The gaming industry is at an intersection, with players continuing to engage in a market filled with new releases. With thousands of games launched every day and players’ expectations for innovative features constantly rise, casual gamers are experiencing more and more burnout. This challenge has been exacerbated and generated by the stagnation of the global video game market. $183.9 billionreflecting only 0.5% growth compared to the previous year.

In this competitive environment, developers are focused on maintaining existing players, and understand that the time spent on the game is not spent on competitors. This makes long-term involvement important to maintain revenue and survival in busy markets. Game creators are under pressure to innovate continuously, providing fresh and exciting experiences that players will invest over time.

Join Anton Zarasky, a visionary expert who has mastered the art of thriving in this high-pressure environment. As CEO of Smart Project, Anton has built a career that consistently delivers attractive and commercially successful games. With over 15 years of experience, he has hone his unique blend of IT expertise, his talent for creating adaptation difficulty systems, and his data-driven methodology for identifying winning game mechanics. In this article, Anton shares his strategy for tackling player burnout, and shares his way ahead in the ever-changing world of mobile games, and to developers who are aiming to win the mark. It offers incredibly valuable insights.

Utilize the adaptation difficulty system

One of the toughest challenges in creating an adaptation difficulty system is finding the right balance between accessibility and engagement.

Casual players often want stress-free entertainment, while more experienced gamers are craving challenges. To strike this balance without alienating either group is a constant struggle for developers. Furthermore, designing a system that seamlessly adjusts difficulty without feeling artificial or destructive requires deep insight into player behavior and preferences.

Anton Zaluskyi faced these challenges head-on throughout his career, turning them into opportunities for innovation. An example of shining is Five differences onlineIt was launched in 2017 and quickly gained a spot among Facebook’s top 100 grossing apps, solidifying its position as a global success. The game expanded its reach with the release of Android and iOS in 2019 and continues to function impressively. Ranked among the top 500 puzzle games, Five differences online It holds an impressive 4.47 star rating from 64,000 reviews. With the latest regular updates in November 2024, the ability to maintain such a relevance will develop Anton’s expertise in creating engaging and lasting gaming experiencesCES.

“From the start, we wanted five differences online to provide an engaging experience for players of all skill levels.” Anton shares. “To achieve this, we implemented dynamic difficulty adjustments. If players complete the levels quickly, the game continues to challenge by introducing more complex puzzles. For those who struggled, It slightly reduced the difficulty and ensured a sense of progress without frustration.”

This strategy encouraged players to feel a sense of accomplishment that encouraged them to return to the game. The results speak for itself: Five differences online Not only did it achieve significant commercial success, it also expanded to mobile platforms in 2019, gaining a massive global reach. Within a year, it attracted offers from over 40 investors and solidified its place as a benchmark for casual gaming excellence.

Focus on resonating core mechanics

Creating core mechanics that really resonate with the player is not easy. The gaming industry is crowded with countless titles, and finding a distinctive, simple and engaging mechanic requires both creativity and a deep understanding of player psychology. Developers also face the risk of overcomplicating gameplay, which could alienate or oversimplify casual gamers.

Anton Zaluskyi has mastered the techniques of identifying and improving game mechanics that balanced the perfect balance. One outstanding example is his work A wordThe game, released in 2016, has become a sense of Eastern Europe’s major social networks. The concept of the game was simple yet incredibly appealing. Players had to guess a word based on a set of clues.

“In a nutshell, we focused on creating intuitive and rewarding experiences.” Anton explains. “The mechanics were simple enough for casual players to pick up quickly, but progression and increasingly challenging clues continued to be invested in them.”

This focus on depth and paired simplicity became the signature of Anton’s approach and was further expanded Five differences online. Its simple “Stop the Difference” mechanic resonated with players around the world, leading to over 14.5 million downloads and years of success.

By prioritizing mechanisms that appeal to a wide audience while maintaining depth, Anton consistently has made it possible to create games that allow thoughtful design to break through industry noise and keep players coming back. It has been demonstrated.

Continuous updates and community engagement

Keeping the game long after its release is one of the biggest hurdles faced by developers. If the update is rare or uninspired, players will quickly lose interest and struggle to float, unable to build a strong community around the game, in the most innovative project Even it can remain. It takes a lot of effort and resources to balance frequent updates, meaningful content and promoting real player connections.

Anton Zaluskyi has proven that continuous updates and strong community involvement can enhance the success of the game. Here’s a notable example: Greeting Card AppIt became one of the most popular applications in the well-known Eastern European social networks from 2009 to 2013, attracting an audience of 5 million users. Is that key to success? Regularly updating the app with new creative card designs tailored to seasonal events and holidays, users always had a reason to come back. Additionally, the ability for players to add their own greeting cards to participate in the author ranking system has greatly enhanced content and promoted greater engagement and creativity.

“We emphasized maintaining a connection with our audience, understanding their preferences and providing content that resonates with them. It’s not just a feature, but emotional connections through the app. It’s not about producing. Anton says.

Anton’s dedication to community engagement goes beyond the game. A passionate philanthropist, he is actively supporting children and individuals with disabilities, and has managed to make concrete differences in people’s lives. “For me, it’s not just about creating great games, it’s about using our platform and resources to give back to society.” He shares.