Just like when you go out and spot people wearing outfits that make you cringe because they’re "soooooo 2000s," yet somehow make you want to dash to the stores to buy them, mobile gaming trends also have a way of coming back around.

Back when I was a young whippersnapper, playing games on my iPhone 3G, we didn’t need to be connected to Wi-Fi in order to play our games. As games evolved, so did their monetization and live ops strategies. These days, you NEED to be connected to Wi-Fi or even a simple puzzle game will refuse to let you play. We all know the reason, it's not because “being connected to Wi-Fi gives you the best and most up to date experience”, it’s because without a connection I can’t make a purchase, and I DEFINITELY can’t load or show an advert. So, developers decided to start putting hard stops on users being able to play, and we accepted this change. It was aggravating, it was disruptive, but if we wanted to play we had to abide by the gaming gods' rule. 

With a struggle always comes opportunity, and that was exactly what happened with the game that rocketed to the top of the charts, and is currently bringing in 300k new users every single day due to the simple to play mechanics. I am talking about “Offline Games - No Wifi Games” - the game compiled from a one person team that has taken all of the trending playable ads that you see everywhere, and put them all together in one easy to play game. Bringing together classics like hangman and minesweeper, with games like the numerical puzzle 2048, block escape and many more. 

     

They have found a place in the market that has identified reasons why people download a game from an ad (we discussed this in the deceptive ads article), but instead of sending them to a complex 4x4 or match game, have given the user exactly what they want. A simple and easy to play game when they have 5 minutes and just want to digitally twiddle their fingers, and what's best, the USP is the fact this can be done totally offline. This actively encourages you to play the game on airplane mode so there's no disruption in your play. They’ve gambled on the game that if they can gain enough traction, most people won’t actually play in offline mode, they’ll play it full online, and it's a gamble that has paid off tremendously.  

Following on from its success, as you would expect, there has been an explosion of these kinds of games on the app store all going head-to-head with each other trying to steal a piece of the pie. Don’t be surprised if we see a resurgence of games such as Dumb Ways to Die, Brain Training or Doodle Jump with full offline support to give the users what they want. FUN GAMEPLAY!

So, remember the next time you’re working on your game, and you feel the pull to stop users playing because “they don’t earn me any money if they do that”, take a step back, see the larger picture. 1-in-10 of your users might not offer you revenue, but the other 9 are, and giving your users a hurdle to jump in your app is offering more reason to leave your app. 

Sometimes the “data-driven choices” aren’t meant to be followed blindly, you have to review your title with a human mind, and find why people aren't engaging. Sometimes the result isn’t “chuck more ads at them so you earn more”, sometimes it's about opening up your mind to longer term users, and ensuring they have a good long term experience instead of finding ways to make a quick buck.

So as we dive into the business end of the year and everyone starts getting into the “let’s pick this up in the new year” phase of work. Remember not ALL users need to be monetised, not all need to be bought. Growth strategies are a constantly evolving beast, and yours should be too. What works for one may not work for another, so keep testing, keep trying new things, and keep evolving your games.