February 2024 Casino Report
Mechanic Insights: Top Casino Apps Are Using Merge Mini–Games to Drive Engagement and Spend
Breakout App: Legendary Hero Slots’ Revenue Jumps 43% Since December
Breakout App: Bingo Home Design Breaks into the Top 100 Casino Apps
Market Watch: Club-Wide Reward Meters, Robust Pet Leveling, and Merge Gameplay
Top Casino Apps Are Using Merge Mini–Games to DriveEngagement and Spend
Last month, Jackpot World and Bingo Party both released mini–gamesthat center around merge mechanics. Although merge gameplay is typically found in the casual market, it’s becoming more common in the casino market. Top casino apps are likely experimenting with merge mini–games because:
- Mini–games based on mechanics inspired by casual genres generate substantially more revenue than those that use casino mechanics.
- Merge apps are growing in popularity.
- Merge gameplay is more deterministic compared to luck-based casino features.
Given the strong performance of casual-inspired mini–games, casinoapps should continue to experiment with mechanics from other casual genres, like match-3. The most common casual-inspired mechanics in mini–games are board games, but there have also been two custom design-inspired mini–games in the past year.
Read this month’s Headline Release for our full analysis, which examines how Jackpot World’s merge mini-game gently acclimates players who are unfamiliar with merge mechanics, and how it uses multiple progressions and purchase offers to drive engagement and spend.
Legendary Hero Slots’ Revenue Jumps 43% Since December
Since its launch in September, Legendary Hero Slots has consistently ranked within the top 150 casino apps. The app distinguishes itself from other slots apps by centering players’ experience around a robust quest progression, maintaining a consistent fantasy theme for all of its machines, and including a board game in which players battle dragons.
See our full analysis for teardowns of the app’s quest progression and board game.
Bingo Home Design Breaks into the Top 100 CasinoApps
Bingo Home Design broke into the top 100 casino apps in November, five months after its launch. Since we previously covered the app in May, Bingo Home Design has introduced robust social features, an extensive collection feature, and increased daily bonuses.
Check out our full analysis to learn how the app draws inspiration from successful casual apps for its advertising strategies.
Club-Wide Reward Meters, Robust Pet Leveling, and More Merge Gameplay
A club event in Jackpot World drives engagement in the app’s Coin Master-inspired feature. Players loot and attack islands in the feature to fill five club-wide reward meters.
A level feature in Cash Tornado includes two upgrade systems and two pets. Increasing a pet’s level improves the prizes won during slot spins. Leveling a pet’s star power increases the currency received from IAPs and unlocks a special ability for the pet.
Bingo Party’s new mini-game closely replicates the merge mini–gamesin casual apps such as Gardenscapes. Players spend energy to create merge items from generators, merge identical items to create new items, and create certain items via merging to complete challenges.
Read our teardowns of all notable releases in this month’s Market Watch.
