The growth of Hypercasual games from simple and addictive games supported by ads in the mid-2010s to becoming a genre responsible for more than a quarter of all game downloads (per Adjust’s Mobile App Trends 2022 Report) has been astounding. There has been a lot of attention to the business of Hypercasual — from hype pieces calling Hypercasual the next new blockbuster genre to predictions of its impending doom — but there haven’t been many spotlights on the games themselves. In this research essay, we’ll take a trip down memory lane and look at the games that defined Hypercasual in different eras, look at the current state of Hypercasual games, and cast our eyes forward and predict how Hypercasual games will evolve.

The Birth of Hypercasual (2014-2015)

What makes a Hypercasual game, and what can be considered the first Hypercasual game?

Hypercasual games are typically associated with 3 features:

1. Simple pick-up-and-play mechanics
2. Free-to-play with in-game ads
3. Ability to attract millions of downloads

Games with very simple mechanics have been in existence from the beginning of video game history (think Pong). In-game ads have also existed for a long time. In fact, the image below showing a banner ad over a game of solitaire was created by Google when purchasing AdMob all the way back in 2009.

When it comes to the ability to attract millions of downloads, though, one game comes to mind: Flappy Bird. Released in 2013 but going viral in 2014, it amassed 50 million downloads over a short period of time and was earning its creator, Dong Nguyen, $50,000 a day via in-game advertising. While we cannot definitely state that Flappy Bird is the genesis of the Hypercasual genre, it was probably the game that showcased the potential of a game earning serious money via ads alone by virtue of its massive user base. Whether inspired by Flappy Bird or not, many games that we would now classify as Hypercasual were released during this period with success.

Some examples of Hypercasual games during this period are:

• Piano Tiles – Don't Tap the White Tile by Cheetah Mobile
• Stick Hero by Ketchapp
• Smash Hit by Mediocre
• Crossy Road by Hipster Whale
• ZigZag by Ketchapp

So what were the defining features of hypercasual games of this era?

1. Portrait Orientation (with the exception of Smash Hit). A portrait orientation meant that a user could quickly whip out their phone and start playing.
2. Tap Timing Mechanics. In most cases, gameplay was about tapping at the right time. Stick Hero differentiated itself by including “tap-and-hold” for growing the stick length.
3. Endless Mode. Games mainly featured a “keep going until you fail” progression system.

In particular, the portrait orientation and simple one-handed controls became the de facto standard of every Hypercasual game since.

While still in its infancy, Hypercasual games were nevertheless downloaded 1.1 billion times during this period, though this milestone would be easily exceeded in the coming years. There was also less variety in the types of Hypercasual games being released, with the Traversal subgenre being the most popular by a long shot, followed by Arcade.

In terms of publisher downloads, we clearly see Ketchapp being the dominant force during this period, amassing almost four times the downloads of the second-placed Crazy Labs (called TabTale then).

Infant Steps (2016-2017)

This is when Hypercasual games began topping the download charts and really gaining attention. In particular, games like Snake VS Block and Color Switch showed that you did not need particularly beautiful graphics to be able to attract millions of downloads.

Standouts during this period include:

• Snake vs Block by Voodoo
• Rolling Sky by Cheetah Technology Corporation
• Stack by Ketchapp
• Piano Tiles 2 by Cheetah Technology Corporation
• Color Switch by Color Switch Phoenix

Notable features of this era:

1. Simple graphics. Simple shapes and colors could quickly convey the gist of gameplay in a few seconds. Plus, by not spending time creating nice graphics, dev teams could quickly make prototypes and test its performance. According to Sensor Tower, Voodoo released almost 60 games for testing in 2017 of which 12 managed to get more than 5 million downloads.
2. Steer Mechanics. A new type of game mechanic, “steering,” began showing up. Instead of just tapping for an action, players actively controlled a game “character” by sliding their finger left or right. Both Snake VS Block and Rolling Sky employed steer mechanics.
3. Jumping on the Viral Bandwagon. Who remembers the absurd viral music video Pineapple Pen which was shared via Twitter by Justin Bieber in September of 2016? Within 2 days, Ketchapp released Pineapple Pen, which managed to amass 17 million downloads by the end of the year.

The subgenres that were popular during this time were Arcade, followed closely by .io and Traversal. The popularity of .io games (think light F2P games with a multiplayer component) was skewed by the tremendous popularity of Slither.io, as it amassed 303 million downloads by itself and makes up almost half the downloads of the .io subgenre. Overall, Hypercasual games were downloaded 3.4 billion times, tripling the downloads from the previous era.

The publisher charts show Ketchapp still ahead of the pack, though the other publishers, including the first appearance of Voodoo, are beginning to catch up. Note that Lowtech Studios’ appearance on the chart is solely due to Slither.io.

New Kids on the Block (2018-2019)

The Hypercasual era had well and truly arrived, and the top download charts have since been dominated by Hypercasual games. The success of the genre and cheap development meant that many players started entering the arena, giving the pioneers of the genre, Ketchapp and Voodoo, some serious competition.

Example games of the era:

• Helix Jump by Voodoo
• Happy Glass by Lion Studios
• Sandballs by SayGames
• Knife Hit! by Ketchapp
• Draw it! by Kwalee

Notable features of this era:

1. Increasing Graphical Fidelity & Variety. As competition increased, developers could no longer rely on the very simple graphics of the previous era anymore. The majority of games started using bright color palettes featuring bold primary and secondary colors.
2. Draw Mechanics. While Ketchapp’s 2017 game Rider was one of the early pioneers of the Draw mechanic (at least in the Hypercasual space), it became more widely used in titles such as in Draw It! by Kwalee, Ink Inc. by SayGames, and Love Balls! by Lion Studios.
3. Copy, Paste, Innovate. Developers would race to create a new style of gameplay only to have it be copied by others instantly. Those that did a blatant rip-off would be less successful than those that attempted to add something new. For example, Helix Jump was released in 2018, and its core gameplay featured a ball traversing downwards through obstacles. Stack Ball by Azur Interactive Games (released in 2019) innovated on this idea by simplifying the interaction (tap timing instead of steering) and adding the very satisfying feedback of breaking platforms. This led it to be a successful game in its own right.

4. Fake Multiplayer. According to the PENS (Player Experience of Need Satisfaction) model, relatedness — connecting with other people — is one of the intrinsic player needs. Hypercasual games latched onto this idea, but creating a multiplayer component goes against the prototype fast and fail method. Instead, dev teams started releasing games that seemed like multiplayer but players were in fact just facing bots. Aquapark.io, Paper.io 2, Crowd City and Hole.io, all by Voodoo, featured fake multiplayer. These games also represent four out of the five most downloaded games in Voodoo’s entire history.

5. Progression Mechanics. Unlike the previous eras where endless games were the norm, almost all games featured progression systems. Level-based progression and customization unlocks were the most popular.

The download numbers start getting eye-watering during this era, with Traversal re-taking the top subgenre crown. The Puzzle subgenre, which had never been in the top 3 before, took second place, fueled in part by the popularity of Happy Glass, Love Balls, and Sand Balls. As a whole, Hypercasual games were downloaded a massive 11 billion times during these 2 years, an exponential surge in download numbers from the preceding era.

This was the era of Voodoo, going from third place previously to completely dominating the market. The chart also shows the decline of Ketchapp, the top publisher of the previous two eras, as it slid down to fifth place and was not even getting a quarter of the downloads of Voodoo. Ketchapp’s 525 million downloads was actually an improvement over the 509 million downloads it achieved during the previous era when it was the top Hypercasual publisher. This shows just how quickly the market changed and how the other companies were able to capitalize on it, leaving Ketchapp behind.

Explosive Growth (2020-2021)

The increase in competition meant that Hypercasual studios and publishers needed to get creative in order to stand out. Some publishers like Lion Studios and Crazy Labs explored games based on trends and virality, while others like Voodoo and Supersonic focused on games with simple yet innovative mechanics.

Example games of the era:

• Johnny Trigger by SayGames
• Woodturning by Voodoo
• Join Clash 3D by Supersonic Studios
• Tie Die by Crazy Labs
• Tangle Master by Rollic Games

Notable features of this era:

1. Trend Searching. In order to one-up each other, studios and publishers began searching for inspiration from social media. Trends such as the bottle flip challenge and ASMR videos resulted in games like Bottle Jump 3D and ASMR Slicing.
2. Fake Ads to Reality. One particularly ironic development during this period was that Hypercasual studios started reverse engineering famous misleading game ads, like the “pull the pin” and “save the girl!” ads which resulted in games like Save the Girl and Pull Him Out. Save the Girl eventually went on to acquire over 180 million downloads!
3. Choice Mechanics. Games like Save the Girl and Papers Grade Please featured heavily simplified “puzzles” which were a choice between two options.
4. Standing Out via Technological Innovation. In an effort to stand out from others and attract players, studios began experimenting with new tech and turning it into games. This coincided with the rise of the Simulator subgenre, and games like Wood Turning, Tie Die, Bake It!, and Phone Case DIY fully leveraged the new tech to provide satisfying gameplay that had not been done before. Other games like Perfect Cream, Tangle Master, and Blob Runner utilized new tech to create fun and attention-grabbing ads like this Perfect Cream ad and this Tangle Master ad.
5. What’s Old is New. Some games that saw success during this period of time had very familiar underpinnings. Tiles Hop by Amanotes featured ball-steering gameplay and a soundtrack very reminiscent of Rolling Sky (albeit simplified), while Worms Zone.io by Azur Interactive Games was almost a direct clone of Slither.io. The look to the past for inspiration for the future is not unique and has been used successfully as the game Flip Diving (released 2016) inspired Flip Trickster by Lion Studios (released 2018) and Flip and Dive 3D (released 2019) by Voodoo.

During this era, the Puzzle subgenre overtook Traversal as the top subgenre. As mentioned, the new technological innovations in Hypercasual were leveraged by Simulation games, and this is reflected in the rise of that subgenre to 3rd place from a distant 7th place in the era before. Hypercasual games were downloaded 25 billion times during this period, a truly mind-boggling number!

The publisher race sees Voodoo holding on to its crown but with less of a lead from before. You may also have noticed the disappearance of Ketchapp from this chart entirely, a complete fall from grace of a pioneer of the genre.

Something else this chart doesn’t fully show is the frighteningly quick rise of Supersonic Studios, a new studio/publisher created by app business platform Ironsource. The studio was announced in February 2020 and it ended the year in 8th place in the publisher rankings. In 2021, Supersonic climbed up to 3rd place. With Lion Studios’ pivot into the casual game space, Supersonic now stands as the main challenger to Voodoo’s reign at the top of the charts.

Into the Future (2022+)

What can we expect from Hypercasual as we enter the second half of 2022? I believe that we’ll see an acceleration of crossover between Casual and Hypercasual games (something that was already happening in 2021). This will come in both the form of game mechanics and meta elements.

In terms of game mechanics, Homa Games’ Merge Master: Dinosaur Fusion fused the merge mechanic from casual games with a light tactical battling element from autochess games and was the most downloaded Hypercasual game over Q1 2022. Its success is likely to inspire other studios to follow suit, and we can expect more merge-style games to come later in the year. Other examples of casual mechanics include the base building from Army Commander by Lion Studios and Rogue-lite mechanics from Archero like in Blob Hero by Rollic.

More games will layer on meta elements in order to increase retention. Coloring Match by Supersonic and Airport Security by Kwalee include a decorate meta element similar to that of Homescapes, while Voodoo’s Connect ‘em All features a global leaderboard.

Beyond those examples, though, where opportunity may lie is in real multiplayer. There are already some examples like Hex Takeover by Voodoo, which has a PvP mode in addition to the campaign. The potential of real multiplayer can be seen by comparing two Fall Guys clones — Stumble Guys (SG) and Stumble Party Royale (SPR). Both were released very soon after the success of Fall Guys, but SG featured real multiplayer and SPR used the standard fake multiplayer. According to Sensor Tower, SPR peaked at 4 million downloads and $54k in revenue while Stumble Guys has 89 million downloads and $10 million in revenue. It has also seen a wave of popularity in Brazil, massively surging its downloads and revenue this year.

Another feature from casual games we could see leaking into Hypercasual is Battle Pass-lite. It would have to be massively shortened, as the typical length of casual Battle Passes would see most players churn out. But having a separate progression track with cool rewards that’s fed by interesting daily quests is something that could work well. Of course, this would only be suitable for games with enough depth, so we might see this begin in the Simulation subgenre first.

Finally, Hypercasual games are also old enough that developers may begin looking back to the “old days,” and games like Snake vs Block would be ripe for a new lick of paint and a twist.

Looking at the results for Q1 2022, the top 5 subgenres stay the same as the previous era, except for Traversal and Puzzle switching places. Using my looking glass, I believe the Simulation genre will gain more significance in the future. It may not command the sheer downloads of the other subgenres, but the greater depth it provides means that there are more levers to pull to increase retention.

The publisher chart shows Supersonic breathing down Voodoo’s neck, and it may only be a matter of time before it surpasses Voodoo as the top Hypercasual publisher. It’s also interesting to see how close the top 7 publishers are to each other, showing just how competitive the genre has become.

From its humble beginnings to its meteoric rise as a significant mobile segment, Hypercasual Games have grown incredibly in just a short amount of time. Its predicted demise by many did not eventuate, as publishers and developers found new ways to engage audiences, and the “try fast, fail faster” spirit that Hypercasual was born from will ensure that it will not go away any time soon.

A big thanks to Jordan Phang for writing this essay! If Naavik can be of help as you build or fund games, please reach out.