Turnkey hypercasual game development
According to Statista portal, hyper casual games are in the first place in terms of downloads, with 46% of cell phone owners playing them. In 2018, such games were downloaded more than 770 million times. Some developers like Voodoo only make hyper casual games and make good money from them.
We will talk about what is the genre of hyper casual games, how to make a profitable casual game for cell phones and how to monetize it.
The hyper casual game genre
There are so-called hardcore games with complex game mechanics and a high threshold of entry. To learn how to play it you need to go through training and spend a few hours in the game. Most mobile device owners don’t like to wait for hours before a game starts to be enjoyable.
Casual and hyper casual games offer a low threshold of entry and simple game mechanics. The user launches the game and immediately enjoys the process. A hyper casual game session usually lasts less than a minute. Such a game can be played on transportation, at lunch, on break, and generally anywhere.
The first colorful hyper casual game is Flappy Bird. In its first year, it racked up 50 million downloads and became the most popular free game on Google Play and the App Store for 2014.
Features of gameplay design of hypercasual games
Easy operation
Hypercasual games were best described by the vice president of Rovio (developer of Angry Birds): “A good game can be explained with a single screenshot.” The main feature of such games is the simplest gameplay. The game can be played with one finger.
Let’s take the same Angry Birds as an example. The player pulls back the slingshot with one finger, and then another tap activates the projectile bird’s ability.
Clear goal
The goal of a hyper casual game should be very simple and straightforward. Preferably, the goal can be achieved in a single game session or attempt. For example, the player needs to beat his past record, clear the level of enemies, or just make it to the end of the level.
To keep the player interested, additional objectives and rewards for achieving them can be introduced into the game. For example, in Angry Birds, players received extra stars for a certain number of points. In Super Toss the Turtle, players earn extra coins for completing in-game tasks.
Bright minimalistic design
A hyper casual game should have its own recognizable style. If a game doesn’t have a memorable style, it won’t make money: other developers will quickly clone the mechanics and make the same game, but with nicer visuals.
Examples:
- Fruit Ninja – catchy fruit design and cutting effect;
- Crossy Road – brightly colored square 3D environment models;
- Subway Surfers is a memorable character design, especially the policeman.
As a bonus, a good visual style gives the player duckling syndrome. Other games with similar mechanics will seem foreign and ugly to him, even if they are more fun or advanced in terms of mechanics.
No long learning curve and no complicated menus
According to research by UI specialists, a player manages to decide in 7 seconds whether he will play the game further. Therefore, the developer should not clutter the start screen with story videos, text tutorials, or screen brightness settings. It’s better to allow the player into the gameplay right away.
Pulling the player into the process has been handled well by games like this:
- Subway Surfers – all the player has to do is tap on the screen to start running away from the policeman;
- Stack – the player taps on the screen and immediately starts stacking squares;
- OnPipe – the level loads on the main screen, the user only needs to choose the moment to engage in the game.
Some casual games do show the player the main menu and provide tutorials. Such a variant is needed for games that have several dozen complex levels .
Endless and fast gameplay
One way to keep a player interested is to put a “last time you made it here” mark in front of them. The player will immediately have a powerful incentive to keep playing: to set a new record.
To give the player the ability to set records, you have to make theoretically infinite gameplay with increasing difficulty. For example, gradually increase the speed of the game, the requirement for player accuracy and reaction.
Infinite gameplay is done in two ways:
- Generating levels from block-assets, like in Subway Surfers or Temple Run. The player will often find themselves in familiar areas, which can cause boredom;
- A gradual acceleration of basic mechanics with a change of scenery, like in Stack or Zipline 3D.
Upgrades and Enhancements
To keep a player interested, they need to be challenged and given the opportunity to grow. There are two ways to do it: self-improvement and pumping.
Self-improvement implies that the player will learn from his mistakes, get used to the controls and be able to set new records. Such a system can entice a player for a few hours, but no more. At some point, the player will realize that they lack reaction speed and will abandon the game.
In pumping games, the player faces obstacles that they cannot overcome due to game mechanics. For example, his character can’t run away from enemies or jump over a chasm. The game suggests that it’s time to spend all the coins you’ve collected and buy a couple of boosts.
A good example of the use of amplification is Super Toss the Turtle. The player buys new guns to launch the turtle and weapons to flip it in flight. With each new attempt, the turtle flies farther and farther away.
Visual encouragement for the player
This game design technique was used back in the 90s. After completing a level in Sonic The Hedgehog, Sonic would show the player a thumbs-up. In Kirby’s Adventure, Kirby the colobus performed a dance to fun music. It evoked positive emotions in the players and spurred them to keep playing.
When designing a hyper casual game, you should also use encouragement: when a new record is taken, set off fireworks on the screen or otherwise celebrate the achievement.
Promoting a hyper casual game
Developers of big mobile games like Clash of Clans or SimCity Build shoot full CGI videos with almost no gameplay. For their projects, it works. But for hyper casual games, advertising should be built around gameplay, because hyper casuals are all about gameplay.
Monetization of hypercasual games
The monetization of the project depends only on its gameplay. 90% of these games are conditionally free with ads and in-game purchases. Another 10% are paid, but they too have in-game purchases.
The most popular way to monetize is by displaying ads. Most players have already put up with the ads and are willing to watch them after every level or playthrough. There are three types of advertising:
- small banner – a small window in the corner of the screen. Suitable for relatively slow games where the player won’t accidentally click on the banner and ruin the experience;
- full-screen banner – full video or static picture. It can be shown immediately after completing a level;
- reward video – the game prompts you to click on a button and watch an advertisement to get a bonus or continue playing. These ads bring in the most money and players are eager to watch them.
In-game purchases are also divided into three types:
- de-restriction – the player pays to disable advertising;
- selling content – additional levels, cosmetic kits and in-game currency.
- selling boosts – speeding up experience gain or in-game currency.
According to Statista, revenues from in-game purchases and advertising are roughly equal. If the mechanics of the game allow it, you should use both types of monetization.
Turnkey mobile game development in Kreonit studio
Hypercasual games are the most lucrative and technically simple genre of mobile games. But to develop a successful hyper casual game, you need fresh addictive mechanics and visuals. Otherwise, gamers may not notice your game among thousands of others.
We love making hyper casual games because you can experiment with mechanics and style in them. And it’s also at the prototype stage that it becomes clear whether the game will shoot or not.
If you have an interesting idea – write to us. We’ll make the game, help with publishing and set up an advertising campaign.
