Hyper-Casual Trend Digest #5

Hi everyone! Today, we’re excited to share with you our new Trend Digest. Check out the results of the action-packed month of February. Let’s get started!

HYPER NEWS 🗞

🔗 TikTok leans further into games with UK test of in-app minigames

Games have started appearing on the TikTok application.

🔗 AdLiven announces AI image Generation Tool to for playable ads

The first-of-its-kind tool uses a neural network to identify specific variables linked to playable ads

🔗 Longer ads are performing better than shorter ads

Liftoff has found that videos between 31 and 60 seconds in length result in a 50% increase in conversions.

🔗 Dumb Ways to Die tops charts, passes 100m lifetime downloads after TikTok trend

Thanks to a TikTok trend, the 10-year-old game Dumb Ways to Die has surpassed 100 million lifetime downloads and is topping charts globally.

👀 One more thing to give you a heads up is coming: Ramadan

We recommend adapting ad campaigns to align with the lifestyle during celebrations in Muslim regions. It’s advisable to avoid displaying food or provocative ads during the next month.

🎉 FreePlay Games Hits 1 Billion Downloads Mark with Hyper-Casual Titles

And last but not least, we have an awesome result from our team! We want to take this opportunity to thank all the gamers and our partners once again!

HYPER TRENDS📱

Zombie boom

Last year there was already a wave with shooters, but now after the release of The Last of Us, the theme with various zombies has become more relevant and popular than ever. We have gathered a few projects to show you the realization.

Last of Fungus: Runner 3d | The Last Of Them! | Zombie Assassin!

AI Painter — another effect that has gained popularity on TikTok

More than 1.8M videos have been shot with this effect, and the thread has split into several directions: art and funny.

lauragouillon | abigailwhhitee | storybookmaze

Time for movies and TV series

The trailer of season 2 of Shadow and Bone has been released and the premiere is scheduled for 23 April.

And season 3 of the TV series The Mandalorian aired on March 1. The advertising campaign was active.

Maybe you’ve heard the news about Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey somewhere. It’s now premiering in cinemas in various countries, so you might keep an eye out for a horror adaptation of the popular characters. A sequel has also been announced on the official Twitter account.

Also you can see “Scream VI” with Jenna Ortega. After Wednesday, there is definitely a lot of attention still going to be given to her.

Let’s not forget about the 95th Academy Awards, which will take place on March 12. As you remember, last year we saw the Will Smith situation in many projects.

Challenges and popular videos on YouTube Shorts

The trend of eating fast food with the Bottle Flip Challenge. The challenge itself is basically called the Bottle Flip And Eat Burger Pizza Challenge. Also, the theme of containers and liquids is evident in these challenges — Flip Cup Challenge and Pour Challenge:

Lidiya Francis | Jojo Sim | Jojo Sim

Find The Boba Challenge has migrated to YT Shorts as well. And howridiculous has some new videos out: a super mix of sports mechanics, mini golf with fans.

Jojo Sim | How Ridiculous | How Ridiculous

Trend-based projects

As usual, we are delighted with the appearance of projects on various trends. This time we want to make a separate selection of the Borzoi dog trend.

* Some of these projects have recently been released, so they still have a small number of downloads.

Long Nose Dog | Lemme Do It | Long Nose The Dog → Trend

And another selection:

Sand Art Mandala → Trend | Sander ASMR → Trend | Relaxing ASMR Carpet Cleaning → Trend

FOOD FOR THOUGHT 🤔

This month, Game Business Analyst and popular influencer in the hyper-casual market, 🧩📲 Carlos Pereira from Rio de Janeiro, shares his thoughts with us. Let’s dive into his ideas on trend research.

“Building lists of the top trends in mobile gaming is not an easy task. Every trend list is based on a methodology, from complex reports to simple newsletters. Thoughtful or not, this methodology guides the content of the list, cutting and including games according to it.

In my job as a game business analyst, building a trend list is a very responsible role. Trend lists have the power to influence the development ecosystem, guiding the work of many game studios.

For this reason, I bring here a top trend based on the best hyper games released since June 2022. I believe that developers can better understand what works today in new launches.

Regarding this scenario, it is unquestionable the Simulators domain. But Arcades, Shooters, Merges, and Clickers work very well. There are still opportunities in Runners, but just changing the theme is no longer enough. Today it is necessary to include some innovation in gameplay, such as the recent Freeplay hit, “Snake Run Race”.