Is “Saga” the next new trend to get your app additional downloads or is abuse of a word King.com’s brand identify which likely can’t be copyright? Previous trends include, Tiny and Pocket … everything. Well played TabTale games — too bad you skipped out on the content and 50% of your users are giving you 1 star.
The Pik Pok team from New Zealand has another big hit on their hands. Robot Unicorn Attack 2 is a sequel of a popular game published by Adult Swim which combines beautiful art and music into a fun and addictive sidescroller/endless runner. The combination of brand recognition, Apple features and an expect combination of cross promotion with targeted user acquisition kept RUA2 in the overall top ten for two full weeks. This game has a perfect combination of daily social challenges (Team Unicorn vs. Team Inferno), rank progression which start off easy (5-30 minutes) then scales up in difficulty quickly and an upgrade system which bakes in the customization of player unicorns. Every day there is a new map to enjoy which keeps the game fresh. Monetization is done primarily through boosts but additional (nostalgic) background music is also for sale. Perhaps the best feature is Read the rest of this entry
I have a real love/hate relationship with this game. I want to spend money but it would be like throwing a penny down a well.
Breaking the top 10 for iPad free last week in the United States and number 1 in dozens of other countries, Tekken Card Tournament has entered the card collecting arena. (Appannie) Following in the footsteps of games such as Rage of Bahamut, it combines simple Rock, Paper, Scissors strategy game with addictive (and expensive) card collecting mechanics. It leverages the strong IP and brand recognition of 8 classic Tekken Characters which encourage players to buy in and promises a real world tie into physical cards in summer 2013 on its iTunes page. The graphics are 3D and would make a great stepping stone along the way to creating an actual Tekken fighting game, which many consumers are eagerly awaiting. There are strong monetization features in this game such as multi-day events, 190 cards to collect (at as much as $6 for 5 random cards) and energy refills at $0.25 per match. Read the rest of this entry
Sonic Dash stands out with its clean UI, stellar graphics and great first time user experience. Possibly the best endless runner right now as Sega Mobile continues its strong release of titles in the past 6 months with Sonic Dash. It’s nice to see a large studio leveraging great IP with smart fremium design, they must have a strong team. There is a great mission system in this game which rewards players with premium currency and increased scoring potential, a nice balance of reward and game play value. However, current missions need to be put in the players face more often because they currently only show up on the pause menu or when players click on an icon of a trophy, which most players wouldn’t associate with missions. Another stand out feature is the monetization system, Read the rest of this entry
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