3 things you can learn from the # 1 music game Tiles Hop: EDM Rush — A Creative perspective
Introduction
Tiles Hop is one of our most popular mobile music games. Since its launch in January 2018, the game has steadily amassed a remarkable following by music lovers. By May 2023, its popularity has surged, approaching an impressive milestone of nearly 1 billion downloads. Among these downloads, 836 million have been on Android, while iOS users have contributed 111 million downloads. The game also currently ranked #4 in the US on game casual/music category.
Like any other music game, Tiles Hop’s gameplay is simple and easy to adopt. The user controls a bouncing ball, which jumps on magic rooftop tiles, matching them to the beat, and hopping to the music. Players can unlock numerous songs across various categories such as pop, rock, EDM, and hip-hop, providing them with a broad selection of options to enjoy.
ASO — App store optimization
We conducted numerous tests and experiments, mainly focusing on the Android platform to enhance the user experience. In QI, 2023 we carried out 32 tests, with a 65% success rate in the 21 tests that were applied. These tests focused on seasonal themes such as Valentine’s Day, Carnival, and Ramadan, and the creative team noticed that icons were the most challenging to get it right. In general, users tend to drop when the icon in ads and stores are not consistent, highlighting the significance of icon design.
We discovered during our testing that the game’s EDM spirit, energy, vibrancy, and modern look are crucial to its success. We also learned that incorporating bright colors and neon art styles creates a consistent store presence. Additionally, we found that icon design should be evaluated separately from other elements such as screenshots, trailers, and feature images. This allows for an effective and fair testing environment.
Creative Advertising campaigns
We’re all about staying on top of the latest trends and maximizing user engagement, which is why we take inspiration from seasonal and trending elements like popular songs, games, movies, and TikTok trends. In fact, we’ve learned from our data that using popular songs can significantly increase user retention.
To ensure maximum engagement, we’ve put a lot of effort into the design of our banners. They’re sleek, eye-catching, and highlight the gameplay in a way that’s impossible to ignore. Our video ads are also short and sweet, with a maximum duration of 25 seconds. We keep the intro under 3 seconds and add a touch of humor with funny memes or videos.
One of our recent success stories is Duet Cats, where our creative team used a cat theme to create compelling videos that really resonated with our audience. We also leveraged popular songs like “Hai phút hơn” by Pháo to boost engagement.
Our seasonal campaigns have also performed exceptionally well. For example, our Carnival campaign had an impressive 45,152 installs. And we saw great results with our campaigns for Ramadan and Valentine’s Day as well.
All in all, we’re constantly learning from our data and striving to use the latest trends and techniques to keep our users engaged and coming back for more.
Conclusion
The key takeaways from this case are the importance of consistent and attention-grabbing icon design in ASO, as well as the need to leverage popular trends and elements in paid ads. Seasonal events work particularly well, especially in countries that celebrate them. For example, Carnival in Brazil is a prime example of a popular seasonal event. Additionally, maintaining the game’s unique style and incorporating bright colors and humor in ad designs can also increase user engagement.
