I designed economies for $150M games: here's my ultimate handbook

Abstract

Hello, dear readers!

Wiserax is on the line. After working in game development for over 5 years—designing the economy and balance for projects that have generated over $150 million in revenue — I decided to disappear for the last six months to consolidate all my knowledge in game economy, balancing, and monetization into one work and share it with other developers.

There are very few materials in this field; as of writing this article in the fall of 2024, there are only about 20 scientific articles and a couple of books, one of which is an 800-page tome by Brenda Romero and Ian Schreiber. I have compiled all this information into one article and added my own knowledge and experience, so I believe that my insights will be useful to you.

By studying this detailed guide, you will learn how to successfully monetize games, develop strategies and balance for a sustainable economy, and become acquainted with current trends in the gaming industry.

We will start with the basics of game economics and gradually dive deeper and deeper until we understand how to create an economy that not only brings you income but also provides genuine enjoyment to players.

My article contains 7 chapters in total; the material has turned out to be quite extensive.

Happy reading! 😊

P.S. Dear readers, this article contains a lot of information on game monetization and how game developers can make money. I have come across many comments from readers who express discontent, saying, "Why should games make money? I don't like ads or in-app purchases; games should be free!"

So, if you are not ready to read about how games generate revenue from their players, please feel free to close this article.

Introduction

The gaming market, despite the blow from the pandemic, continues to grow steadily. It is estimated that the global gaming market will reach $189.3 billion in 2024 and $197.1 billion by 2025 [1]. This is a good reason to take a closer look at how games generate revenue and how to monetize your game while meeting player needs.

My name is Alex Karpenko. Having worked in game development for over 5 years, designing the economy and balance for projects that generated more than $150M in revenue, I will share with developers how to create an economy for your project so that it thrives and earns. By studying this detailed guide, you will learn how to successfully monetize games, develop strategies and balance for a sustainable economy, and get acquainted with current trends in the gaming industry.

Why should you even bother with game economy?

A well-designed economy can bring your game world to life, making it dynamic, engaging, and real. Players will feel like part of this world, and this sense of belonging will keep them coming back again and again.

Let’s dive together into the wonderful world of game economy and balance, break it down into its components, and understand how to create an economy that not only brings you income but also gives players true enjoyment.

Chapter 1: The Three Pillars of Game Economy

Building a successful game economy is a multi-layered task that requires deep understanding and a thoughtful approach. Professor and PhD Edward Castronova argues that currency stability, price rationality, and proper resource distribution are the three pillars that will help you create a sustainable economy [2]. Let’s examine each of them in more detail.

To illustrate key principles of economic design, we will sometimes refer to "Budget Adventure"—a fictional game whose developers didn’t really care about the economy and just made things up randomly.

Pillar 1. Currency Stability

Your in-game currency is the lifeblood of the economic system. If the blood circulates irregularly, the body cannot function properly. The same thing happens with a game economy: unstable currency leads to chaos and player dissatisfaction.

For the currency to be stable, it must fulfill three main functions:

In "Budget Adventure," the currency fluctuates so wildly that players never know how much their loot is worth. One day a sword costs 100 gold, and the next day it’s 10,000. Player "PoorPlanner" decides to save 10,000 gold to buy a legendary sword. After many days of farming, he finally collects the required sum, but by the time of purchase, the sword’s price has soared to 500,000 gold. Now he’s running around with a carrot instead of a sword.

Without reliable currency, the game economy becomes chaotic, and players spend more time negotiating the value of goods than on the core gameplay, which can diminish the enjoyment of the game.

Pillar 2. Price Rationality

Rational pricing is the foundation of player trust in your economy. Prices should reflect the real value of items and adapt to changes in supply and demand. Armor should be expensive, and cabbage should be cheap.

However, sometimes the system can break down:

It’s also crucial to monitor the balance between production and consumption. If rare items appear too frequently, their value drops. On the other hand, if a common item becomes scarce, its price can skyrocket.

Another thing the developers of "Budget Adventure" love to do is place merchants selling goods at fixed prices in infinite quantities. Such an action helps developers fix prices, but it removes players from trading in basic goods.

Pillar 3. Proper Distribution

It’s important that the right items go to the right players. You don’t want a mage to get armor and a warrior to get a staff, with neither being able to use these items. This causes frustration.

For some strange reason, players are always dissatisfied..

In addition, players should receive appropriate rewards for their efforts. If in your game a strong player receives the same rewards as a novice, this will lead to frustration and player churn. Proper reward distribution is a balance between effort and reward that keeps players engaged and motivated.

Principles of proper distribution:

If you can balance all three aspects, you have a good chance of building an effective and sustainable game economy.

Now that we’ve covered the basic principles of economic design, let’s move on to the next important aspect — the flow of resources in the game. This involves understanding how resources move and are distributed among players and systems within the game. This determines how efficient and engaging the gameplay will be.

Chapter 2: Resource Flow in the Game

The movement of resources within a game is a key aspect that influences balance and player engagement. The main concepts that help manage this process include creating emotional swings and properly distributing content over time.

But how do you distribute resources correctly to keep the player from getting bored and constantly in the flow state described by Csikszentmihalyi?

Create Emotional Swings

Creating emotional swings is one of the key elements of retaining players. But to understand how it works, let’s turn to the science of the brain—neurobiology.

Our brain, the result of millions of years of evolution, constantly seeks balance between stimulation and satisfaction. Two neurotransmitters play a central role in this process: dopamine and endorphins.

Dopamine is the "anticipation hormone" that motivates us to keep going in hopes of a reward. It is activated during moments of expectation, whether it's waiting for a new level, a rare item, or defeating a tough boss. In an evolutionary context, dopamine was crucial for survival. Imagine our ancestors: searching for food, avoiding predators—these activities required constant effort and activity. Dopamine in such situations "turned on" motivation and maintained interest in seeking rewards, even when they were just beyond the horizon.

Endorphins, on the other hand, are released when the reward is received, causing feelings of joy and satisfaction. It’s like an internal "prize" for achieving a goal. Endorphins also have a pain-relieving effect, which literally helps us "forget" the difficulties we faced on the way to success. In games, as in life, endorphins encourage us to return to what brings pleasure and fulfillment.

Now, understanding how these neurotransmitters work, it becomes clear why emotional swings are not just about playing with resources, but about the science of keeping the player in a constant state of seeking and satisfaction. It’s important not only to reward the player but also to skillfully create moments of anticipation, so dopamine drives them to new achievements, while endorphins reinforce success and the desire to continue.

Players should experience two or three different emotions in a single session. This helps maintain interest and motivation. If players experience frustration several times in a row, they may lose interest in the game. Properly managing emotions through resource distribution and level design is key to success.

Spread Content Over Time

Spreading content over time is another important aspect of maintaining player interest. At the beginning of the game, you should generously distribute content to grab players' attention and give them the chance to feel successful. In the first few sessions, players should receive rewards quickly and easily. This allows them to familiarize themselves with the game’s resources and become accustomed to them.

As progress is made, the pace should slow down, requiring players to put in more effort to earn rewards. This helps create a sense of scarcity, encouraging players to invest more into the game. For example, if players begin to struggle with passing levels, they may turn to boosters or other paid upgrades if it fits within the game’s monetization strategy.

Sources and Spend Points: Managing Resource Flow

Now, let's move on to the key concepts of resource distribution—spend points and sources [3].

It’s like managing finances in your personal banking app. Sources—where the player earns resources. In a game, these can include:

On the other hand, spend points are where the currency earned from sources is drained. We will explore spend points and sources in more detail in chapters 4 and 5.

Too many resources from sources—and the balance overflows, leading to inflation. Too few—and players lose interest. Balancing between sources and spend points is the key to a stable game economy.

Now that you know what sources and spend points your player has, you can build a Resource Flowchart (which can be done even in the early stages of game development).

Caption: When designing the resource flow in your game, it’s crucial to account for even the smallest spend and income sources so that developers can see the full picture.

As a developer, you’ve set up analytical events on all the key mechanics of your game, and you have access to the product’s analytics—you know how much of a resource, like money, the player received from the "Loot" or "Quests" categories. By calculating the percentage of total flow using the Resource Flow Chart, you can easily see where in your game there are areas for improvement, where you’re oversupplying, and where you’re asking too little.

You can create a similar flowchart for all of your game’s mechanics, linking them into a single ecosystem to understand how introducing a new mechanic will impact the economy of your project. Tools like Machinations.io, Miro, or classic GS/Excel tables can be used to build such flowcharts.

Questions to Consider:

Now that we’ve covered resource flows in the game, I suggest we delve deeper into the player, for whom we are striving. Using examples from scientific research, we will try to better understand the nature of the people who play our games and attempt to answer the question:

Chapter 3: Player Psychology and Game Economy

Entertaining the human brain is incredibly challenging, as it is one of the most mysterious and complex objects in the universe. What’s worse, most of its work is done secretly from our consciousness. Think about it: when was the last time you consciously controlled your body position or breathing rate? As you read this text, you probably aren’t aware of how your eyes are moving across the lines. Are they moving smoothly or making tiny jumps? You’ve been reading books all your life, but perhaps you’ve never thought about how this process works. Similarly, when you speak, you don’t always realize what you’re about to say until the words leave your lips. Who’s doing all these subconscious calculations?

Here’s another example: you’ve probably driven along a winding road hundreds of times, turning the steering wheel at just the right angle. Can you even recall how you tracked the curves of the road? Strangely enough, after reading the phrase "imagine eating a burger with pickles," your mouth suddenly fills with saliva. Why? Who gave the command?

Here’s one of Jesse Schell’s favorite examples from his bestseller The Art of Game Design. Call your friend and ask them to do these three things:

If your friend answered "toast," congratulations! You’ve caught them in a subconscious trap because the correct answer, of course, is "bread." By repeating the word "post" too often, the brain cleverly associates it with something similar—and there you have "toast"! This is a classic example of how certain stimuli can alter our expectations and decisions.

Unlike a book or movie, where the hero’s path is predetermined, in a game, every player is free to choose their own path. And this makes the game designer’s task both challenging and fascinating. We can only guess how the player will play our game.

Since the topic of player psychology remains underexplored, I reviewed all available studies as of summer 2024 relevant to game economics. In this chapter, I will reference scientific research to enhance the credibility of the information presented and minimize subjective interpretations.

Game Difficulty and Advertising

A study conducted by Dardis et al. (2019) found that game difficulty can provoke negative emotional reactions in players, which, in turn, reduces the effectiveness of advertising [4]. In hardcore games, advertising is less effective.

As a result, we can speculate why the advertising monetization format has succeeded primarily in casual games, while in competitive games, only IAP (in-app purchases) dominates. Imagine the frustration caused by forced ads during an intense battle with an opposing team.

Let the Player Try

Another study on ad-based monetization, conducted by Lee & Shin (2017), analyzed data from a mobile app in Korea, collecting 1,404,295 transaction records from September 2013 to May 2014.

Providing users with free in-game items can create a trial effect and increase the likelihood of users making in-app purchases. Analyzing user behavior data within the app, the researchers found that users who were offered a free in-game item as a reward were more likely to make a purchase [5].

Providing players with trial items increased the number of purchases

Factors Influencing Playtime and In-Game Purchases

Research has shown that game achievements, in-game item purchases, and social interaction positively influence playtime and in-game purchases (Jiao et al., 2022) [6]. This study was based on an analysis of weekly activity and spending data from 100,000 players in a free-to-play (FTP) mobile game over a three-year period.

These factors can be used by developers to retain players and increase their spending in the game.

As an experienced developer, you already understand how crucial it is to grasp player psychology in order to create a successful game. Imagine your game not only engaging players but also motivating them to return again and again through a deep understanding of psychological aspects. These insights are available to any developer, regardless of team size or budget. The key is to apply them wisely and adapt them to the specifics of your game. Studying player psychology is no easy task, but the time invested will pay off in the form of a loyal audience and steady revenue.

The path to perfection lies in constant study and data analysis, allowing us to better understand players and adjust our approach to meet their needs. Step by step, we can strive to create games that not only bring joy to players but also provide us, as developers, with the revenue needed to support our teams and create even more ambitious, better projects.

Questions for Reflection:

Now that we’ve gained a better understanding of the nature of people playing our games, let’s move on to the next central topic of this article—creating and balancing the game economy.

Chapter 4. Game Economy and Balance

Welcome to the lab! We've arrived at one of the key sections of this article.

If you start searching online right now for specific examples of game balance, templates, and formulas, you’ll be surprised because the best you’ll find are fan-made tables of constants and guides on mechanics. There are two main reasons for this:

In this chapter, I will attempt not only to go beyond standard recommendations but also to give you a universal tool for balancing your game.

Author's Note

When I started working on this chapter, I spent a long time thinking about how to approach game balance. After all, it is an incredibly deep and multifaceted topic. Game balance isn’t just a set of numbers to put into a table. It encompasses player experiences, interactions of game elements, engagement, rewards, and, of course, the overall experience.

The last book I read on game balance, Game Balance by Ian Schreiber and Brenda Romero, was 800 pages long [10]. Covering everything in one chapter is practically impossible.

And to be honest, even with my years of experience in game balance and economy, I struggled with where to start. Therefore, I decided to take a creative approach—in this chapter, there will be three sections that, if applied, will help you manage any game economy and balance challenge:

Part 1: Basics

Broken Games

Let's consider an example from my previous research on game balance in 2022. [9]

Imagine a new card is added to a strategic card game. The game’s main resource is called "Mana." Even the weakest effects cost at least 1 Mana to use.

Here’s the card: 
"Get Lost You All" - Cost: 0 Mana. 
Action: You win the game.

This card breaks the game for obvious reasons. In most strategy games, the joy comes from interactive gameplay and meaningful choices. This card destroys all of that. When someone draws "Get Lost You All," they have no interesting decision about which card to play—it’s always the winning choice. Just draw it and win.

With this card in the game, deck-building ceases to matter. Moreover, the only likely competitive strategy would become playing as many cards as possible to increase the chance of drawing "Get Lost" before the opponent.

Let’s look at another example.

Consider this math problem and select the correct answer below: 
Problem: 2x + 4x - 4 = 0 <ol><code>
<li>x = -1 +/- √3</li>
<li>x = -1 +/- √3</li>
</code><li><code>x = -1 +/- √3</code></li></ol>

The problem might be interesting, but the choices are all the same. It’s a multiple-choice question where your choice doesn’t matter.

This is what happens when all cards and strategies in a game have equal strength. Every card you decide to include in your deck, every strategy you choose, is a choice. If all choices are equal, the choice, ultimately, doesn’t matter.

Earlier, I provided two opposing examples: in one, player choices determined everything, while in the other — nothing. There’s no balance here, and as a result, the game turns either into a chaotic ride or a dull déjà vu. To create an engaging experience, it's important to understand that balance isn’t about perfect power distribution but about finding that “golden mean.”

Game Вesigner Mila Pilipenko notes, “Balance is a process, not a final result.” I completely agree with this thought, because during development, everything can change, from the storyline to the core mechanics (and, honestly, that’s something no one wishes for).

Now that we understand balance is not static equilibrium but a living mechanism, let’s move on. It’s time to define the game’s core values. Without a clear understanding of these values, attempts to balance the game are like putting together a puzzle blindfolded – with almost no chance of success.

Defining the Game’s Core Values

The first step in creating balance is identifying the game’s core values. From classic value theory and common sense, we know that time is the primary resource for everyone. Your task is to translate all in-game values into units of time.

As a developer, knowing the time equivalent for each of your mechanics and resources gives you a powerful tool. For example, if a player wants to reach the top of the leaderboard, you know it will take them about a month of playtime, as well as how much content they’ll need to go through.

To simplify, calculations are done for an idealized player who performs each action with maximum efficiency.

To maintain player interest, the game's difficulty function should resemble the classic Difficulty Curve, which grows either linearly or exponentially.

Define Critical and Non-Critical Resources

Critical resources directly influence the speed at which the player achieves the main game objective. These resources should be measured in time and carefully managed to avoid imbalances.

Example: In a building game, resources like gold or wood may be critical because they speed up construction and content consumption. Their availability should be limited to prevent players from progressing too quickly without additional investments.

Non-critical resources are those that do not directly affect player progress but can enhance the gaming experience. Examples include cosmetic items or decorative elements.

Build a Cost System

Now that we have identified the core values and resources, it’s time to establish a cost system and ensure currency stability from Chapter 1. Here, it’s important to create dependencies between game values and currency so players can reasonably assess the value of their efforts.

The final output could be a chart showing how players progress through the game’s content, the time required to overcome it, and the necessary game elements.

Break Down Your Game into Stages

Break down your game into stages and group them by difficulty.

Use paywalls—situations where the player can proceed to the next level but must make an effort or spend significant time to do so. This motivates the player to invest more in the game, perhaps by using in-game currency or watching ads to speed up the process in a mobile game.

The difficulty of missions increases over time. Peak challenges are followed by a decline, and then another rise.

Naturally, this is always a double-edged sword: you cannot create a paywall that most regular non-paying players can’t overcome, or you’ll lose future payers and loyal fans.

Higher mission difficulty → Players spend more, but it’s also true that
higher mission difficulty → More players quit and uninstall the game.

Some game economy designers say that no more than 4% of players should quit due to mission difficulty; I aim for this number when designing mission difficulty in mobile projects. Ideally, the dropout rate should be close to 0%.

Track your players' progress and carefully test the balance you apply in your game to avoid excessive frustration.

Start with reasonable timeframes:

The Difficulty Curve

The Difficulty Curve is essential in this context as it directly ties into your game's stages. In our world, matching this curve in games is a necessity, not a whim.

Below is a chart of balance zones based on player skill and game difficulty. As players' skills increase, difficulty should also increase to maintain balance.

The balance zones are as follows:

If you’ve calculated that your game content will provide enough gameplay for six months of active playtime, make sure the resources players can acquire in that time will allow them to reach the projected point—not too much, so they end up in the boring zone, and not too little, so they end up in the frustration zone.

Use the difficulty curve as a checkpoint for your graphs and calculations.

Analysis and Modeling

Your task is not simply to enter numbers into a spreadsheet but also to understand how they interact with each other. Problems of mathematical balance are solved through combinatorics, probability theory, mathematical statistics, and game theory. [10–13]

Simulating Game Economy: Create a model of the interaction between various game elements (resources, currency, NPCs) and run a simulation to see how they influence each other. For instance, if NPCs collect resources that players can trade, make sure the economy is closed, and resources don’t appear out of thin air.

Automated Balancing: Use automatic testing and balancing tools to model and simulate the project’s economy, automatically adjusting parameters under specified conditions. We’ll return to this in the third part of this chapter.

Part 2: Practice. The Good Old Spreadsheets

Spreadsheets are our trusty tool in the battle for balance, and if you haven’t come to love them yet, now is the time. They never betray you, unlike the latest automation services and calculation tools. Spreadsheets are like an old friend—perhaps not the most exciting but always there to lend a hand.

But as with any tool, it’s important to know how to use it correctly. Let’s dive into how to get the most out of this tried-and-true approach.

Organizing Data and Structure

Grouping and Color Coding

The first thing I do when I start working on calculations is organize the data. It’s critical to first extract all constants, then bring out variables, and only afterward calculate final metrics and results.

Automation and Data Validation

Automation helps prevent mistakes and saves time. Here are a few tools worth using:

Don’t Lose Your Work

Visualization Tips

=IF(ROUNDDOWN(S$4$J$5^($Q8-1)+($Q8-1)$I$5,-1)>$K$5,$K$5,ROUNDDOWN($S$4$J$5^($Q8-1)+($Q8-1)$I$5,-1)) 

What’s the formula above? Hard to say right away, isn’t it? Believe me, your future self will thank you.

Avoid Hard-Coded Values: Avoid using hard-coded values in formulas. You likely won’t remember what “0.2234” means in six months. Instead, use named ranges or variables to make the formula easier to understand and edit.

Useful Functions and Formulas

Spreadsheets come with numerous functions that simplify data work. Let’s look at my top three favorites, with specific examples from game development.

VLOOKUP: Resource Lists and Bundle Cost Calculation

Suppose you need to calculate the cost of an offer (in-game purchase of items). A poor approach would be to manually find each item’s price and then add them up, hoping you don’t make any mistakes. The issue with this method is obvious: once the data changes (and it will), you’ll have to redo everything.

A better approach would be to use VLOOKUP for automation. With this function, you can easily find the price of each item and add them up:

=VLOOKUP(A2, ResourcesTable!A:B, 2, FALSE)

SUMPRODUCT: Complex Calculations with Multiple Data Arrays

Imagine you have a table with upgrade levels, their costs, and efficiency gains. A poor example would be attempting to calculate the total effect manually by multiplying and summing values in each row and hoping you remember to update everything when the data changes.

Usually, it looks something like this:

=E7E$2+F7F$2+G7G$2+H7H$2+I7I$2+J7J$2+K7K$2+L7L$2+M7M$2+N7N$2+O7O$2+P7P$2+Q7Q$2+R7R$2+S7S$2+T7T$2+U7U$2+V7V$2+W7W$2+X7X$2+Y7Y$2+Z7Z$2+AA7AA$2+AB7AB$2+AC7AC$2+AD7AD$2+AE7AE$2+AF7AF$2+AG7AG$2+AH7AH$2+AJ7AJ$2+AK7AK$2+AL7AL$2+AM7AM$2+AN7AN$2+AO7AO$2+AP7AP$2+AQ7AQ$2+AR7AR$2+AS7AS$2+AT7AT$2+AU7AU$2+AV7AV$2+AW7AW$2+AX7AX$2+AY7AY$2+AZ7AZ$2+BA7BA$2+BB$5BB$2+BC7BC$2+BD7BD$2+BE7BE$2+BF7BF$2+BG7BG$2+BH7BH$2+BI7BI$2+BJ7BJ$2+BK7BK$2+BL7BL$2+BM7BM$2+BN7BN$2

And this is no joke—this was an actual formula in a commercial project used by the previous game designer before me on a fairly large, serious project with millions of users.

A better example is to use SUMPRODUCT, which does all this automatically:

=SUMPRODUCT(AA36:EM36,AA$3:EM$3)

QUERY: Filtering Out Unnecessary Values from a List

Sometimes, data builds up in a table, and you only want to extract what’s important. A poor example is manually scrolling through the list to find and delete unnecessary rows.

A better solution is to use the QUERY function, which does this for you:

=QUERY(ItemsTable!A:C, "SELECT A, B WHERE C = 'Weapon'")

```

This formula allows you to select only rows that match the specified criterion (e.g., only weapons) and remove everything else.

QUERY is one of the most complex and versatile functions, almost like working with databases.

If you’re unfamiliar with using complex functions like QUERY, especially for writing specific requests, the process can seem overwhelming—particularly if you’re in a time crunch.

In this case, my new assistant comes into play—Game Balance Guru.

Part 3: A Universal Tool for Game Balance

Meet Game Balance Guru, a bot I created specifically for those who want to streamline work on game balance and economy. After a year of continuous improvement and expertise-building, it is now available to everyone, leveraging the latest OpenAI updates to help accelerate complex balancing tasks. And it’s free.

Introducing Game Balance Guru

Game Balance Guru is your personal assistant ready to tackle any challenge related to game balancing, economy, or monetization. It’s important to remember that while Game Balance Guru is a powerful tool, it works best in tandem with you as a designer. It’s not a replacement for expertise or intuition but rather a way to significantly reduce routine work and speed up decision-making.

Functionality

Using the Bot

Bot's User Interface

To get started with the bot, simply follow this link:

https://chatgpt.com/g/g-M5YWlXD0B-game-balance-guru

No special knowledge or skills are needed to start—the bot will guide you through the process by asking for context about your game. The more information you provide, the better it will understand your needs and produce quality results.

Getting the Most Out of Game Balance Guru:

Creating a Dedicated Version for Your Project:

If needed, you can create a customized version of Game Balance Guru for your project. This version can include data on prices, missions, and other game parameters to enhance task accuracy. For setting up such a custom version, contact me on Telegram (tg: @wiserax) or via email — contact details are available in my profile header.

Practice Exercises for Independent Analysis

Now it’s time to try your hand at balancing! The exercises below will help you apply the methods and calculations discussed to achieve an optimal balance in various scenarios.

Exercise 1: Tower Defense — Optimizing DPS and Resource Spending

Tower Defense games are classics when it comes to resource and damage balancing. Your goal is to build towers that automatically attack creeps (enemies) moving toward their goal in a way that maximizes DPS efficiency (damage per second) per unit cost. [10]

Tower Data

Swarm Tower

Only deals damage to flying enemies.

DPS (damage per second): 480

Cost: 640 units

Boost Tower

Doesn’t deal damage itself but increases the DPS of all nearby towers by 50%.

Cost: 500 units.

Objective:

Configure the towers on a 4x3 field to minimize costs and maximize the overall DPS/Cost ratio. Here’s how to approach this task:

Additional Questions:

Exercise 2: Doom — Comprehensive Weapon Effectiveness Analysis

In DOOM, players choose weapons depending on the situation. In this example, we’ll examine different weapon types and determine their effectiveness based on damage and ammunition usage. [10]

Weapon Data

Task:

In Summary

In this chapter, we explored how to create and maintain game balance effectively. We discussed the importance of defining core values, properly managing resources, and organizing game stages. We also emphasized spreadsheets as an indispensable tool for balancing and automating processes.

In addition, we introduced Game Balance Guru — a bot designed to accelerate and simplify game balancing and economic analysis tasks.

Questions for Further Consideration:

However, balancing is just one aspect of creating a successful game. In the next chapter, we’ll explore another critical element—monetization.

Let’s dive into the world of monetization and discover how to make your game not only engaging but also profitable.

Chapter 5. Monetization of Your Game

Introduction

Imagine: you've developed an amazing game. It’s engaging, immersive, and... absolutely free. But what about making a profit? Let’s acknowledge the obvious: game development is not charity. Developers need to earn money for their work so they can keep creating new masterpieces for their fans. If we just want to make a game for our own enjoyment, we could share it with family and friends for a few laughs. However, for a game to launch on the broader market, it needs to be profitable — covering development costs and supporting you, your colleagues, and investors.

Players: 'I just want everything for free, and no ads, please!' Developers: 'Of course, why not? We don’t need salaries.' In reality, it’s like walking into a restaurant and demanding a truffle burger for free because 'I just want to eat!'

The question isn’t how to make money, but how to make money without disappointing players. That’s where the magic of smart monetization comes in.

So, the goal is clear: monetize the game in a way that fattens your wallet while keeping players happy. By reading this comprehensive guide, you'll learn how to successfully monetize games, explore monetization strategies, and discover the latest trends in monetization.

Author's Note

This chapter is the second key one in this material. If in Chapter 4, we built the economic foundation and walls, now we're building a grand roof with pagodas that will ensure financial protection and prosperity for your project.

The topic of game monetization has existed for a long time but continues to evolve daily. If you look at a popular game from 1998 and a similar one from 2024, you’ll see how much monetization methods have changed. It wouldn't be a stretch to say there was almost no monetization back then. :) People’s understanding in this area also varies greatly — some know the basics, since we all visit stores and see red price tags, while some readers are more advanced in this topic.

And yes, I mentioned red price tags for a reason — the methods used by giants like Amazon and Walmart are not much different from those used in Candy Crush Saga, Royal Match, or Diablo IV.

Moreover, the sales market is one of the oldest out there, with real user data filling vast data centers, while millions of specialists work daily to find ways to sell you just a bit more. Strangely enough, many of their techniques work well in games too. Why? Because the foundation of any market, whether it's virtual swords or real goods, lies in the same principles — human psychology. Some like a discount, some buy out of habit, and some simply can't resist a limited offer.

Isn’t it remarkable that, with the right approach, even a simple game can become a source of income for you over the next few years? The secret lies in the right choice of monetization tools, skillful combinations, and a deep understanding of your player.

Popular Currency Systems in Games

Let’s start with the basics again: what currency will be used in your game?

Money/Gold

Many game designers choose not to reinvent the wheel and simply implement the most standard system, where player earnings are represented by gold or precious stones. Imagine gold that players can earn in battles or purchase for real money — what could be simpler or more effective? This approach is universally understood, which is why it's so widespread.

Resources

Some games go further, offering more complex currency systems based on resources or personal items, adding depth and diversity to gameplay. For example, in strategy games, resources like wood or iron are used for building and development. These aren't simply lying in a wallet but are an active part of the game process.

Dreamdale resources for sale

NFTs and Cryptocurrencies

With the advent of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, we’re witnessing a new wave in the gaming industry. Blockchain-based games offer players the chance not only to play but also to earn real money by buying and selling virtual assets.

Imagine a game where each sword, armor, or even piece of land is a unique digital asset that can be auctioned or exchanged for cryptocurrency.

Example: Illuvium, an Ethereum-based RPG where players compete for ETH.

This topic is speculative, so I won’t delve too deep here, but the idea of using a currency that can be converted into real money is certainly inspiring. We all saw the viral success of Hamster Kombat with its 40–45 million daily active users (DAU).

Monetization Models

Now that we’ve figured out currencies, let’s move on to how we can make money from a game. Monetization models are the heart of your game’s financial health.

Choosing the right monetization model is fundamental to a game’s success, and this decision needs to be made early in development. If you think you can tackle this later, you risk serious issues when the game launches. Your revenue strategy should be defined at the earliest stages, as it influences many aspects of the game: from UI and level design to features and meta elements. [16]

Developers want to earn as much as possible, while players want to enjoy games for free.

IAP (In-App Purchases)

In-app purchases are the leading monetization model for mobile games. According to Business of Apps, 79% of mobile games monetize through IAP. This model forms the foundation of the so-called freemium economy, combining free and premium content in F2P (Free-to-Play) games.

In freemium games, players can install and play for free, but if they want a premium experience, they can make in-app purchases. These can include additional lives, in-game currency, weapons, boosters, and more.

What to Sell and Where?

At the center of nearly every game economy is the in-game store, where players can purchase various items. There are two main types of goods:

In IAP, time-limited offers and bundles are also popular — different goods packaged together for a special price.

IAD (In-App Ads)

In-game ads are the second most popular monetization model, where developers earn money by showing ads to players. In this model, players get all game features for free but must watch ads during gameplay.

Main Ad Formats:

It’s important to remember that ads can be an effective way to monetize, but it’s essential not to overdo it so as not to annoy players.

Advertising is generally viewed negatively, both by players and developers, for some valid reasons. We discussed this in Chapter 3: Player Psychology — Game Difficulty and Ads. Most players don’t want to see ads in the middle of an engaging gameplay session, right?

Throughout my career, I’ve often encountered developers who refused to include ads in their games. But after implementing ads in minimal areas, project revenue increased by 20%, and players received a non-forced (only optional) way to earn desired bonuses.

In other projects I’ve worked on, like Dreamdale with $20 million in revenue, ads made up a significant portion of the income. Without ads, the project would have earned much less.

Does this mean every project should incorporate IAD? Not necessarily.

In fact, according to recent studies by AppMagic, games that rely solely on ad placements (mostly hyper-casual games) are shifting toward the IAP monetization model. This is due to rising user acquisition costs; acquiring users in the U.S. for $0.05 per install is now more myth than reality, something left behind in 2020. To recoup user acquisition costs, ranging from $1 to $20, relying on ads alone is insufficient.

Subscriptions

Subscriptions are a powerful monetization tool in game stores, generating steady revenue and increasing player retention. Let’s explore the different types of subscriptions and why they are so successful.

Types of Subscriptions

Below are the main pros and cons of using subscriptions. [20]

Pros

Cons

Examples:

In the game, it’s often best to have both a subscription and a battle pass — there’s no reason to forgo one or the other.

Hybrid Monetization

Hybrid monetization combines multiple monetization models simultaneously. This helps developers leverage different income sources and monetize more players.

For example, you might combine in-app purchases and ads to make money from both paying and non-paying players. This approach is especially common in mobile gaming.

Which Monetization Model is Best?

Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. However, I can help guide you.

When choosing a monetization model, first consider your game genre. Different genres require different monetization approaches.

For example, hyper-casual games rely almost entirely on ads. On the other hand, mid-core and hardcore games primarily depend on IAP.

You can also observe how your successful competitors monetize games similar to yours. Just play their games and pay attention to how you feel as a player; this can help you understand what might work for your game.

Proven Strategies for Increasing Game Revenue

Game monetization is a relatively new industry and, as in any evolving field, new discoveries are constantly being made. Companies regularly A/B test new features; most fail, but some increase product metrics — these are considered successful tests.

Successful tests are then adopted by other companies, who learn about them through manual monitoring of competitors or through analytics services like Game Refinery, data.ai (formerly App Annie), or SensorTower. If these strategies are successful in other games, they are considered proven strategies.

I’ll now share some truly proven monetization strategies. These monetization improvement techniques form a base that works in almost all projects.

Monetization expert Mikhail Khripin discusses these strategies in more detail in his new book, Best Practices for In-Game Shops, which I highly recommend. In this article, I’ll only touch on my favorites and a bit more.

Now, let’s go from simple to complex.

First Purchase Bonus

One of the most effective and simplest strategies for increasing initial conversions is to offer a substantial one-time bonus for the first purchase. Imagine offering players up to 600% bonus on their first or second purchase. This is a powerful incentive that’s hard to ignore.

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Examples of Successful First Purchase Bonuses:

Segmentation and Personalization: A Targeted Approach

An advanced way to increase in-game store revenue begins with segmentation.

Depending on the player’s status, the game adapts to them

The first step is to segment players — dividing them into groups based on various parameters like behavior, preferences, activity level, and spending potential. This allows you to offer products and services most relevant to each group.

For example, it’s worth offering beginners starter packs to help them get settled into the game, while experienced players might be offered exclusive high-level items.

Segmentation can be based on data such as:

Personalization: Offer What’s Needed

After segmentation, the next step is to personalize offers. This means that the in-game store starts adapting to each player, offering exactly the items they need at that moment. This approach significantly increases the likelihood of purchase.

Key Personalization Principles:

Sequences of Offers

Another proven strategy for increasing game revenue is offer sequences — a method of presenting players with a series of offers that gradually adapt based on their buying behavior. This approach helps maximize conversions and revenue, while keeping players interested in in-game purchases.

Key Principles of Creating Offer Sequences

Applying Machine Learning (ML)

Modern game monetization approaches are increasingly incorporating machine learning (ML) — often referred to as AI — especially for user segmentation and optimizing offer sequences. ML allows automated adaptation of offers for each player based on their behavior, preferences, and likelihood of purchase.

Machine Learning in Game Monetization

Machine learning (ML) has become indispensable in game monetization, especially in user segmentation and customizing offer sequences. ML algorithms help to automatically tailor offers based on player behavior, preferences, and purchase likelihood.

How It Works

ML algorithms use a point system assigned to each user based on multiple factors, such as location, activity, purchase history, and demographics. These scores range from 0 to 100 and indicate the likelihood of a player becoming a high-spending customer (often called “whales”).

Each user is assigned a score (from 0 to 100), reflecting their potential value as a customer. These scores are calculated based on several factors, including:

Example: A player who spends 2-3 hours in the game daily and has made prior purchases may have a score of 60, placing them in Tier 3.

Each tier has a base offer tailored to what players in that group are likely to spend.

Example: A Tier 3 player might be offered a rare item for $10.

Based on user response (purchase or decline), the algorithm adjusts further offers:

Example: A player accepts a $10 offer, leading to a $20 package suggestion. If they decline, they are shown a $15 intermediate offer.

The ML algorithm learns from all users, predicting which offers are most likely to succeed for each player.

Example of the Algorithm at Work:

This example is simplified; the number of parameters and complexity can vary based on a company’s investment in ML development. ML models can continually improve with data, using reinforcement learning for real-time adaptation based on player actions and revenue impact. For example, if a player repeatedly declines a $20 offer but buys a $15 one, the algorithm will optimize future offers around this preference.

Example ML Algorithm: Random Forest

Decision Trees are simple structures that make decisions by asking questions that lead to data splits. For example, a tree might first ask: "Does the player spend more than 2 hours a day in the game?" If the answer is "yes," it could follow up with the question: "Did the player make any purchases last month?" Depending on the answers, the tree classifies the player and suggests an appropriate offer.

Random Forest creates hundreds or thousands of such trees, each making its own decisions based on random subsets of data. The algorithm then gathers "votes" from all the trees and makes a final decision based on the majority. This algorithm can be used for complex analyses of player behavior and identifying the factors that most strongly influence their purchasing decisions.

There is much more to be said on this topic, but that is a story for another time. If you are interested in learning more about ML algorithms suitable for game monetization, you might want to read about XGBoost and K-Means. Feel free to leave comments if you'd like me to elaborate on this.

Now that we have set artificial intelligence into battle mode and taught it to segment players and offer the best deals, can we relax? Not quite! If the world were that perfect, we would have already launched Skynet for monetization, and the game would be making millions by itself. But, unfortunately, things are not that simple. No matter how well we train our algorithms, classic issues will still arise that test the resilience of any game economy.

Common Challenges in Game Monetization

Fighting Purchase Cannibalization

One frequent issue developers face is cannibalization, where a new paid item reduces sales of existing ones without increasing overall ARPU (Average Revenue Per User). For example, introducing a new booster that renders older ones less effective could lead to lower sales for existing items without increasing spending.

How to Address This? Ensure that new elements complement rather than replace old ones. In a balanced ecosystem, even boosters have their place.

Hyperinflation

Hyperinflation happens when in-game currency becomes so abundant that it loses value, leading players to lose motivation to earn it. In Diablo 2, for instance, gold became so devalued by the end of the game that players stopped using it, instead trading items like the Stone of Jordan.

Solution: In Chapter 2’s “Resource Sources and Spending Points” section, we discussed managing resource flows. Analyze resource sources and spending points carefully to correct issues here, as it’s often the root of in-game economy problems.

Introduction of new, more valuable resources or currency that is harder to obtain and/or can only be acquired through other mechanics. This creates new goals for players and additional incentives.

Exponential rise of idle game currency prices

Cheaters

Unfortunately, every large economy eventually has to deal with bad actors. In games, these troublemakers are known as cheaters.

Scenario: Cheaters found a way to generate unlimited amounts of in-game currency (crystals, coins, and other resources), allowing them to acquire items and upgrades without real expenses. Analytics showed a sharp increase in activity — players started massively spending crystals and other resources, creating the impression of a highly active game economy. Based on this data, developers decided to raise the prices of in-game items and services, assuming players were willing to pay more. However, monetization revenue didn’t grow, as honest players couldn’t afford purchases at the new inflated prices. This led to user attrition and a damaged game reputation.

How would you restore fairness for regular players and correct the misguided decisions based on cheater activity?

Data Filtering: Adjust analytics systems to exclude suspicious data from cheaters or players with abnormal activity in the future. This will prevent similar errors in decision-making.

Automated Anomaly Monitoring: Implement a system to track suspicious spikes in activity and automatically alert the development team. This will help detect cheater problems early, before they cause serious damage.

Anti-Cheat Mechanisms: Introduce advanced anti-cheat technology to detect and block cheaters in early stages. Use machine learning systems to identify suspicious patterns in player behavior.

Conclusion to Chapter 5: Monetization

After exploring key monetization aspects — from currency systems to machine learning — it’s clear that successful monetization is about balance. You need mechanics that generate revenue without driving players away.

Questions for Reflection:

Your game can become a significant revenue source by using advanced strategies: player segmentation, personalized offers, and careful resource management within the game economy. But monetization comes with risks. Pushing players too hard, hyperinflation, and cannibalization are just a few of the challenges.

That’s why each element of monetization requires not only careful planning but also regular adjustments based on analytics and data. How can this be done?

Chapter 6: Leveraging Data and Analytics

If monetization is the heart of a game that determines its financial health, then analytics is its nervous system. Without understanding how players interact with your product, which strategies succeed, and which fail, building a sustainable long-term economy is impossible.

Why is Analytics Important?

Games are more than just cool mechanics and great graphics. Today’s successful projects are built on data. Analytics allows you to understand player behavior, identify weaknesses, optimize the economy, and increase revenue. This is crucial, as without insight into how players interact with a game, monetization success becomes a matter of chance.

In this chapter, we’ll dive into the role of data and analytics in game development and examine how to use this information to enhance monetization and overall project success.

Analytics for Game Designers

To start, let’s look at what kind of data we need to collect, the types of metrics in games, and then move on to analyzing them.

Identifying Key Metrics

Unlike typical materials that merely mention metric names, this article provides specific examples and explains why they are so important for you as a developer. Some go deeper than standard definitions to help you better understand how to work with data.

Key Metrics Cheatsheet

What to track?

RpD - Revenue per Download

Example: If your game has 1,000 active users and total daily revenue is $1,000, then ARPU would be $1. If only 50 out of those 1,000 players made purchases, ARPPU would be $20.

Example: In Budget Adventure, there are few paying players, but those who remain spend enough to cover others. TommyTheTapper spends a few hundred dollars a month in the game. However, 99% of players don’t buy anything. ARPPU skyrockets, but ARPU remains low as most players choose to leave rather than pay.

TommyTheTapper controls the entire economy of Budget Adventure – a common situation for small-scale games.

Analytics and Data Visualization Tools

Now that we’ve identified key metrics, how do we gather all this data and, more importantly, make sense of it? This is where data analytics and visualization tools come in. Let’s be honest: data analytics is a separate profession. And, most likely, game designers won’t handle it themselves (although, who knows, maybe you’ve always dreamed of becoming an analyst at heart?).

What does this mean for us?

How to Work with Analytics Tools?

Practical Example: How Data Helps Decision-Making

Imagine a real situation: you’re examining the level completion funnel (Churn rate) in your game:

Level 1: 100% of players completed it – great!
Level 2: 95% completed – still good.
Level 3: 90% completed – a small decrease, but nothing critical.
Level 4 ("Spider’s Den"): Only 70% completed it. 

<p><code class="excel language-excel">BAM! You see a significant red drop.</code></p>

Questions to Consider:

However, you notice an interesting fact: "Spider’s Den" brings in $80,000 from in-game purchases and $75,000 from ads – the highest of all levels!

What to Do?

How would you handle this scenario? Is it worth sacrificing part of the revenue to increase retention? I’ll leave these questions open for your reflection but suggest a framework for tackling such issues.

How to Analyze Data and Make Decisions

Step 1: Identify the Problem

Step 2: Gather Additional Data

Step 3: Generate Hypotheses

Step 4: Implement Changes and Test

How Can Data Help Increase Revenue?

As discussed earlier in Chapter 5: Monetization, "whales" are a unique category of players willing to spend significant sums in a game. We highlighted the importance of creating tailored offers and personalized options for these players to enhance their engagement and spending.

Research in "Out of the Box Thinking: Improving Customer Lifetime Value Modelling via Expert Routing and Game Whale Detection" shows that early identification of high-spending players can significantly improve LTV prediction models. These players often exhibit behavior patterns distinct from the general user base.

What Does This Mean Practically?

Example in Practice

Your Actions:

Example of Data-Driven Practices at Supercell

Let’s see how Supercell segments its players in the popular game Hay Day.

How It Works:

This approach monetizes all types of players, including non-payers, while paying players feel rewarded, encouraging further purchases.

Key Rules of Analytics in Economic Game Design

Rule #1: Test the Economy Before Launch

Imagine it’s 3 AM on a Saturday, and by chance, only very wealthy players are in your game…

Few games are ready to leverage and handle such situations. Data from tests lets you see how players spend their resources and identify potential bottlenecks in game mechanics before the main release.

Rule #2: Identify Your Economy’s Control Points

There are "sensitive points" in a game’s economy—parameters that greatly influence balance. It’s like playing Jenga: the very block that, if removed, makes the entire tower fall.

Your job is to identify which parameters are control points and which are not critical.

Rule #3: Constantly Monitor the Economy Post-Launch

Once the game goes live, the real work begins! It’s like keeping a pulse on a patient—the analytics will indicate if the game economy is healthy or if it needs urgent "treatment." Without ongoing monitoring, you may miss moments when players start leaving due to unbalanced pricing or high difficulty.

Questions to Consider:

Here we conclude our exploration into the world of data and analytics. If analytics once seemed like boring work for graph lovers, I hope you now see that without it, a project is like a ship without a compass, drifting blindly in a turbulent ocean. Remember: data is not just numbers; it’s the story of your players—their choices, journeys, victories, and defeats.

Now that you have all the metrics under control, let’s move forward and look to the future. Are you ready for what’s ahead? The next chapter, Trends and the Future of Game Economy, will answer this question...

Chapter 7: Trends and the Future of Game Economics

Today, the gaming industry is not just entertainment but also a multi-billion-dollar business. As players become more discerning, developers are increasingly challenged to design innovative game economies. In this chapter, we explore key trends and look ahead to the future of game economics.

Omnipresent LiveOps and Casino Mechanics Borrowed for Games

LiveOps: Your Personal Feast for Every Occasion

Examples of Limited Time Events (LTE)

LiveOps has proven to be stable for increasing revenue and retention. A timely event can easily multiply revenue. Personally, I've observed revenue spikes of up to threefold during such events. But what’s behind this magic word? Let’s dive in.

LiveOps is a system of Live Operations (abbreviated LiveOps) that supports the game’s lifecycle post-launch. I liked how Mila Pilipenko, former Lead Game Designer at Playrix, described LiveOps as essentially a calendar. A calendar of events and promotions tied to various holidays or significant dates, these events aim to offer players something unique and temporary that they won’t see in everyday gameplay. Whether it's exclusive gameplay, skins, weapons, or characters, it’s always limited seasonal content that eventually disappears.

This in-game calendar has more happening than my personal one!

How does it work? Imagine a player roaming familiar locations and completing routine quests for months (or even years). Even with constant new content, routine inevitably takes hold. Then, BOOM! A new event with special prizes, just for you, ending in only 7 days. The “need to grind” feeling kicks in, and players start engaging actively. This translates to more time spent in the game and, naturally, increased purchases. Everyone wins: players enjoy fresh content, and developers celebrate profits.

Research shows that such events not only draw back old players but also boost community engagement overall.

Borrowing from Casinos: The Dark Side of Game Monetization

Now let’s address a more delicate topic—borrowing casino mechanics. Gambling is forbidden or taboo in many countries. However, mechanics like loot boxes, gacha, or roulette are powerful tools and have long been a staple in top games.

Why? Because it works. Leading games earn billions of dollars from these mechanics. Let’s look at some figures for 2024 (according to AppMagic):

All of these games use loot boxes and other casino mechanics, and in some, they are the core of monetization. For example, in Brawl Stars, without gacha (loot boxes), you can’t unlock new characters, meaning you can’t fully play without spinning for chests.

Players love the thrill and uncertainty. Every time they open a chest or spin the gacha, they get a dopamine rush, dreaming of a legendary reward. It’s not just a random prize—it’s a whole psychological ritual. The anticipation of a reward, rarity of the drop, and time limits increase engagement. Every gamer has a little hamster inside, trembling with excitement for unique loot.

But there’s a flip side. Studies show a consistent correlation between loot boxes and problematic gambling [23]. A study commissioned by the UK Department for Culture, Media, and Sport noted that 15 studies confirmed a link between loot box spending and signs of problematic gambling. This issue raises concerns, and in some countries, such as Belgium and the Netherlands, loot boxes are already banned by law.

Game developers I’ve spoken with feel that casino work is undignified. I exist in game dev to create new worlds, captivate players, give valuable experiences, and help people grow and improve.

But the truth is, this monetization model will continue to thrive because it’s incredibly effective. The question remains as to how business and regulators can work together to integrate it with maximum responsibility.

Multi-Agent AI: Economy Built from the Bottom Up, Not the Top Down

All of us game designers inevitably make the same mistake: we try to impose prices from the top down, like deities deciding the worth of every item. A sword for 100 gold, a dragon for 5000. But what do we forget? Economics doesn’t like dictates. It needs to operate independently.

Imagine telling a farmer his carrots must cost 5 silver, and an immortality potion 5000 gold. What are the chances that someone will miss the mark in this calculation? I’d say 100%, because that’s not how it works.

Real-world economics doesn’t work this way either. No one goes to market and says, "So, chicken eggs will cost 50 today, and coffee, 300." The market decides for itself. Supply creates demand, and when someone starts artificially controlling prices, as governments sometimes do, the result is often disastrous. History offers many examples: a country tries to set fixed prices on goods, leading to shortages and black markets.

So why do we so persistently try to dictate the price of dragons and potions in our game worlds?

Let the Virtual World Have Its Freedom

What if we allowed the world we create to set prices on its own? Imagine setting base parameters and then launching a simulation. For instance, if you’re creating an MMORPG in a fantasy style, all prices are set by us, the game designers; at best, players set their own prices at auctions or exchanges. Take EVE Online, where wars destroy game assets worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in real money. But it’s still child’s play.

What if the world lived on its own? What if every agent—from a spice trader to an ancient mage selling Rain of Fire Tome—decided the price of their goods based on supply and demand? This is where multi-agent AI comes in. These agents could trade, grow resources, and set prices based on availability, demand, and production complexity.

Imagine a bot farmer growing cabbage. If there’s plenty, it’s dirt cheap. But if the market suffers a bad harvest, prices skyrocket. A mage crafting a Rain of Fire Tome might sell it for a fortune if demand is high. Running such a simulation thousands of times would create a natural ecosystem where the economy lives by its own rules, not requiring your intervention. And prices would be more realistic than if you set them manually.

Binary Trees and Lessons from the Past

This all sounds great, of course, but let’s dive into the technical details. I remember how my university professor, Igor Vereninov, told us about the problem of solving binary trees. It’s a mathematical structure where each branch contains branches and nodes that can be solved in two ways: top-down (starting from the root) or bottom-up (starting from the leaf nodes).

If you start from the tree’s “leaves” (i.e., the lowest elements) and try to work your way up, the complexity of the task grows exponentially with the tree size, as does the chance of error.

Why does this happen? Because each branch depends on the nodes above, and the nodes depend on the root. If you start from the bottom, you lack the data to make the correct decision because you can’t see the big picture; you’re solving problems in a vacuum.

Now imagine that your game economy is a massive binary tree with millions of branches. Each branch of the tree represents the price of an item in your game, from a can of pickles to a dragon steel hoe.

From a tree worth 1 copper comes a wooden plank worth 2 coppers; 
From the wooden plank comes a cutting board worth 3 coppers and a wooden buckler worth 5 coppers.
From Cutting board comes...

Would it be easy to solve such a massive tree? Of course not. Top-down, it’s practically impossible—too many variables, too many unknowns.

In my article The Perfect Simulation: How Chaos Makes the World Interesting [24], I talked about the importance of starting from the beginning by setting basic rules and elements and allowing the system to naturally find the right paths.

This is only about pricing systems within world economies. We haven’t even mentioned NPC diplomacy, market laws, city prosperity, and scarcity.

If a player burns all the fields near a major city, hunger should ensue. Or, conversely, if a player periodically invests astronomical sums in a small village, it should grow rapidly, with residents becoming wealthier and stronger.

A comprehensive approach to simulation development makes worlds more realistic and lively.

Trends in Game Store Design

Michal Korek, Head of Product at Hunt Royale, argues that vibrant animations and interactive elements have become the primary drivers of conversion and retention in modern game stores. A notable example is the store redesign in Hunt Royale, where a premium pass and seasonal pass revamp increased conversion by a shocking 52%.

Full Animation in Stores:

Animated Subscriptions:

Animated Offers:

Genre Blending and the 4X Peak in Mobile Gaming

Recently, during a conversation with Oleg Nalimov, Executive Producer at AppQuantum, he pointed out that the 4X genre represents the pinnacle of mobile gaming evolution. But what is 4X? It’s a genre where players complete four main tasks: explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate.

Left: Ad for Frozen City. Right: Ad for Whiteout Survival

The 4X genre is one of the most monetizable on mobile platforms, with numerous games exceeding $1 billion in revenue. Examples include Rise of Kingdoms, Lords Mobile, Game of War, and the recent hit Whiteout Survival.

Today, many developers are already incorporating 4X elements into their games, even if they’re not strictly strategy titles. Here are some core mechanics they borrow:

Interestingly, genre blending has become another significant trend in mobile gaming. Games like Top War and Puzzles & Survival add popular mechanics like match-3 or merging objects, making them more accessible to a broader audience.

In the future, we will likely see more games moving away from single-genre titles, such as pure action or pure arcade, incorporating more mechanics from adjacent genres to create mega-games (similar to mega-apps, which combine messaging, social media, shopping, and more).

The question for you: If 4X is the peak of mobile genres, what will be the next step in its evolution? What do you think about the future of mobile gaming? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Avoid Pay-to-Win

There’s a trap many developers fall into when creating monetization for their games. Suppose you design a system full of paywalls, preventing players from fully accessing the game. This forces players to pay to gain an advantage over others. Just like that, you’ve created a pay-to-win game—a model players despise.

Instead, purchasable items should be bonuses, and, more importantly, players should be able to finish the game without needing to pay. This makes in-game purchases a luxury, not a requirement. After all, players should pay not because they’re forced to, but because they want to support the game and enjoy additional content.

In the end, remember that excessive focus on monetization can make you forget the main purpose of creating games. Why are we in this business? First and foremost, to provide an exceptional experience for players.

Major game studios, which once produced fantastic games remembered by players decades later, sometimes devolve into bureaucracy and business, forgetting their original purpose. They turn games into lifeless, dull copies of the original. You download such a game—the graphics are beautiful, there are no bugs, and the story progresses along familiar lines, but something feels off. You may not realize it right away, but subconsciously, you sense: the game has no soul. It’s just another product on the conveyor belt, created to maximize profits but not to give players a truly engaging and memorable experience. The goal is to create something that touches players, that they’ll discuss with friends and want to relive.

Conclusion

The idea of a living economy in games is that it can’t be imposed. As a developer, you might say, “We don’t care, we’re just making a fantasy game.” But the problem is, with a well-built and lively game economy, the game feels much deeper to the community.

When we talk about monetization, economics, and balance, it’s important to remember that behind every chart and every entry in analytics lies a real person choosing to give you not only their money but their most precious asset—their time.

By creating a game, you are essentially offering people a piece of your soul. Your job is to make that fragment bring joy to players and enable you to keep creating. And let’s not forget: the world of games is vast and diverse, and your unique perspective makes it even more fascinating.

Do you think your work is done? Far from it. Game worlds live on their own. Players will continue to discover new facets of what you’ve created. They’ll debate, share experiences, and return time and again. And you? You’ll simply smile, watching as your creation comes alive for millions and brings you a stable income.

Thank you for journeying down this long road with me. I hope your future games will bring not only profit but joy to millions of players. You’re giving them moments that will stay with them for years. And that’s worth far more than any amount of money.

References

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[2] GamesIndustry.biz. (2020). The Core Principles of Building Prosperous Game Economies. [online] Available at: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/the-core-principles-of-building-prosperous-game-economies.

[3] Udonis Blog. (2023). How to Create a Balanced Mobile Game Economy. [online] Available at: https://www.blog.udonis.co/mobile-marketing/mobile-games/balanced-mobile-game-economy.

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