Tactile Games’ recipe for making a successful sequel to their hit title, Lily’s Garden — Making a follow-up to a successful game is a precarious task: how much should the sequel stray from the game that came before? Do players love the narrative, thematic content, or game mechanics — and which ones should you alter and which ones should you keep the same? These are…

Penny & Flo: Finding Home is a f2p tap-to-blast puzzle game, developed and published by Tactile Games, where players help Penny and Flo renovate the mansion of a former Hollywood actress by solving challenging puzzles. As a successor to Lily’s Garden, Penny & Flo unravels a related story full of…

Genshin Impact is a f2p action RPG, developed and published by miHoYo, where players collect and build a team of diverse characters with their unique personalities, stories, equipment and abilities to explore and unravel the fantasy-based open-world of Teyvat. The game builds upon the chemistry engine, a term popularised by…

Lessons in live ops and monetization from one of mobile’s most successful casual games — Homescapes is a F2P puzzle game, developed and published by Playrix, where players play match-3 levels to help Austin renovate his family’s mansion, decide how the furniture and decorations look, unlock story chapters and meet amusing characters along the way. The game has built a robust event framework over the…

EverMerge is a f2p collect and build merge 3 game, developed by Neskin Games and published by Big Fish Games, where players sort, organise and merge combos of three or more items on the game board, like merging potted plants to generate forests, to create and grow collections, unlock characters…

Harshal Karvande, Game Design Lead at Rovio, deconstructs the hit mobile game’s season pass and XP system — Battle Legion is a F2P strategy game, developed and published by Traplight, where players collect, upgrade and customize a deck of army units that engage in quick, auto-play, bite-sized battles. Players earn XP after each victorious battle, which advances them on the fortnightly season pass. Players also have a reserve…

Mario Kart Tour is a f2p go-kart racing game, developed and published by Nintendo, where players collect drivers, karts and gliders from the Mario franchise and race against other players to on courses inspired by real-world cities in addition to classic Mario Kart courses. The Mario Kart games are primarily…

Township is a f2p farming and city building simulation game, developed and published by Playrix, where players harvest crops, craft goods and trade resources as they help fun, charismatic townspeople with their orders and build and decorate their dream town. Over the last few years, Township has build upon the…

Battle Legion is a f2p strategy game, developed and published by Traplight, where players collect, upgrade and customize a deck of army units that engage in quick, auto-play, bite-sized battles. Players earn XP after each victorious battle that advances them on the fortnightly season pass. Players also have a reserve…