Puzzle games are one of the most popular subcategories in the global casual gaming market. For developers, puzzle games have low development costs, short production cycles, and a high potential to become hits. According to data from Sensor Tower, puzzle games have accumulated over 50 billion downloads globally and have generated over $42 billion in revenue. Despite the overall decline in global mobile game revenue, puzzle games have achieved counter-trend growth, underscoring their immense market potential.
However, due to the popularity of puzzle games, an increasing number of developers are entering this space. Earlier this year, a drag-and-drop puzzle casual mobile game garnered over tens of millions of downloads globally within just two months, sparking a "puzzle craze". In this competitive landscape, how can Mirai make its similar product, "Help Me: Tricky Puzzle" stand out?
About Mirai
Mirai is a Vietnamese developer and publisher focused on mobile games. Over the past two years, the company has successfully launched over 60 products with its innovative game design and precise market positioning. Some of its representative casual mobile games include "Mix Monster Makeover 2" and "Guess Monster Voice," with a combined global download count exceeding 60 million.
"Help Me: Tricky Puzzle"
"Help Me: Tricky Puzzle" is a matchstick-style puzzle hyper-casual mobile game released by Mirai in the first half of 2024. Players assume the role of a puzzle solver in the game, tackling a series of challenges from daily life. The game's overall theme is quirky and curious. The core gameplay involves drag-and-drop mechanics, making it a simple and easy-to-play game.
Source:《Help Me: Tricky Puzzle》
Targets and Challenges
Mirai faced significant difficulties when entering the markets of the United States and South Korea. During the initial launch of their product, the market was flooded with puzzle games similar to "Help Me: Tricky Puzzle." Furthermore, other developers in the same space were already leading the pack and achieving good results, posing a challenge of both homogenized competition and a race for market share for Mirai. Additionally, "Help Me: Tricky Puzzle" needed to consider localization strategies for different regions, including language, style, and preferences.
In light of these challenges, Mirai decided to partner with NetMarvel. NetMarvel, based on the actual circumstances, identified goals to help Mirai achieve rapid user acquisition and shorten the payback period.
Solution Effectiveness
NetMarvel successfully assisted Mirai in achieving its expected goals through the following operational strategies.
01. Based on preliminary research and proprietary data, target identification
In the early stages of the project, NetMarvel conducted in-depth research on the characteristics, tone, and target audience of this mobile game, while leveraging its own database resources to quickly establish a profile of the target users. With clear data analysis, NetMarvel can rapidly determine which channels are suitable for promotion, enabling efficient screening and precise matching to ensure the goal of acquiring high-quality users is achieved.
02. Layout of long-tail traffic to achieve overtaking on the bend
'Help Me: Tricky Puzzle' is facing significant difficulties and challenges, particularly in user acquisition through paid promotions. The game encounters a "front block, rear chase" scenario. As more entrants join the market, bidding pressure on mainstream advertising channels increases, leading to higher promotion costs.
To address these challenges, NetMarvel bypasses traditional user acquisition channels. Instead, it leverages its proprietary DMP platform and past experience to prioritize high-quality, similar casual mobile games as the main advertising channels. By utilizing its own traffic resources and efficient channel integration, NetMarvel helps Mirai optimize its long-tail traffic strategy.
Furthermore, with the support of advanced platform algorithms, NetMarvel rapidly matches core users, completing user selection and ROAS optimization within two weeks. This approach led to a 50% increase in ROI on the first day and a 150% increase within 7 days, allowing Mirai to successfully overtake its competitors.
03. Continuously upgrading advertising strategies to enhance overall effectiveness
In order to achieve higher performance goals, NetMarvel continuously optimizes elements such as elements, BGM, and visuals in the materials based on feedback on click-through rates, conversion rates, ROAS, and other advertising data from various sub-channels, iteratively improving effectiveness. Furthermore, based on client's later-stage requirements, strategies are adjusted promptly and flexibly, resulting in a peak daily download volume exceeding 1500+ and a temporary 50-place ranking increase in the Google Play Store.
Source: NetMarvel team optimized the result
Currently, Netmarvel's traffic network spans the globe. With its diverse and abundant traffic resource integration capabilities, combined with a marketing service system focused on product effectiveness and supported by a professional and leading technology team, it has served over 100 top game advertisers, helping them achieve high-quality user acquisition and dual business growth.