Brand Game Development

FEBRUARY 18, 2019

Azul has taken the board game world by storm. Like Sagrada , it’s a gorgeous and approachable puzzle game with emergent complexity that becomes ever more apparent with more plays. It’s also, somehow, always trending on social media and Board Game Geek. Need help on your board game?

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Game Design Game Designer Tile Art 130

PreMortem.Games

JULY 12, 2024

The AppMagic Hypercasual games recap for the second quarter of 2024 unveils some interesting information about this specific part of the mobile games market. The hypercasual games market has been on a downwards trajectory for a couple of years now, but there is still potential for success.

Puzzle 104

Puzzle Racing Games Mechanics 104

Deconstructor of Fun

SEPTEMBER 28, 2020

This analysis is written by Taras Koshelev (Lead Game Designer at My.Games Venture Capital) who focused on game mechanics and loops and Michail Katkoff (Founder of Savage Game Studios) who covered the market and marketability. Playrix released Puzzle Breakers into soft-launch in late 2019. Puzzle RPGs on Mobile.

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Puzzle Tile Mechanics Build 52

PreMortem.Games

APRIL 11, 2023

When looking at the Top 10 hypercasual games in the first quarter of 2023, AppMagic noticed some interesting trends. You can read about these games in more detail here. Monetization practices First of all, all the top ten games use the Meta Audience Network as their in-app ads monetization partner. Top 5 Newcomers 1.

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Tile Racing Puzzle Games 104

Brand Game Development

FEBRUARY 17, 2020

When I was a neophyte game developer, I found an excellent article by Wizards of the Coast, creators of Magic: the Gathering , called Ten Things Every Game Needs. No matter what type of game you’re making, these 10 elements are critical to making a good game. Need help on your board game? A clear objective.

Game Design 130

Game Design Game Designer Tile Games 130

Deconstructor of Fun

OCTOBER 2, 2023

It’s hard to keep secrets in the gaming industry. Once players show interest in something you've created, many game developers worldwide quickly become "inspired" by your game. It's not necessarily due to the exceptional quality of existing games or the lack of potential for improvement within the genre.

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Tile Puzzle Mechanics Games 52

Brand Game Development

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

Tasty Humans is the latest, and in my opinion, the greatest creation of Pangea Games. It’s a tile-placement, puzzle-solving board game for 1-4 players about villagers attacking monsters. They were the creative force behind the game, and really, the soul of it. Need help on your board game?

Tile 130

Tile Prototyping Games Vector Graphics 130

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 14, 2020

We originally created a taxonomy together with Game Refinery dividing the games market into four different categories: Casual, Mid-Core, Casino and Sports. We pulled the data of top 1000 games from last three years from the one and only App Annie and aligned the data with the categories, genres and sub-genres.

Puzzle 52

Puzzle Games Tile Mobile 52

Brand Game Development

AUGUST 5, 2019

It’s a puzzle-solving, tile placement board game for 1-4 players where you play as a fantasy monster who’s hungry for villagers. We could not be happier with how the campaign turned out, and the game is available for pre-order now ! Need help on your board game? The Early Design. Mid-Development.

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Art Games Tile Mechanics 130

PreMortem.Games

OCTOBER 11, 2024

According to the AppMagic numbers, this quarter, the hypercasual games market shrunk by 12%—down to 2.98B total installs compared to the previous quarter. Top 10 Games By Downloads At long last, moving on to the top 10 Hypercasual games by downloads in this quarter! 40% QoQ) and Wood Screw Puzzle (–23% QoQ). Snake Clash!

Racing 118

Racing Games Tile Puzzle 118

Brand Game Development

OCTOBER 5, 2020

I don’t want to play a game that is too intense (no offense, Dominion ), I don’t want a game that is too easy (I’ll only play Go Fish with my 3-year-old niece). Instead, I find myself somewhere in the middle when it comes time to picking out a game. Need help on your board game?

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Games Tile Writing Art 130

Brand Game Development

JUNE 15, 2020

A couple of months ago, I asked the readers of this blog to send in answers to the question “ what confuses you most about board game development ?” ” I got a lot of responses, and one of them was about how much to spend on board game advertising. Need help on your board game? Basics of Board Game Advertising.

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Advertising Point and Click Games Media 130

Designer Notes

MARCH 31, 2023

Here are the games that I’ve worked on. Spoiler alert: Civilization 3 and 4 are going to come up a lot in the presentation… I also do a podcast where I interview game designers about why they make games, so check it out if you have time for 4-hour interviews. So, why should I go back to make a historical, tile-based 4X game?

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Tile Point and Click AI Mechanics 98

Brand Game Development

FEBRUARY 10, 2020

Tasty Humans is the latest, and in my opinion, the greatest creation of Pangea Games. It’s a tile-placement, puzzle-solving board game for 1-4 players about villagers attacking monsters. They were the creative force behind the game, and really, the soul of it. Need help on your board game?

Games 130

Games Writing Tile Puzzle 130

Cocos

AUGUST 8, 2024

Recently, YouTube officially announced a major update, declaring the full platform launch of its mini-games feature, YouTube Playables, available on all platforms (Android, iOS, and web), with dozens of selected mini-games built-in. Gameplay : Similar to “catch the goose” elimination gameplay Game Address : [link] 2.

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Puzzle Engineering Engine Tile 52

Deconstructor of Fun

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

In the latest episode of the DoF Podcast, Mishka reconnects with Rina Onur Sirinoglu, CEO of Spyke Games, to talk about her exciting new mobile gaming venture, which recently secured a $55 million seed round. Rina co-founded Peak Games, which has become a game-changer in the Turkish gaming scene.

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Tile Co-op Games Puzzle 64

Brand Game Development

AUGUST 26, 2019

Self-publishing a board game is a long, drawn-out process. Some of this goes back to the process of creating your game, getting it manufactured, and raising funds. Need help on your board game? Join my community of over 2,000 game developers, artists, and passionate creators. Much of what I said there bears repeating.

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Advertising Games Media Concepts 130

Deconstructor of Fun

OCTOBER 16, 2023

Christmas 2022 was made very special for some as Moon Active announced the acquisition of the casual puzzle game Zen Match for as much as $150M. It is hard to say if this acquisition of a single game hints at a future deal where Moon Active acquires the game’s developer, similar to Zynga's acquisition of Peak.

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Tile Puzzle Studios Games 52

Deconstructor of Fun

NOVEMBER 4, 2024

And if you’re really hungry for insights, I nvest Game offers exclusive access via Patreon. A couple of months ago, our friends at Invest Game set out to look for the advantages ex-Riot employees have when securing investments. Finally, we concentrated exclusively on the gaming industry. over 38 rounds during the same period.

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Mobile Mobile Studios Mobile Gaming 52

Designer Notes

AUGUST 2, 2021

The game, a historical 4X set in classical antiquity, released on July 1, 2021, and is available for purchase here. One challenge that has haunted all Civilization games since the beginning is Infinite City Sleaze (ICS). The following is an excerpt from the Designer Notes for Old World.

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Tile Build Mechanics Prototyping 52

Deconstructor of Fun

SEPTEMBER 2, 2024

Written by Ahmetcan Demirel , the maestro of product management and a podcast host ( Game Dev Diary ) from Germany! With a knack for puzzle, arcade, and simulation games. It is no secret that puzzle games dominate a significant share of the mobile gaming market.

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Puzzle Mechanics Feature Tile 52

Deconstructor of Fun

OCTOBER 27, 2020

Playrix is one of the powerhouses in the puzzle genre thanks to Gardenscapes and Homescapes’ current success. And while those two titles dominate the top charts, Playrix road to the top started a long time ago with a non-assuming little game know as Township. The game was launched in 2011 as a freemium social game first as Google+ (!)

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Co-op Puzzle Games Mechanics 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JUNE 20, 2019

There are several reasons why Matchington Mansion is on our lips: Firstly, it’s because the game is raking in over $15M in net revenues a month. Secondly, it’s because the game was able to challenge Playrix successfully in their own game. Then he’s going to analyse the studio that made the game.

Puzzle 52

Puzzle Studios Tile Mechanics 52

Deconstructor of Fun

OCTOBER 23, 2023

This game, which combines Match-3 core with merge progression originally launched globally in the second half of 2020. The game looked promising, scaling quickly towards $2M a month in revenue - a promising number for a smallish Finnish studio. The core gameplay was true and tested Match-3 puzzle while the meta game was merge inspired.

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Mechanics Puzzle Tile Mobile Gaming 59

Deconstructor of Fun

MAY 4, 2020

Supercell is one of the rare companies that doesn’t try to beat the competition; rather, it tries to beat the high score set by its own prior games. To date, Supercell has created multiple genre-defining games and generated billions in revenues -- all with little more than 300 employees (!). Our short answer is no.

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Puzzle Mobile Mobile Mobile Gaming 52

Brand Game Development

NOVEMBER 23, 2020

This is a holiday shopper’s guide to all things Board Games. Need help on your board game? Join my community of over 2,000 game developers, artists, and passionate creators. Hobby Board Games. Tasty Humans is a 30-60 minute, tile-laying, pattern-building game for 1-4 players. Are you excited?

Tile 130

Tile Games Point and Click Art 130

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 17, 2022

Xsolla has dedicated tools that will help you create your own online commerce platform, improve your performance marketing and discoverability, and expand your game business on mobile and PC. Clash Mini is one of the three Clash games Supercell announced in April of 2021. As expected from Supercell, Clash Quest is a polished game.

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Content Mechanics Point and Click Mobile 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 10, 2021

Our 2021 predictions have been sponsored by Facebook Gaming. Facebook Gaming helps developers and publishers to build, grow and monetize their games. Visit Facebook Gaming where you’ll find an incredible amount of insightful, actionable and relevant information along with tips, tools and solutions to help you grow your business.

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Puzzle Mobile Mobile Games 52

PreMortem.Games

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

With the success rate of the new games released drastically low, one can’t help but ask two questions: When releasing a game in 2024, which genre should I choose to make the most of it? To operate with representative groups, we compared games across top-level subgenres. However, My Hamster Story took off in the Asian market.

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Data Mechanics Games Development 104

Deconstructor of Fun

DECEMBER 4, 2023

Almost 2 years ago, the entire games industry was amazed by the announcement of a gigantic $55M seed round raised by Spyke Games. Many successful game company founders would jump on the chance to exit with $55 million, let alone receiving it as seed investment. Thus, Tile Busters was born. And pivot that they did.

Tile 52

Tile Co-op Puzzle Feature 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JANUARY 16, 2025

Written by John Wright a Game Publishing Maestro, Iron-Pumping Aficionado, and a member of Deconstructor of Fun consulting and advisory team. When it comes to leveling up your game portfolio or your biceps, John Wright is the publishing powerhouse you want in your corner. >>

Mobile Gaming 52

Mobile Gaming Mobile Mobile Advertising 52

Designer Notes

DECEMBER 10, 2023

If so, do bots have any role in this scene, either as part of the game or for training/analysis? Generally speaking, these communities are trying to make a solitary game more social, even if the games played are technically still single-player. Is it very different from the single-player game vs bots?

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AI Racing Engineering Engine 52

Deconstructor of Fun

MARCH 22, 2021

Early this year the Turkish mobile startup Dream Games has raised $50 million in new funding ($57.5M total funding), despite having only soft-launched its first game, Royal Match. Dream Games was founded by two of Peak’s former Product Directors. Thus a full breakdown of the newly released game is warranted. It made $5.1

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Puzzle Mobile Mobile Mechanics 69

Brand Game Development

JULY 15, 2019

One of the hallmarks of good board game design is being able to create hard choices. Let’s talk about how you can create hard choices in your board game. He, after all, created the pattern building game that we call Tasty Humans , so it makes for a great case study! Need help on your board game?

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Tile Mechanics Games Puzzle 130

Brand Game Development

JULY 22, 2019

Perfect board game pacing is one of the most underrated aspects of board game design. Somewhere between overwhelm and ennui, there lies a middle ground where a game is perfectly paced. A great board game feels challenging and interesting throughout. Need help on your board game? But how do you do that?

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Tile Games Playtesting Balance 130

Radiator Blog

JUNE 30, 2022

Zugzwang by Robert Yang This post details my process and intent for making my new release Zugzwang (pronounced in German like /ts'OOK-ts'VAHng/ ) a tactical sex dungeon roguelike cum ritual game. SPOILER ALERT: This post spoils what happens in the game. A dense randomized mini-chess puzzle where everything matters.

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