Project Makeover
Game
Documents about Project Makeover
Analyst Bulletin: Mobile Game Market Review June 2026
GameRefinery's June 2026 mobile market review centers on how the FIFA World Cup shaped live operations across casual and midcore categories, and on how recent launches and IP tie-ins performed commercially.
- The June 2026 mobile market shows a significant disconnect between high user engagement from live-ops events and actual monetization, as developers struggle to convert temporary interest into sustained revenue.
- Major sporting events like the FIFA World Cup drove widespread adoption of prediction-based mechanics and themed reward tracks across diverse genres, including PUBG Mobile and Rise of Kingdoms.
- Market saturation of sports-centric live-ops is leading to diminishing returns, raising concerns about the long-term sustainability of these engagement strategies.
AppLovin Bets Big on Casino Titles to Drive Future Apps Revenue
AppLovin is strategically shifting its focus towards casino titles to bolster its apps segment revenue, as in-app purchases (IAP) from these games have shown resilience and growth.
- AppLovin is shifting its strategic focus toward Casino titles, increasing its US ad spend allocation to that genre by 15 percentage points in 2024 while simultaneously reducing its spend on the flagship title Project Makeover by 12 percentage points.
- Casino titles were the only major growth driver for AppLovin in 2024, achieving a 12% year-over-year increase in in-app purchase (IAP) revenue.
- AppLovin’s legacy Lifestyle & Puzzle titles, including Project Makeover, Wordscapes, and Matchington Mansion, have seen significant declines in engagement, with average daily time spent and sessions down 14% and 17% respectively in 2024 compared to 2021.
The Sweet Art of Feature Adaptation
The document, "The Sweet Art of Feature Adaptation," explores how game developers strategically adopt and integrate features from competitor titles to drive innovation and maintain player engagement.
- Successful feature adaptation requires aligning borrowed mechanics with a game's unique identity and existing systems rather than simple imitation.
- Developers can integrate features through three primary strategies: direct adoption, customized adaptation for game economies, or testing in secondary titles.
- Swift, direct adoption is most effective when a feature has proven market success and fits existing systems, such as the Super Light Ball in match-three titles.
Daily Missions in Puzzles: Why Should We See Them More Often?
This analysis advocates for the more explicit and structured integration of daily missions within the puzzle game genre to enhance player engagement and retention.
- Mobile puzzle games are shifting from passive login rewards to explicit, gameplay-driven daily mission systems to increase session frequency and habitual engagement.
- Centralized daily mission structures are replacing fragmented, time-limited event models previously popularized by titles like Candy Crush Saga, Toy Blast, and Project Makeover.
- Games such as Royal Match and Time Blast are leading the industry transition toward explicit mission integration to shorten user funnels and clarify value propositions.
Win Streak: The Gift That Keeps on Giving
This analysis, published on August 5, 2024, by Deconstructor of Fun and authored by Michail Katkoff and Ahmetcan Demirel, examines the "win streak" feature in mobile puzzle games and its impact on revenue and player engagement.
- Win streaks are a primary driver for a mobile puzzle market segment valued at over $5 billion annually, functioning as a critical mechanism for both player engagement and monetization.
- The system increases End Game Offer (EGO) conversions by incentivizing players to purchase power-ups or additional moves to protect their progress during consecutive win sequences.
- Major industry titles including Candy Crush Saga, Royal Match, and Homescapes utilize tiered win-streak strategies to maintain long-term player retention.
AppLovin's Modern Community and the Power of Game Narrative
AppLovin's Modern Community aims to redefine the narrative-driven Match-3 genre by establishing a new standard for metagame quality.
- AppLovin released the Match-3 title Modern Community in March 2024, aiming to disrupt a saturated market by integrating high-fidelity, character-focused narrative metagames.
- The game differentiates itself by allowing players to perform visible, persistent makeovers on both the protagonist and NPCs, moving beyond the static narrative structures found in competitors like Matchington Mansion and Project Makeover.
- A critical design friction exists between the game's high-production cinematic storytelling and its generic, simple core puzzle gameplay.
Global Mobile Games in August: August 2023
This report provides an analysis of global mobile game trends for August 2023, focusing on advertising, revenue, and downloads across the App Store and Google Play.
- MONOPOLY GO! led the U.S. App Store in August 2023 with $72.5 million in revenue, marking a 67% increase over July.
- Casual and idle games saw massive download spikes, led by My Perfect Hotel with 5.3 million iOS downloads (a 10x increase) and Football League 2023 with 16.5 million Google Play downloads (a 180% MoM increase).
- High-end titles maintained strong revenue, with Fate/Grand Order surpassing $7 billion in lifetime earnings and MiHoYo’s Honkai: Star Rail and Genshin Impact generating $47.2 million and $17.8 million respectively.
Chrome Valley Customs: Can a Male Audience and a Puzzle Game Be a Match?
This analysis examines Space Ape's mobile game, Chrome Valley Customs, and its strategy to target an underserved male audience within the highly saturated match-3 puzzle genre.
- Space Ape is attempting to penetrate the saturated match-3 mobile market by targeting an underserved adult male demographic through car restoration and customization themes.
- The game adapts proven mechanics from titles like Project Makeover, utilizing task-based progression and narrative-driven decoration to drive player engagement.
- Visual design choices depart from industry norms by using a desaturated color palette and rock-music-infused atmosphere instead of the high-saturation aesthetics found in Royal Match or Homescapes.
Best Practice and Strategies for Targeted IAP Offers in Mobile Games
This document outlines best practices and strategies for implementing targeted in-app purchase (IAP) offers in mobile games, particularly in light of increased user acquisition challenges following Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) policy.
- Mobile marketers should prioritize targeted in-app purchase (IAP) offers to drive monetization among existing users, as user acquisition has become significantly more challenging following Apple's April 2021 App Tracking Transparency (ATT) policy.
- Reward-based IAP offers are most effective when triggered by specific player achievements, such as completing difficult levels in Pet Rescue Saga or collecting rare items in Call of Dragons.
- Developers can increase conversion by offering 'second chance' bundles—such as extra moves or resources—at the exact moment a player fails a level, as seen in the 60-second time-limited offers used in Royal Match.
Iteration over Innovation: Makeover Match
The analysis examines Tactile's new Match-3 game, Makeover Match, launched in March 2023, focusing on its gameplay mechanics and narrative design.
- Tactile’s Makeover Match achieves superior core gameplay by mirroring the high-quality board clarity and fast-paced mechanics of market leader Royal Match.
- The game’s level design optimizes player retention and monetization by intentionally creating a high frequency of near-finish and near-fail moments to drive extra-move purchases.
- Makeover Match’s narrative is criticized as a derivative, uninspired imitation of Project Makeover that fails to utilize Tactile’s historical strengths in immersive storytelling.
Project Makeover: Its Fall From Grace
"Project Makeover: Its Fall From Grace" analyzes the decline of the mobile game Project Makeover amidst increased competition and evolving player expectations.
- Project Makeover has experienced a significant decline in market position since early 2021, with year-over-year downloads dropping by 55%.
- The match-3 genre has seen a shift in dominance toward Candy Crush Saga and Royal Match, as post-IDFA privacy changes on iOS negatively impacted download metrics for most competitors.
- Project Makeover’s core gameplay is less competitive than peers due to a 'puzzly' level design that creates a higher chance of losing, which diminishes the pressure to maintain win streaks and weakens monetization.
Hypercasual Market: Q3 2022
This analysis provides an overview of the hypercasual mobile games market during Q3 2022, focusing on overall market trends and the top 10 most downloaded titles.
- Total hypercasual game downloads in Q3 2022 reached 4 billion, a 10% decrease from Q2 2022.
- Despite the quarterly drop, 2022 year-over-year downloads are projected to slightly surpass 2021 by 5-7%, primarily driven by growth in developing countries, while developed countries show a slight decrease.
- Several 'old-timer' hypercasual games like Bridge Race, Race Master 3D - Car Racing, Tall Man Run, and Going Balls maintained positions in the Q3 2022 top 10 downloads.
Companies behind it
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