As you’re busy blending a deeper game loop with a balanced economy in your hybrid-casual game, don’t forget to build out a long term strategy to boost your retention rate. It's what fuels growth and turns first-time players into loyal fans. While retention beyond D7 might seem like a far-off milestone, it’s an important retention stage that needs to be prioritized.
Build out an advanced retention strategy in D7 - D30+
In D7 and beyond, it’s all about upping your hybrid-casual game. Need a quick recap? We’ve got you. At this stage, you’ve already hooked players, they’re engaging with your game, and they know what their goal is. Now’s the time to make sure players are invested enough so that they won’t want to abandon their progression. Mix things up by adding extra meta layers of emotional content - and make it unlike anything they’ve seen before.
1. Create special events
Deeper meta layers related to special events can attract broader audiences because they offer time-bound opportunities that have mass appeal. Not only that, they give you more chances to monetize, increase engagement, and grow retention.
“Come back tomorrow to find out what gift Santa will bring you!”
2. Offer surprise rewards
Who doesn’t like surprises? Link your surprise content to a seasonal theme or timely narrative, and then create a buzz to get your players to return to your game the next day, and the day after that. A surprise like ‘Come back tomorrow to find out what gift Santa will bring you’ plays on players’ curiosity and peaks interest just enough to find out what kind of reward they’ll get when they come back the next day.
“Reveal the secret of Halloween to find out what’s spooked your character.”
3. Shhh….it’s a secret
Last but not least, revealing a secret is an awesome way for players to unlock new info when they return to your game. Admit it, it’s hard not to cave to a good secret. A puzzle is a strong example of this, where on each day a player returns to play, they uncover an additional piece of the puzzle. Tie this content into a holiday theme and you’ve got yourself a sizzling secret like, ‘Reveal the secret of Halloween to find out what’s spooked the main character of the game.’
And in case you missed it, check out the first part in our series:
6 ways to boost your game's retention from D1-D7
Let's put these tips to good use
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