Coin master primary analysis improvement from a product point of view

Getting into a primary interview with a company I always do some homework.

Even if the job is not mine in the end, for me it’s interesting to remember my process, to be able to get back and review it if needed with other companies from the same industry and for others I think it’s interesting to see my process insights and opening it to external opinions can only sharpen my process and make me think about things I missed or just didn’t add to this post.

So if you have some insights, please don’t hesitate to add your remarks and thoughts regarding my input.

Through my personal connection to a MoonActive employee, I’ve been summoned for the first screening phone interview.

I’ve been working as a product manager for 7 years now, and before that had experience managing a gaming startup project called Cachino, which I’ve bootstrapped from ground zero and managed contracts negotiations with Ukrainian developers and also managed backlog for it. In the end, regretfully enough, the game was complete, but the founders didn’t have enough resources to integrate the game into the market.

Before that running a developing team for the back-office of a big gaming company Neogames, which was sold for 1.2 Billion dollars in 2023 to Australian company Aristocrat.

So, I had some experience with the gaming world, including the statistics algorithms understanding and monetization logic, as well as the importance of the UX UI for the best user experience.

Toward the phone interview, I researched all the games of MoonActive and the additional company they purchased Zen Match and Melsoft.

I’ve downloaded all the games and played with Coin Master, their flag game, and also mapped their competition game — Brawl Stars, as my kid was just crazy about it. He and all his friends. He was 11. So as I understood both games are currently viral in 2024, the comparison between them became more interesting as there were a lot of similarities in the approaches as well as several differences, I have located.

The very important part of this analysis was the users' remarks in the play stores and online, as the community is very active and nothing is kept in the dark, including changes in the logic and algorithms — changing the actions of bots and coins additions to the users for different rules.

Your remarks suggest several strategic initiatives for Coin Master and Brawl Stars, focusing on AARRR metrics (Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Revenue, Referral). Here's a structured analysis:

Coin Master Improvements:

1. Acquisition:

- Expanding login options to include Google and Twitter for Master Coin could increase user acquisition by providing more convenient ways for users to join.

Of course, as always, there are pros and cons to such a play. The question is what is the market share we want to approach? Still, overall, as there are restrictions for 18 years and older, I would say adding additional SSO can be beneficiary for the Moon Active, as they can be analyzed per age and can add collectives that are not yet reached via Facebook.

Also, in the last few years we entered into the world of Authentication apps and two-step authentication mechanisms, and sometimes people are not about sharing their lives on Facebook, but foremost all of us have at least one Gmail account.

2. Activation:

• When I overviewed the COin Master and played it for about a week I started getting notifications something of a type — “Your village has been raided by X player. If you want to revenge — get into the game.. “
• So I started thinking about the motivators that the game planners, hence the product managers kept in mind was at most and foremost — very primal — revenge.

From one point of view, revenge is a very powerful feeling, but from the other, it is very negative.

Let's go back to the basic feelings we have day to day and try to understand what can motivate other players.

That kind of analysis brought me to some sort of revelation — we are a scope of needs and feelings that make us do things on sub conscious level.

We are shouting at our kids, helping strangers pass the road. We are full of inner conflicts, each motivating us to do different things.

If now I am pissed for someone raiding my village, I am going to revenge.

But, what if I have a friend in a game, and he has been raided, and I could help him — wouldn’t I? What would be the sentiment behind that motivation? Why would I help him or her if they are suffering?

If we create some sort of support group, we are engaged not in a personal engagement anymore, but in a collective one. We are publishing our successes and failures to each other and certainly more engaged in the game if we can play it more socially.

So the sentiment in helping your friend would be a mercy. And if you help your friend — you will feel satisfaction and recognition(if the game shows who is helping) or knighthood if it is just a nameless helper.

Of course, creating such a net is an additional significant layer that must be thought through before engagement — how would groups be managed, the connections between the users, the engagements between them, how would, could, should they be paid for their goodness of the heart.

- Enabling friend protection and gift exchanges can enhance the social aspect of the game, encouraging new users to engage more deeply from the outset.

3. Retention:

- Consideration of monetization vs. retention implications is crucial; balancing monetization strategies that don't detract from user experience is key.

Brawl Stars Improvements:

1. Retention:
- Implementing daily login achievements can boost retention by rewarding consistent engagement.

Strategic Considerations:

- Personalized Monetization Model: Adapting offers based on user interaction history could optimize revenue. This strategy requires careful balance to avoid overwhelming users while maximizing conversion opportunities.

- Roadmap Creation: Prioritize features based on their expected impact on AARRR metrics, development resources, and user feedback. Continuous iteration based on data analysis will be crucial.

- Cannibalism and Competitor Analysis: Assess how these improvements might affect other games in the company's portfolio to avoid cannibalization. Also, conduct a competitor analysis to ensure these features offer unique value propositions.

Each initiative should be evaluated for its potential impact on the user experience and the bottom line, ensuring that improvements are aligned with overall business objectives and market positioning.