Mobile Game

Taxonomy
Report
—

2021
Analyzing the Driving Forces
Behind the Latest Mobile
Game Genre Trends
 ©2021 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved

Game Taxonomy Report: Table of Contents

The 2021 Mobile Game Taxonomy Report offers analysis on the latest gaming trends by genre:

3.
Gaming Overview

An overview of the game industry in 2020 along with top categories and top apps

17.
Game Intelligence

Intro to Sensor Tower Game Intelligence and gameplay types

27.
Gameplay Trends

Emerging gameplay trends and popular themes

37. Conclusion

A summary of key takeaways from the report

Market Overview
 © 2021 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved

Top Mobile Games Worldwide in 2020 by Top-Level Category

Top mobile games globally by App Store and Google Play downloads

Casino Casual Mid-core Sports & Racing

1
Coin Master
1
Among Us
1
Garena Free Fire
1
8 Ball Pool

Moon Active
InnerSloth
Garena Games Online
Miniclip

2
Slots (Golden HoYeah)
2
Subway Surfers
2
PUBG Mobile
2
Hill Climb Racing

International Games System

Sybo Games ApS
Tencent
Fingersoft

3
Luxy Poker
3
Hunter Assassin
3
Sniper 3D
3
Traffic Rider

Gamesofa
Ruby Game Studio
Fun Games For Free
Soner Kara

4
Lucky Toss 3D
4
Gardenscapes
4
Call of Duty: Mobile
4
Pooking

Lucky Coins
Playrix
Activision Blizzard
Mountain Game

5
Zynga Poker
5
Brain Out
5
Brawl Stars
5
Street Racing 3D

Zynga
Focus apps
Supercell
Ivy

6
Junglee Rummy
6
Ludo King
6
Mobile Legends
6
Racing in Car 2

Junglee Games
Gametion
Moonton
Fast Free Games

7
Teen Patti Gold
7
Tiles Hop
7
Real Commando
7
Real Bike Racing

Moonfrog
Amanotes
GAMEXIS
Italic Games

8
Teen Patti by Octro
8
Homescapes
8
Cover Strike
8
Dream League

Octro
Playrix
Free Actions
First Touch Games

9
Slotomania
9
Roblox
9
FPS Commando
9
Mario Kart Tour

Playtika
Roblox
Hazel Mobile Games
Nintendo

10 POP! Slots
10 Candy Crush Saga
10 Critical Action
10 Asphalt 8 Racing

PlayStudios King Free Actions Gamelof

Game Overview 4
 © 2021 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved

Top U.S. Mobile Games in 2020 by Top-Level Category

Top mobile games in the United States by App Store and Google Play downloads

Casino Casual Mid-core Sports & Racing

1
Coin Master
1
Among Us
1
Call of Duty: Mobile
1
8 Ball Pool

Moon Active
InnerSloth
Activision Blizzard
Miniclip

2
Blackout Bingo
2
Roblox
2
Sniper 3D
2
Mario Kart Tour

Big Run Studios

Roblox
Fun Games For Free
Nintendo

3
Lucky Pusher
3
Subway Surfers
3
Fortnite
3
Madden NFL 21

Shape Keeper
Sybo Games ApS
Epic Games
Electronic Arts

4
Dice Royale
4
Brain Test
4
PUBG Mobile
4
Asphalt 9

E Technology Recruitment
Unico Studio
Tencent
Gameloft

5
Lucky Day
5
Magic Tile 3
5
State of Survival
5
CSR Racing 2

Lucky Day App

Amanotes
FunPlus
Zynga

6
Cash Frenzy
6
Fishdom
6
RAID
6
Rebel Racing

SpinX Games
Playrix
Aristocrat Technology
Hutch Games

7
Plinko Master
7
Woodturning
7
Evony
7
NBA 2K

Shaper Keeper
voodoo
TOP GAMES
Take-Two Interactive

8
Coin Dozer
8
Tangle Master 3D
8
Garena Free Fire
8
Fishing Clash

Game Circus
Zynga
Garena Games Online
Ten Square Games

9
World Series of Poker
9
Gardenscapes
9
Clash of Clans
9
MLB Tap Sports

Playtika
Playrix
Supercell
Glu Games

10 FOX Bet Super 6

10 Tiles Hop
10 Clash Royale
10 Need for Speed No Limits

Pokerstars Amanotes Supercell Electronic Arts

Game Overview 5
 © 2021 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved

Top European Mobile Games in 2020 by Top-Level Category

Top mobile games in Europe by App Store and Google Play downloads

Casino Casual Mid-core Sports & Racing

1
Coin Master
1
Among Us
1
Brawl Stars
1
Head Ball 2

Moon Active
InnerSloth
Supercell
Miniclip

2
Zynga Poker
2
Gardenscapes
2
PUBG Mobile
2
8 Ball Pool

Zynga
Playrix
Tencent
Miniclip

3
Plinko Master
3
Brain Test
3
Sniper 3D
3
Traffic Rider

Shape Keeper
Unico Studio
Fun Games For Free
Soner Kara

4
Poker Games
4
Subway Surfers
4
Call of Duty
4
Hill Climb Racing

CP Decision
Sybo Games ApS
Activision Blizzard
Fingersoft

5
Huuuge Casino Slots
5
Roblox
5
State of Survival
5
Mario Kart Tour

Huuuge Games
Roblox
FunPlus
Nintendo

6
Cash Frenzy
6
Brain Out
6
Clash Royale
6
Dream League Soccer 2021

SpinX Games
Focus apps
Supercell
First Touch Games

7
Coin Dozer
7
Woodturning
7
Garena Free Fire
7
Street Racing 3D

Game Circus
voodoo
Garena Games Online
Ivy

8
Ra slots
8
Tiles Hop
8
Clash of Clans
8
Fishing Clash

TINYSOFT
Amanotes
Supercell
Ten Square Games

9
World Series of Poker
9
Fishdom
9
Mobile Legends
9
Traffic Racer

Playtika
Playrix
Moonton
Soner Kara

10 Slotomania
10 Homescapes
10 Mafia City
10 Tennis Clash

Playtika Playrix Yotta Games Fun Games For Free

Game Overview 6
 © 2021 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved

Hypercasual Surpassed Arcade as the Top Growing Genre

Global downloads for the top 100 mobile games by genre for 2019 and 2020

2019 2020
7B
Hypercasual games were the biggest
beneficiaries amid the overall lift in mobile
gaming adoption in 2020. Top Hypercasual
6B games accumulated 6.3 billion in
downloads during 2020, observing a 123
5B
percent surge year-over-year. Hypercasual
surpassed Arcade as the No. 1 game genre by
installs in 2020.

4B

3B
6.3B Simulation is another genre to keep an eye
on, as its top 100 games saw 92 percent Y/Y
growth in 2020, reaching 2.9 billion in
2B 4.0B
3.7B
downloads. Simulation was the fourth most
2.8B
3.0B
2.9B
downloaded genre in 2020.

2.6B 2.5B
1B 2.0B
1.7B 1.8B
1.5B 1.6B 1.4B 1.3B 1.3B 1.3B 1.2B
1.0B 1.1B
865M 875M
675M
385M
0
Hypercasual Arcade Puzzle Simulation Lifestyle Shooter Racing Sports Strategy Action RPG Casino

Game Overview 7
 © 2021 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved

COVID-19 Accelerated Adoption for Hypercasual Games

Proportion of downloads by genre among the top 1,000 games for each year

Hypercasual Arcade Puzzle Simulation Shooter Racing Strategy Other

The consistent growth of Hypercasual games
over the past four years is hard to overlook as
their market share skyrocketed. By 2020,
12% 19% 15% 10% 6% 7% 8% 23%
Hypercasual accounted for 31 percent of
17
20

downloads among the top 1,000 games.

20% 18% 14% 8% 9% 6% 5% 19% Though not as prominent as Hypercasual,

18

Arcade and Puzzle games saw promising

20

growth of 33 percent and 78 percent in

2020. Subway Surfers was the top game for
Arcade and Among Us led the genre growth
27% 18% 13% 9% 8% 6% 4% 16% for Puzzle in 2020.
19
20

31% 15% 13% 10% 8% 5% 3% 15%

20
20

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Game Overview 8
 © 2021 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved

Hypercasual and Arcade Topped Global Markets

Top game genres by country in 2020

Puzzle Arcade Hypercasual Other

Hypercasual and Arcade appeared as the
Hypercasual
top game genres in 2020 across many of the
Arcade 1.3B 781M
largest markets. One of the emerging
Hypercasual 1.1B Puzzle 508M
India U.S.
countries for gaming, India, saw highest
Shooter 750M Arcade 318M
adoption in Arcade and Hypercasual games,
0 500M 1.0B 1.5B 0 200M 400M 600M 800M
accounting for 1.3 billion and 1.1 billion,
Hypercasual 591M Hypercasual 358M respectively.

Arcade 376M Arcade 231M

Brazil Simulation 325M Indonesia Lifestyle 209M
0 200M 400M 600M 0 100M 200M 300M 400M Brazil was one of the top countries where
strong growth in Simulation game adoption
Hypercasual 352M Hypercasual 293M was seen in 2020. Simulation games were
Puzzle 217M Arcade 210M the third most downloaded game genre in
Russia Mexico
Arcade 204M Puzzle 183M Brazil, following Hypercasual and Arcade.
0 100M 200M 300M 400M 0 100M 200M 300M
Among these, Sandbox Simulations were
especially popular in the Brazilian market.

Hypercasual 198M Hypercasual 224M

RPG 137M Arcade 154M
China Puzzle 115M Turkey Puzzle 142M
0 100M 200M 0 100M 200M 300M

Game Overview 9
 © 2021 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved

Top Grossing Mobile Games Worldwide by Top-Level Category

Top mobile games by global consumer spending on the App Store and Google Play

Casino Casual Mid-core Sports & Racing

1
Coin Master
1
Pokémon Go
1
PUBG Mobile
1
Pro Spirits Baseball A

Moon Active
Niantic
Tencent
Konami

2
Slotomania
2
Roblox
2
Honor of Kings
2
eFootball

Playtika
Roblox
Tencent
Konami

3
Bingo Blitz
3
Candy Crush Saga
3
Monster Strike
3
Golf Clash

Playtika
King
mixi
Warner Bros

4
Jackpot Party
4
Gardenscapes
4
Rise of Kingdoms
4
QQ Speed

Scientific Games
Playrix
Lilith Games
Tencent

5
DoubleDown™
5
Homescapes
5
Fate/Grand Order
5
Power Pros

DoubleUCasino
Playrix
Sony Corporation
Konami

6
Cashman Casino
6
Dragon Quest Walk
6
Three Kingdoms Strategic
6
KartRider Rush+

Aristocrat Technology
SQUARE ENIX
Alibaba
NEXON Company

7
Cash Frenzy
7
Toon Blast
7
Lineage M
7
8 Ball Pool

SpinX Games
Zynga
NCSOFT
Miniclip

8
Huuuge Casino Slots
8
Fishdom
8
AFK Arena
8
Fishing Clash

Huuuge Games
Playrix
Lilith Games
Ten Square Games

9
Lightning Link
9
Candy Crush Soda Saga
9
Garena Free Fire
9
FIFA Soccer

Aristocrat Technology
King
Garena Games Online
Electronic Arts

10 House of Fun
10 Township
10 Lineage2M
10 Slam Dunk

Playtika Playrix NCSOFT DeNA

Game Overview 10
 © 2021 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved

Top Grossing U.S. Mobile Games by Top-Level Category

Top mobile games by U.S. consumer spending on the App Store and Google Play

Casino Casual Mid-core Sports & Racing

1
Coin Master
1
Roblox
1
Clash of Clans
1
Golf Clash

Moon Active
Roblox
Supercell
Warner Bros

2
Slotomania
2
Candy Crush Saga
2
PUBG Mobile
2
CSR Racing 2

Playtika
King
Tencent
Zynga

3
Bingo Blitz
3
Pokémon Go
3
Call of Duty
3
MLB Tap Sports Baseball

Playtika
Niantic
Activision Blizzard
Glu Games

4
Jackpot Party
4
Gardenscapes
4
Marvel Strike Force
4
8 Ball Pool

Scientific Games
Playrix
Scopely
Miniclip

5
DoubleDown™
5
Homescapes
5
Garena Free Fire
5
Fishing Clash

DoubleUCasino
Playrix
Garena Games Online
Ten Square Games

6
Cashman Casino
6
Toon Blast
6
Rise of Kingdoms
6
Golf Rival

Aristocrat Technology
Zynga
Lilith Games
ORCA STUDIOS

7
Cash Frenzy
7
Candy Crush Soda Saga
7
Marvel CoC
7
Mario Kart Tour

SpinX Games
King
Netmarble Games Corp
Nintendo

8
House of Fun
8
Fishdom
8
DBZ DOKKAN BATTLE
8
Madden NFL 21

Playtika
Playrix
BANDAI NAMCO
Electronic Arts

9
Heart of Vegas
9
Merge Dragons!
9
Fortnite
9
MLB 9 Innings 21

Aristocrat Technology
Zynga
Epic Games
GAMEVIL

10 World Series of Poker

10 Township
10 Star Trek Fleet Command
10 FIFA Soccer

Playtika Playrix Scopely Electronic Arts

Game Overview 11
 © 2021 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved

Top Grossing European Mobile Games by Top-Level Category

Top mobile games by European consumer spending on the App Store and Google Play

Casino Casual Mid-core Sports & Racing

1
Coin Master
1
Gardenscapes
1
Brawl Stars
1
Fishing Clash

Moon Active
Playrix
Supercell
Ten Square Games

2
Slotomania
2
Pokémon Go
2
PUBG Mobile
2
FIFA Soccer

Playtika
Niantic
Tencent
Electronic Arts

3
Huuuge Casino Slots
3
Roblox
3
Clash of Clans
3
8 Ball Pool

Huuuge Games
Roblox
Supercell
Miniclip

4
Zynga Poker
4
Candy Crush Saga
4
State of Survival
4
Top Eleven 2021

Zynga
King
FunPlus
Nordeus

5
Slotpark
5
Homescapes
5
Empires & Puzzles
5
Golf Clash

Funstage
Playrix
Zynga
Warner Bros

6
Bingo Blitz
6
Fishdom
6
Rise of Kingdoms
6
CSR Racing 2

Playtika
Playrix
Lilith Games
Zynga

7
Billionaire Casino
7
Candy Crush Soda Saga
7
King of Avalon
7
Mario Kart Tour

Huuuge Games
King
FunPlus
Nintendo

8
Poker Atrix
8
Township
8
Lords Mobile
8
Tennis Clash

Outerdawn
Playrix
IGG
Fun Games For Free

9
Cash Frenzy
9
Klondike Adventures
9
Guns of Glory
9
Top Drives

SpinX Games
Vizor
FunPlus
Hutch Games

10 Governor of Poker 3
10 Toon Blast
10 Hero Wars
10 F1 Manager

Youda Games Zynga NEXTERS Hutch Games

Game Overview 12
 © 2021 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved

RPG and Strategy Remained the Top Earning Genres

Global spending in the top 100 games by genre for 2019 and 2020

2019 2020
$20B
RPG saw the highest user spending in 2020,
accumulating $18.7 billion for the top 100
such games. RPG has been the top grossing
genre for multiple years, with the majority of
its in-app revenue coming from East Asian
$15B
countries such as China, Japan, and South
Korea. Also the top grossing genre in 2019,
RPG still saw solid year-over-year growth in
spending of 26 percent in 2020.

$10B
$18.7B

$14.8B
2020 was a major year for growth among
$14.0B
Simulation games. In addition to the
$10.8B adoption surge, Simulation also saw the
$5B
$8.3B highest spending growth in 2020, achieving
$6.5B $6.9B
$5.7B
a 56 percent year-over-year increase.
$4.7B
$3.8B $3.8B
$2.5B $2.8B $2.7B
$2.0B $1.8B $2.0B
$1.5B $1.2B $1.5B
$0
RPG Strategy Puzzle Casino Shooter Simulation Sports Lifestyle Action Arcade

Game Overview 13
 © 2021 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved

RPG Accounted for 29 Percent of Global Spending

Proportion of revenue by genre among the top 1,000 grossing games each year

RPG Strategy Puzzle Casino Shooter Simulation Other

2%
RPG and Strategy remained the top
grossing genres by spending share in 2020,
accounting for 50 percent of spending
13% 39% 4% 23% 3% 17%
among the top genres. Newer titles were
17
20

major drivers for revenue growth. Genshin

Impact, released in September 2020, ranked
No. 8 by spending among RPG genre games
37% 19% 13% 8% 4% 4% 14% in 2020, earning $560 million in net revenue.

18
20

Casino and Shooter games saw their share

of spending grow, accounting for 10 percent
34% 21% 13% 9% 7% 4% 13% and 9 percent, respectively, in 2020.
19
20

Revenue growth was driven by older titles

such as Coin Master and PUBG Mobile.
However, Call of Duty: Mobile has also been
performing exceptionally well in the Shooter
29% 21% 13% 10% 9% 5% 12%
genre after its launch in September 2019,
20
20

surpassing $760 million in player spending

since release.
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Game Overview 14
 © 2021 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved

Casino Spending Spiked During Lockdowns

Spending growth of the top game genres in each country

80%
Casino was the top earning genre in the U.S.
U.S.
Japan
China
South Korea
Germany
U.K.
in 2020 and saw a spending spike in May
(Casino) (RPG) (RPG) (RPG) (Strategy) (Puzzle)
2020; much of the growth was guided by the
60% top title, Coin Master, and slots games such
as Cashman Casino. The spending surge
Japan (RPG) correlated with a download spike among
40%
U.S. (Casino) casino games in April 2020 amid COVID-19
Germany

(Strategy) lockdowns. The closure of physical casinos

South Korea

(RPG) drove consumers to mobile games as an

20%
U.K. (Puzzle)
alternative.

0% China (RPG) RPG has been thriving in East Asian

markets, and saw a spending spike in Japan
and South Korea near the end of 2020. The
-20% new release Kingdom of the Winds, launched
in July 2020, was among the top games that
led RPG growth in South Korea. The game
-40% generated $137 million in spending during
the second half of 2020.

20

20

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-2

l-2

-2

t-2

2
n-

n-

g-

v-

c-
ar

ay
b

p
Ju

Oc
Ap

De
No
Au
Ja

Ju
Fe

Se
M

Game Overview 15
 © 2021 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved

Key Takeaways:

Game Overview

1. Top hypercasual games surpassed 6 billion downloads in 2020, accounting for

a 123 percent surge year-over-year. The overall lift seen by the genre was also
reflected by an increase in market share, where 31 percent of game downloads
were captured by Hypercasual games.

2. As an emerging genre, Simulation games are finding success in overseas

markets such as Brazil where it was the third largest genre by downloads in
2020. Simulation’s popularity has been trending up worldwide and saw a 92
percent growth surge year-over-year in 2020.

3. The RPG genre continue to thrive in Asia in terms of user spending. Japan and
South Korea saw major spikes in RPG spending near the end of 2020, signaling
another strong year for the genre in 2021. Among the top games, many new
releases such as Genshin Impact and Kingdom of the Winds gained major
recognition globally.

Game Overview 16
Game Intelligence

Art Style: 2D Cartoon Was the Most-Used Visual Treatment in 2020

Top art styles among top games by downloads

Art Style represents the artistic aspect of mobile games, specifically the types of visuals used to convey the player experience. The art styles used by
the most popular games by downloads in 2020 were 2D Cartoon, Hypercasual, 3D Realistic, and 3D Cartoon. With the unbridled success of
Hypercasual genre games last year, the Hypercasual art style, with its minimalistic and clean visuals, also saw wide adoption.

Among US Join Clash

1 2D Cartoon 2 Hypercasual

PUBG Mobile Subway Surfers

3 3D Realistic 4 3D Cartoon

Game Intelligence 18
The 3D Realistic Style Dominated Mid-Core
Top art style by share of downloads among top games in 2020, by genre

2D Cartoon 3D Cartoon 3D Realistic Hypercasual Low Poly Other

100%
3D Realistic was the most popular art style
within mid-core genres such as Racing,
RPG, and Shooter. 3D Realistic games
25% 23%
accounted for 77 percent of the downloads
36% 35% 34%
37% 37%
43% 42% 40% 38% among top games in Shooter and 65 percent
75% 48% in Racing.

Casino, Lifestyle, and Puzzle saw large

proportions of downloads coming from
50%
22%
30% 34% games that use a 2D Cartoon aesthetic,
38% where this art style accounted for 58 percent,
77%
75% 63 percent, and 64 percent of the downloads,
60%
63% 64% 65% respectively.
58%
25% 52%

35% 33% 32%

24%

0%
Arcade Casino Geolocation
 Hyper-
 Lifestyle Puzzle Racing RPG Shooter Simulation Sports Strategy
AR casual

Game Intelligence 19
Camera POV: Point-of-View Examples
Screenshot examples of different camera Points of View (POVs) as defined in Game Intelligence

Isometric Third-Person First-Person Top-Down Side Dynamic

Tiles Hop
Temple Run 2
Sniper 3D
Hunter Assassin
My Talking Tom
Fun Race 3D

Genre: Hypercasual Genre: Arcade Genre: Shooter Genre: Arcade Genre: Lifestyle Genre: Hypercasual

Game Intelligence 20
 Isometric POV Is Trending in Popularity
Proportion of downloads of top games by camera POV

2017 2018 2019 2020 Isometric POV accounted for 27 percent of

downloads among top games in 2020, a
significant lift compared to the 24 percent in
Isometric 20% 20% 24% 27% 2019. Isometric POV was especially popular
among new releases, with 69 of the top 100
games released in 2020 adopting Isometric
presentation. Most of these games fall under
the Hypercasual and Arcade genres.

Side 31% 31% 29% 28%

Despite top games moving away from Side

POV, it still accounted for 28 percent of the
downloads among top games in 2020. Top-
Top-down 18% 18% 17% 16% Down and Third-Person both held a decent
share of downloads among top games.
However, they’re most common among
Arcade and Puzzle games.

Third Person 13% 15% 14% 13%

Game Intelligence 21
 2D Cartoon + Side POV Was the Most Popular Format
Top combinations of art style and camera POV among top 1,000 games by downloads in 2020

Top Games by Game Style

Side Isometric Third Person First Person Top-Down Games with the 2D Cartoon and side POV
2D Cartoon

Brain Out
combination gameplay saw the most
5.4B #1
Side downloads in 2020, surpassing 5.4 billion
Hypercasual

installs which accounted for 17 percent of
3.3B #1 Join Clash 3D
Isometric the downloads among top 1,000. Brain Out
was the No. 1 game by downloads with this
3D Realistic

Third Person
2.4B #1 Garena Free Fire particular Art Style and Camera POV.

3D Realistic

1.8B #1 Sniper 3D
First Person
As previously mentioned, isometric is
2D Cartoon

1.7B #1 Among Us growing in popularity among new
Top-down
Hypercasual games. Games with this specific
3D Cartoon

#1 Brawl Stars
presentation accumulated 3.3 billion
1.7B
Isometric
downloads in 2020, accounting for 11
Flat

percent of the total share.
1.5B #1 Ludo King
Top-down

2D Realistic
 #1 8 Ball Pool

1.1B
Top-down

0 2B 4B 6B

Game Intelligence 22
Themes: Hypercasual Ranked First, While Crime Saw Major Growth in Popularity
Top themes by market share of downloads among the top 1,000 games for each year

2017
2017 2018
2018 2019
2019 2020
2020

1
Vehicles - Car
1
Tabletop
+1 1
Hypercasual
+5 1
Hypercasual
-

2
Tabletop
2
Combat Arena
+2 2
Tabletop
-1 2
Tabletop
-

3
Adventure
3
Vehicles - Car
-2 3
Vehicle - Car
- 3
Vehicle - Car
-

4
Combat Arena
4
Abstract
+6 4
Combat Arena
-2 4
Combat Arena
-

5
Animal - Cat/Dog
5
Adventure
-2 5
Abstract
-1 5
Adventure
+1

6
Animal - Wild
6
Hypercasual
NEW 6
Adventure
-1 6
Crime
+4

7
Music
7
Animal - Cat/Dog
-2 7
Music
+2 7
Abstract
-2

8
Sports - Soccer
8
Cooking / Food
NEW 8
Art
NEW 8
Animal - Cat / Dog
+1

9
Zombie
9
Music
-2 9
Animal - Cat / Dog
-2 9
Art
-1

10 Abstract
10 Animal - Wild
-4 10 Crime
NEW 10 Cooking / Food
+1

Game Intelligence 23
 Hypercasual and Art Outperformed Other Themes
Downloads in the year of release among new games by theme

2019 Release 2020 Release

Hypercasual was the top growing theme
Hypercasual
856M among new releases in 2020, in line with the
1.6B
success of the Hypercasual genre. The top
488M
Tabletop
657M
Hypercasual-themed game launched in 2020
321M
accumulated 1.6 billion in downloads while
Art
632M 2019 releases with this theme surpassed 800
230M million in 2019 . Join Clash 3D was a big hit
Crime
453M among the new releases.

272M
Vehicles - Car
418M

154M
Cooking / Food
348M
Art-themed games are also seeing signals
181M
for higher growth in 2021. The 2020 releases
Combat Arena
345M of Art games surpassed 632 million in
85M downloads, 97 percent higher than the
Animal - Cat / Dog
266M similar games released in 2019.

Fashion / Aesthetics 
 46M46M

/ Hair 259M

97M
Adventure
239M

0 200M 400M 600M 800M 1.0B 1.2B 1.4B 1.6B 1.8B

Game Intelligence 24
Hypercasual Hit Peak Growth in Early Weeks of Launch
Weekly growth trajectory of new games released in Q1 2020 vs .Q2 2020

Released in 1Q20 Released in 2Q20

100% Hypercasual theme Other themes Hypercasual theme Other themes
Hypercasual-themed games hit short-term
peak growth around week 3-5 after launch,
as theses games released in the first half of
Prime time for
75% marketing promotions 2020 reached a 75 percent growth rate (over
after the game launch
the first week downloads) during the first five
weeks. The outstanding growth of the
50% Hypercasual theme is undoubtedly
associated with the hype of the Hypercasual
genre in 2020 overall.

25%

Based on games launched in Q2 2020, the

0% prime time for marketing efforts and
promotions fell within the first nine weeks
for Hypercasual-themed games and the first
-25% four weeks for other games, as the
download growth remained positive after the
initial launch.
-50%
k1

k3

k5

k7

k9

3
k1

k1

k1

k1

k1

k2

k2
ee

ee

ee

ee

ee

ee

ee

ee

ee

ee

ee

ee
W

W
Game Intelligence 25
 © 2021 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved

Key Takeaways:

Game Intelligence

1. 2D Cartoon remained the most popular art style in mobile games, dominating
genres such as Arcade, Casino, Lifestyle, and Puzzle. In addition, the
Hypercasual art style also gained more traction in 2020, accounting for 71
percent of game downloads in 2020.

2. Isometric POV is trending up among new game releases, accounting for 27

percent of the downloads among top games in 2020. Side POV has been the top
perspective in the past. Although it appears that new releases are moving away
from this traditional POV type, it still accounted for 28 percent of the download
share in 2020.

3. Hypercasual, Tabletop, and Vehicle - Car were the top themes by downloads for
the second straight year. Unsurprisingly, Hypercasual remained a top theme
among new games in 2020. New Art-themed games also saw success in 2020
while accumulating 632 million downloads in the year, showcasing further
growth potential in 2021.

Game Intelligence 26
Gameplay Trends

 Mid-Core Themes Gaining Popularity Within Puzzle Genre

Worldwide downloads of puzzle games with popular mid-core game themes

2019 2020 Stickmen games among Puzzle surpassed

28 million downloads in 2020, after seeing
Adventure 62.2M Adventure 68.7M
113 percent growth year-over-year. The new
release Draw Puzzle, launched in April 2020
Dragon 22.1M Stickmen 28M
amid the COVID-19 outbreak, was a major
Zombie 13.9M Military 24.3M
driver for the growth. The game has
surpassed 9 million since launched.

Stickmen 13.2M Dragon 18.5M

Pirate 4.7M Space 16.7M

Popular Mid-Core themes, such as Military,
Combat Arena, Superhero, and Sports -
Space 3.7M Combat Arena 14.9M Fighting, gained more recognition in 2020
as cross-genre themes started to see
Post-Apocalypse 3.4M Superhero 8M Top 4 Mid-core Genres success with Puzzle. No One Escape from
Other Genres
Lion Studios was one of the first combat-
Military 3M Sports - Fighting 6.5M6.5M arena-themed games in Puzzle, surpassing
14 million downloads since its release.
Superhero 2.8M Zombie 6M

0 10M 20M 30M 40M 50M 60M 70M 0 10M 20M 30M 40M 50M 60M 70M

Gameplay Trends 28
Puzzle Games Are Exploring New Themes
Popular emerging themes among new puzzle games

Stickmen Combat Arena

Stickmen, Military, Space, Combat Arena,
Superhero, and Sports - Fighting were
among the top emerging themes in Puzzle.
Although Hypercasual and Tabletop themed
Puzzle games continued to see strong
growth, Puzzle games are expanding out of
traditional themes and are exploring
Military Superhero untapped territory.

Sports - Fighting saw its first puzzle game

launch in October 2020, when Mr Fight
made its appearance on the app stores. Mr
Fight has surpassed 6 million downloads
within three months of release.

Space Sports - Fighting

Gameplay Trends 29
 Space Themed Puzzle Games Follow Among Us’ Footsteps
Emerging themes among new titles (released in 2019-2020) that have seen success

Top War surpassed 22 million downloads in

Top War 22M Military 2020. Big Bang Evolution is another pioneer
for the Military theme in Puzzle,
No One Escape 14.9M Combat Arena accumulating 2.3 million downloads just on
App Store. Big Bang Evolution saw 10 percent
Draw Puzzle 9M Stickmen
growth year-over-year for its second year.

Words Episode 9M Superhero

Other Space-themed Puzzle games followed
PJ Masks 7.4M Sports - Fighting the success of Among Us. Imposter Academy
and Murder Us were released in October 2020
Mr Fight 6.5M Space and both surpassed 5 million downloads
within three months of release.
Impostor Academy 6M

Murder Us 5.1M

Quiz Planet 3.2M

Big Bang Evolution 2.3M

0 5M 10M 15M 20M 25M 30M

Gameplay Trends 30
 The Ecosystem Around Among Us is Also Booming
Growth of Among Us vs. other Space-themed Puzzle games

Among Us Other Space Puzzles

7,000%
After the game went viral, downloads of
Among Us soared 6,000 percent in
September 2020 over January numbers,
6,000%
breaking downloads records for the Puzzle
genre. Prior the surge, Among Us saw its
5,000%
highest downloads in August 2019,
surpassing 3 million downloads in a month
4,000% for the first time.

3,000%
Space-themed Puzzle game downloads took
2,000%
Impostor Academy
and Murder Us were Other
off after the launch of the Among-Us-
launched Space- related games, Impostor Academy and
themed
Puzzle Murder Us, in October 2020. The two titles
1,000%
Games accounted for 91 percent of the downloads of
space puzzle games (excluding Among Us) in
0%
the last three months of 2020.

-1,000%
20

20

0
-2

-2

r-2

-2

l-2

-2

t-2

2
n-

n-

g-

v-

c-
ar

ay
b

p
Ju

Oc
Ap

De
No
Au
Ja

Ju
Fe

Se
M

Gameplay Trends 31
 The Fashion Theme Surged in Popularity During 2020
Year-over-year download growth of top 100 games in 2020 by theme

Downloads of the top Fashion-themed

Fashion 109% games increased by 109 percent year-over-
year in 2020, reaching 991 million. These
Crime 69% games were more popular on Google Play,
which took 84 percent of the installs versus
Hypercasual 66%
16 percent from the App Store.

Animal - Wild 53%

Animal - Cat / Dog 51% Crime and Hypercasual themes ranked

second and third by Y/Y growth, at 69
Tabletop 50% percent and 66 percent, respectively.

Cooking / Food 48%

Adventure 40%

Art 36%

Vehicles - Car 32%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%

Gameplay Trends 32
Fashion-Themed Games Saw Success in Growing Markets
Top Fashion-themed games of 2020 by downloads

Super Stylist was the top Fashion-themed

game in 2020, surpassing 46 million
Most Popular Country
Games/2020 Downloads Genre Art Style Camera POV
(by Downloads)
downloads with Brazil accounting for 13
percent of these. Top Fashion-themed
games with Cartoon art styles found the most
Super Stylist 46.1M Lifestyle 3D Cartoon Dynamic success in markets such as Brazil and India.
Hair Saloon, for instance, saw significant
growth in India where downloads increased
Acrylic Nails Hypercasual 3D Cartoon Isometric
38.2M
by 314 percent year-over-year in 2020.

Chibi Doll 36.9M Lifestyle 2D Cartoon Side

Hypercasual games saw an overall lift in the
U.S., including the Fashion-themed games.
Lip Art 3D 36.7M Hypercasual 3D Realistic First Person Acrylic Nails, published by Israel-based Crazy
Labs, saw 20 percent of its downloads come
from the U.S. app stores in 2020.
Hair Saloon 35M Lifestyle 2D Cartoon Side

Super Salon 29.5M Hypercasual Hypercasual First Person

Gameplay Trends 33
New Titles Contributed to Fashion-Themed Game Growth
Global downloads of top 100 Fashion-themed games in 2020

Existing Games New Games Released That Year

300M
Fashion-themed games are expected to
have a great year in 2021, coming off a
strong final quarter in 2020 with 280 million
250M downloads among the top games (30 percent
58M of this from games released that year). The
106M
55M
success of recently launched games suggests
200M
6M
6M that this space still has room for
development and will likely continue to
provide growth opportunities for new titles.

150M
Although new games added a major
9M 20M download boost, existing game installs also
100M 0M
1M
196M
210M
185M
grew by 76 percent year-over-year in 2020.
174M
19M
10M 26M
7M 0M
7M 22M 111M 104M
50M 91M
100M
20M
55M 62M 62M
48M 47M 54M
41M
32M

0
7

0
1

2
20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20
Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4
Gameplay Trends 34
 New Fashion-Themed Games are Branching Out
Proportion of downloads in 2020 among top Fashion-themed games by art style and POV

Download growth signals that Fashion-

5%3%
9% themed games are moving away from 2D
5% 3D Cartoon Cartoon and toward 3D Cartoon and
19% 2D Cartoon
38% Hypercasual art styles among newer titles.
Released Hypercasual
Art Style 18% Released in
Games with a 3D Cartoon style accounted for
2D Realistic
before 2019 2019-2020 38 percent of downloads among Fashion-
Other

74%
themed titles that launched in the past two
years, compared to the 19 percent among
30% older games.

2%
2% New Fashion-themed games with Isometric
12% 6%
14% and First Person Camera POVs found the
Side most success, accounting for 17 percent and
Isometric
15% Dynamic
14 percent of the downloads in 2020,
Released Released in

First Person respectively. New Fashion-themed games

Camera POV before 2019 2019-2020
49%
Top-Down moved away from Side POV, with the
download share shrinking to 49 percent
17%
83%
(compared to 83 percent for older games).

Gameplay Trends 35
 © 2021 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved

Key Takeaways:

Gameplay Trends

1. Puzzle games are exploring new themes, with cross-genre themes such as
Military and Combat Arena are finding success with new releases in the genre.
One of the first combat-arena-themed puzzle game, No One Escape, accumulated
14 million downloads since its release in August 2020.

2. Fashion, aesthetic and hair games were one of the top growing themes in 2020,
seeing a 109 percent lift year-over-year. Fashion games found the majority of
their success in the U.S., India, and Brazil.

3. The fashion game landscape is still evolving with newer games leading the
growth in 2020, creating more opportunities for creative developers. In terms
of gameplay, newer fashion games are shifting away from 2D Cartoon, and
moving toward 3D visuals.

Gameplay Trends 36
Conclusion

 © 2021 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved

Conclusion

● Hypercasual games enjoyed an overall download lift across

global mobile game market in 2020, with installs rising 123
percent year-over-year. Simulation games also stood out as one
of the genres that showed great potential for 2021, after seeing
a 92 percent growth surge in 2020. The genre’s recent success in
markets like India and Brazil set it on a similar path to that seen
by Hypercasual in 2020.

● 2D Cartoon and the Side POV were the primary elements for top
visuals in mobile games in 2020, but recent trends suggest that
things are changing. Isometric POV nearly overtook Side POV
with 27 percent of downloads in 2020, rising from 24 percent in
2019. It’s evident that mobile games are on the way to
increasing gameplay variety, especially among newer titles.

● Popular Mid-Core themes are finding success with Puzzle games,

such as Combat Arena, Superhero, and Military. As one of the
pioneers for cross-genre Puzzle gene games, Top War gained 22
million downloads in its first year of release. It’s critical that
cross-genre themes not be overlooked by developers as they
may open doors for creativity and untapped markets.

Conclusion 38
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