epic skins listed above.Since 2017, hyper casuals have dominated mobile marketplaces, with only a few games from outside of this genre making it into the top 20.
We’ve highlighted hyper-casual games in red. All other genres are represented by the color white.
What distinguishes this genre is the absence of the typical monetization techniques found in F2P games. There are no loot boxes, roulettes, or in-app purchases. Ads generate the majority of the money.
How to Create a Successful Hyper Casual?
Making the second «Flappy Bird» is definitely a major desire for many of us.
Not at all realistic. But how about making $50,000 a day for a second «Flappy Bird»? That’s much better.
There are several approaches to creating a great and profitable product.
This is the simplest: pop culture and social media inspiration. It is not difficult to locate anything that has been touted on YouTube, Twitter, or Instagram. When that happens, we have to rapidly make a game out of it. We already have a concept; we know roughly how the game assets will appear. The only thing left is to add mechanics. Here’s an illustration: «The Floor Is Lava» is a childhood game. Due to the global distribution of videos depicting individuals playing it, there was a lot of internet traffic in 2017. That’s when Ketchapp released «The Floor Is Lava!» (which has received over 5 million downloads).
This is the semi-difficult one since it combines two mechanics. We can integrate an old arcade game with another game, adjust the camera angle, and convert 2D models into 3D models. There are several options. The only limit is your imagination.
The difficult part is creating your own trends. We must develop new mechanisms. It is believed that everything has already been invented; all that remains is to combine, enhance, or recreate it. That is correct. However, there may be some incomplete tasks that can be completed. You can still create something spectacular. A good example is Hole.io (almost 184 million downloads). I’ve never seen such mechanics in a game before. The real reality (black hole, abyss) most likely influenced the creator. Perhaps the game will entice someone to leave the basement and explore the outside world.
