Insightrackr has released the Top Mobile Games by Downloads for October 2024, based on data monitored from global mobile market.
The list is divided into two categories: Top 15 Casual & Hyper/Hybrid-Casual Games and Top 15 Mid/Hard-Core Games. The report also dissects the advertising strategies and creative tactics behind the popular cases of the month.
Top 15 Casual & Hyper/Hybrid-Casual Games
In October, the Top 15 Casual Games by Downloads saw several titles from Vietnamese developers stand out with exceptional performances.
First, "Mini Games: Calm & Relax" by Rocket Studio surged to the #1 spot in October, with a staggering 170-fold increase in downloads compared to the previous month.
Next, "Tik Tap Challenge", a new release by XGame Studio, launched in mid-October but quickly gained momentum, catapulting it to 6th place in the rankings.
Another standout, "Perfect Tidy", also saw impressive growth in October, with a near 800% increase in downloads month-over-month. This puzzle game from ABI Game Studio includes mechanics such as organizing, sorting, and cleaning, which are very similar to those in the previously analyzed "Satisroom: Perfectly Organize".
The biggest growth percentage in this category goes to "Bus Out" by Zego Studio, a puzzle game themed around picking up passengers on a bus. Launched at the end of September, the game saw a staggering 574-fold increase in downloads in October, achieving the largest ranking jump in this month's list.
01 Mini Games: Calm & Relax
"Mini Games: Calm & Relax", developed by Rocket Studio from Vietnam, was released in August of this year.
Initially positioned as a "mini-games box," the game combines dozens of popular casual games, featuring relaxing puzzles that can be played offline—similar to "Offline Games - No Wifi Games", which topped the download charts in July.
Insightrackr’s data shows that up until the end of September, the game’s performance was relatively modest, with daily downloads hovering around 6,000.
The turning point came after several product updates in October, as the game incorporated a series of voice control mini-games, resulting in a sharp rise in downloads.
By mid-October, user acquisition efforts kicked into high gear, and the number of creatives significantly increased, driving daily downloads to new peaks. Insightrackr tracked a total of nearly 25 million downloads in October.
The explosive growth can also be attributed to the viral trend sparked by a type of video filter popular on social media platforms.
Since September, TikTok have been flooded with challenge videos where users must sing different notes and control on-screen elements to complete various challenges.
As more users created and shared challenge videos, the #PerfectPitchChallenge and #DoReMiChallenge trends quickly gained traction. In the following weeks, more derivative challenges appeared, testing not only pitch but also duration, imitation, and timing skills.
"Mini Games: Calm & Relax" was quick to capitalize on this trend, adding similar mechanics to the game and featuring them prominently in its ad creatives.
Using Insightrackr’s "Creative Group" feature, we can observe that the game frequently deployed a creative combination of "video + playable ad" in its campaigns.
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Within this approach, the video material often mirrors the style commonly seen on social media, incorporating real-life footage alongside game filters to enhance the sense of familiarity. The timer at the top of the video echoes the challenge aspect, linking it back to social media challenges.
As the ad transitions into the playable segment, the focus shifts to showcasing the game’s core content. The voice-controlled actions from the video are replaced with tap interactions, with the user's finger continuously tapping to guide them through the experience.
02 Tik Tap Challenge
It wasn’t just "Mini Games: Calm & Relax" that capitalized on viral trends.
Despite a later launch, "Tik Tap Challenge" took full advantage of strong ad campaigns in the second half of October and its use of TikTok's viral challenge content, resulting in impressive download numbers.
After all, the name of the game itself is strikingly similar to "TikTok Challenge".
According to data from the Insightrackr platform, "Tik Tap Challenge" initiated a noticeable surge in ad creative deployment mid-October, subsequently witnessing a rapid increase in downloads.
However, even during its peak, the game's daily ad creatives never exceeded 130. Given its million-level daily average downloads, this suggests that "Tik Tap Challenge" might have complemented its ad buys with social media or other user acquisition strategies.
As for the advertising creative aspect, "Tik Tap Challenge" adopted a similar creative strategy to "Mini Games: Calm & Relax". By featuring real people in the ads, the game reduces viewer resistance to the ad, while incorporating humorous elements gives the creatives a sense of humor befitting short video platforms.
For instance, in this particular creative example, a player with a face full of facial masks coupled with exaggerated facial expressions naturally brings a comedic effect.
03 Bus Out
Zego Studio's "Bus Out", released at the end of September, is reminiscent of the "parking lot car puzzle" games that were once all the rage in China. Impressively, within just a month, it has racked up over 8 million downloads worldwide.
Insightrackr data reveals that "Bus Out" launched an immediate user acquisition push, with a steady increase in ad creatives throughout October, which directly resulted in a significant increase in downloads.
On the creative front, "Bus Out" employed a common strategy for light casual games, focusing on in-game visuals to directly showcase the core gameplay, allowing players to quickly grasp how the game works.
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In some of the ad creatives, scenarios like "traffic jams" or "waiting for the bus" are introduced, adding more context to the game’s appeal.
Top 15 Mid/Hard-Core Games
In the mid-core & hard-core ranking，several games like "Brawl Stars," "Mobile Legends: Bang Bang," and "PUBG MOBILE" experienced a decline in downloads compared to previous months, causing their rankings to drop.
Meanwhile, "Super Fighter 3", "Sniper 3D", and "A23 Rummy" all saw more than 20% month-over-month growth.
Additionally, "Age of Empires Mobile", adapted from the renowned game IP and released globally by Tencent on October 17th, made a meteoric entry into this period's chart, debuting at the 15th spot.
01 Age of Empires Mobile
"Age of Empires Mobile" is positioned as an immersive medieval strategy game, inheriting classic elements from the original IP while appealing to its existing fanbase. It topped the download charts in several regions on its release day.
According to Insightrackr’s platform data, the game started its paid media campaigns two months prior to its official launch.
Once the game went live, the advertising efforts ramped up quickly, with a notable increase in the number of creatives deployed between October 17 and 19. Downloads peaked during this period as a result.
Leveraging Insightrackr's "Creative Group" feature, we can see that "Age of Empires Mobile" utilized a strategic mix of "video + interactive end cards" in its ad creatives.
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Some of the video ads adopted the common approach of live-action skits, depicting conflicts between different civilizations, showing off the unique skills of characters and units, and introducing the concept of civilization warfare.
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Another part of the videos featured CG animation, and enhanced with rich special effects, to portray grand battlefield scenes. This approach appeals to players who value visual impact, reinforcing the game’s high-quality production values.
As for the End Card, "Age of Empires Mobile" opts for a clean and straightforward design, using pulsating buttons on a static background to make the CTA stand out more effectively.
02 Sniper 3D
"Sniper 3D", a classic shooting game by Brazilian developer Wildlife Studios, has maintained a strong presence in the market despite nearly 10 years of operation.
According to Insightrackr data, the game consistently ran around 230 ad creatives throughout October, with a relatively low proportion of new assets being introduced. This suggests a stable user acquisition strategy as the game progresses into the later stages of its lifecycle.
For advertising creatives, the "first-person perspective" has always been a core element. This perspective allows viewers to immerse themselves in the role of the sniper, making the gameplay more relatable and driving stronger download intent.
In its latest ad creatives, "Sniper 3D" humorously ties the sniper’s first-person view to current trending events, adding a richer narrative context to the video content and making the ads more engaging.
That's all for October 2024 Top Mobile Games by Downloads.
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