Longer play sessions in mobile games

Summary

Based on a data analysis, I simplified the game flow to stabilize the rhythm of short play sessions. This extended the play session (+46 %) and increased the number of ads shown per session (+230 %).

Under an NDA, I’ve left out confidential details in this case study.

The starting point

The small-games market is very demanding when it comes to gathering relevant data. I managed to collect a larger volume of data, which led me to a few critical findings.

Players in small HTML5 games left before they got into the rhythm of the game. A complex, branching flow broke the flow of play and shortened the session before there was even room for monetization.

Hypotheses

• H1 — Simplifying the flow increases the play session, and therefore revenue from the game (at least +25 %).
• H2 — Optimizing the flow creates room to place ads better — if ads appear in moments of low cognitive load, players will accept them without hurting session length (at least +3 ads per session).

The solution

I turned the complex, branching flow into a linear one that lowered the decision load and let the player focus on the gameplay itself. This created a stable rhythm of play, which is key to holding attention in short sessions.

Within the linear flow I then designed spots where an ad shows more often while feeling minimally intrusive — the “dead” moments where a player expects a short break or a reward — which lowered the sense of interruption and raised the willingness to watch the ad through.

The result

Comparing data before and after, we recorded a +46 % longer play session and a +230 % increase in ads shown per session — that is, from 1.5 ads to 3.45 ads per session.

Insight

In short play sessions the enemy isn’t the ad — it’s a broken rhythm of play. When a player loses flow and has to make decisions or find their way around the flow, they leave before there’s ever room for monetization.