This document summarizes app trends in China from December 2013 based on data from Wandoujia, a Chinese Android app store. The top trends included the popularity of "mid-core" card games that combine casual and immersive gameplay. It also discussed how some apps like card games and Temple Run had longer lifespans than viral apps like WePop and MomentCam that saw rapid growth and decline. Finally, it covered the rise of personalized travel apps like BreadTrip that allow users to share photos and itineraries from their trips.

1. Wandoujia
China’s Android app store
The China App Index
December 2013
on Ball
et Drag
Pock
Top Trend:
Mad for Mid-core:
Card Games
Collect Gamers

2. Top Trends in December 2013
1
2
3
Mad for Mid-core: Card Games Collect Gamers
Good Games Don’t Die Young
Traveling Gets Personal

3. 1
Mad for Mid-Core:
Card Games Collect Gamers
“Mid-core” games have emerged in a niche between hardcore dragon-slaying RPGs and
casual puzzle and side-scrolling runner games. These games synthesize casual gameplay that
hooks players early and immersive game worlds that keep them interested longer. And the
chart toppers have one thing in common: card collecting.
Three Kingdoms 15
(三国志15)
Monthly Downloads: 105k
Three Kingdoms 15 takes
second place among new
games with 105,000
downloads by combining the
popular Three Kingdoms
story with a simple battle
system employing hero
cards.

4. 1
Mad for Mid-Core:
Card Games Collect Gamers
A huge and sustained domestic hit, I’m MT enjoys some of the highest retention among games
in China. Five of the Top 10 New Games on Wandoujia have adopted its approach to mid-core,
incorporating card game elements as a means of simplifying more involved genres. All
together, these 5 games garnered 332,000 downloads.
Papa Three Kingdoms
(啪啪三国)
Monthly Downloads: 62k
Papa Three Kingdoms
delivers it all: a 3D world for
your character to explore,
hero cards for easy
management of armies, and
vividly animated battles
reminiscent of RTS games.

5. 1
Mad for Mid-Core:
Card Games Collect Gamers
Collectable card games was a $4.1 billion business in 2013 according to SuperData Research,
and the burgeoning digital card game market accounted for a 32% increase in that number
over the previous year.
“Digital card game players
outspent physical card players
by 9% every month in 2012,
and estimates suggest they will
continue to do so over the next
several years.” It’s no wonder
Chinese publishers have filled
their 2014 pipelines with even
more mid-core card games.
Data and graphic from SuperData Research http://www.superdataresearch.com/market-data/digital-card-games/

6. 2
Good Games Don’t Die Young
The lifespan of a game can vary dramatically. Two games from the PC era show this: Journey to the
West, a classic Chinese MMORPG title by NetEase, and Happy Farm, a social game comparable to
Farmville that became a nationwide obsession in 2009.
!
The Baidu search engine index serves as a proxy of their popularity. So, is your mobile game Journey
to the West or Happy Farm?
Search Index
Happy Farm Journey to the West
Source: Baidu Search Index for PC

7. 2
Good Games Don’t Die Young
Now let’s look at some titles in the new mobile era. Card games like I’m MT are assumed to have a
longer life cycle than other titles, based on their immersive gameplay and collectible nature. A year
after its release, I’m MT continues to steadily build its audience.
!
Of course, card games are not the only ones with a long lifespan, as Temple Run and Fishing Joy
show below. These two titles steadily built an audience over a period of 6-18 months before reaching
a peak, and now appear to be enjoying a long sunset.
Search Index
I’m MT
2011
Temple Run
Fishing Joy
2012
2013
Source: Baidu Search Index for Mobile

8. 2
Good Games Don’t Die Young
The contrast is stark with two other titles that shot to popularity via social promotion on WeChat:
WePop, a bubble-popping title by Tencent that’s like Popcap’s Bejeweled Blitz, and MomentCam, an
app that creates a cartoon likeness of you (covered in the Nov. 2013 issue of the China App Index).
!
But then each app plummeted: search volume fell by over 66% from its peak within one month. Virality
is no guarantee of retention.
Search Index
WePop
Moment Cam
Source: Baidu Search Index for Mobile

9. 2
Good Games Don’t Die Young
Here are all five mobile apps on one chart. At one point in time, WePop and MomentCam spiked past
the other perennially popular games. But the fall was just as swift.
!
It used to be that developers just tried to rack up as many installs as possible. 2013 demonstrated the
power of social media in igniting app virality. In 2014, we expect to see developers focus on retention
and retargeting: getting users to return to the app in the months or years to come.
Search Index
I’m MT
Temple Run
Fishing Joy
WePop
Moment Cam
Source: Baidu Search Index for Mobile

10. 3
Traveling Gets Personal
Travel apps took three spots on this month’s Fastest Growing Apps rankings, a testament to a shifting
attitude among Chinese tourists. While hotel and ticket booking apps suggest travelers are gaining
independence from package tours, none makes this case as strongly as BreadTrip, an elegant mobile
SNS for travelers.
Dali Old Town
Itineraries
Photos
Trending
BreadTrip
(⾯面包旅⾏行)
Blogged Itinerary
Growth Rate: 171%
This robust social
platform for travelers
allows users to live photoblog their itineraries with
geotagged entries. Other
users can peruse these
itineraries by destination
to find tips, photos, and
recommendations for
spots along the journey.
Sleep
Music
Planes
Scenic
Spots
Hotels
Restaurant

11. 3
Traveling Gets Personal
Sharing information on the platform empowers fellow travelers to strike out on their own trip. BreadTrip
includes many other salivating features such as a “Trending” feed of geo-located photos for a given
destination. Profiles keep track of destinations visited and those users wish to visit, opening the
possibility of finding a travel companion for the next getaway.
Dali Old Town
Itineraries
Photos
Profile
Trending
Message
Days ago
Dali Old Town
Itineraries
Follow

12. Star Apps
December 2013
Top New
Fastest Growing

13. Top New
Top New App
Muti-functional Calculator
(多功能计算器)
Top New Game
My Talking Tom
(我的会说话的汤姆猫)

14. Top New Apps
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Name
Downloads
Muti-functional Calculator (多功能计算器)
40,775
Fastest Launcher (最快桌⾯面)
32,458
360 Mobile Guard for Android (360⼿手机卫⼠士安卓版)
23,515
Simple Calendar (简洁⽇日历)
23,511
Meika Camera (美咖相机)
19,427
Easy Flashlight (简便⼿手电筒)
18,424
Doraemon Flashlight (哆啦a梦⼿手电筒)
16,499
360 Mobile Guard (360⼿手机卫⼠士)
16,103
Simple Camera (简约相机)
15,655
Bat Flashlight (蝙蝠⼿手电筒)
15,337

15. Top New Games
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Name
Downloads
My Talking Tom (我的会说话的汤姆猫)
255,219
Three Kingdoms 15 (三国志15)
105,251
Sky Sword (苍穹之剑)
86,749
Papa Three Kingdoms (啪啪三国)
61,829
Pocket Dragon Ball (⼝口袋⻰龙珠)
60,651
Reckless Moto (摩托赛⻋车)
59,260
Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (天⻰龙⼋八部移动版)
58,460
Bobo Landlord Fight (bobo⽃斗地主)
52,900
Citizen Hero (全民英雄)
45,636
Hay Day (卡通农场)
45,263

16. Fastest Growing
Fastest Growing App
Fastest Growing Game
Convenient Coupon
(随⼿手优惠)
Tiantian Bullfight
(天天⽃斗⽜牛)

17. Fastest Growing Apps
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Name
Downloads
Growth rate
Convenient Coupon (随⼿手优惠)
198,553
386%
Hotel Express Master (快捷酒店管家)
290,599
329%
Baidu Group-buy (百度团购)
358,712
275%
Bread Trip (⾯面包旅⾏行)
250,804
171%
Kuxun Air Ticket (酷讯机票)
188,968
165%
Ultimate Flashlight (终极⼿手电筒)
278,250
147%
360 Mobile Guard for MTK6573
(360⼿手机卫⼠士 MTK6573双卡版)
224,931
136%
Mobile QQ2013 Int’l (⼿手机QQ2013 国际版) 191,211
98%
Baidu One-key Root (百度⼀一键root)
296,696
87%
9 Yuan Shop (九块邮)
256,931
43%

18. Fastest Growing Games
Rank
Name
Downloads
Growth rate
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Tiantian Bullfight (天天⽃斗⽜牛)
205,759
935,168%
Crazy Shark (百变鲨⻥鱼)
160,352
628,731%
Moto Hero (摩托英豪)
167,562
37,385%
Tank 1990 (坦克1990)
153,817
31,312%
8
9
10
Richman Landlord Fight (⼟土豪⽃斗地主) 209,964
3842%
Dumb Ways to Die (蠢蠢的死法)
155,509
1819%
Bai Zhan Cheng Xian (百战成仙)
204,727
603%
God and Demon (神魔)
173,740
140%
I’m Naruto (我是⽕火影)
179,602
107%
Zijin Land Run (紫⾦金岛跑得快)
296,189
101%

19. About the China App Index
http://appindex.wandoujia.com
China is the world’s largest smartphone market, by far. But it’s a
black hole for app data. Mobile research firms use Google Play data,
which works for most of the world, but not for China. Nine out of ten
new smartphones sold in China run Android, but developers are left
in the dark.
!
Here at Wandoujia, we decided to change that. As an Android app
store with over 300 million users, we decided to shine a light on the
market. We hope it will encourage more foreign developers to come
to China.
Methodology:
!
•
•
•
•
Top new: Launched within the last 60 days.
Fastest-growing: Highest growth-rate this month, relative to an average of the previous 3 months.
App data is carefully screened to eliminate ‘zombie downloads’
All data is from the Wandoujia App Store, with 300 million+ Android users in China.

20. About Wandoujia
The China partner for app developers
Wandoujia’s editorial team is always on the lookout for the best
new apps. That definitely includes apps from foreign developers!
We’ve partnered with Flipboard, EverNote, Pocket, and LINE to do
exclusive launches and promotions in China.
The place for mobile gamers
Wandoujia is the easiest way to reach a massive audience
of gamers in China. For developers, our app promotion
system makes it easy to be discovered and our payment
SDK makes it easy to get paid.
Complete media management
Wandoujia is for more than just apps. Our PC suite makes it
super-easy for users to manage all of their content. That
includes movies, TV shows, music, and e-books too.
Learn more here:
http://www.slideshare.net/WandouLabs/
brandbook-en?from_search=5

21. Wandoujia Developer Center
Register today:
http://developer.wandoujia.com/intl/
!
For support contact: zhangyan@wandoujia.com
Benefits for Registered Developers:
!
• Verified developer badge gives developers peace of mind
• Push updates to your Chinese users, quickly and efficiently
• Eligible for campaigns and featured promotions
• Optimized search result ranking

22. Case Study: Flipboard in China
When Flipboard came to China in June 2012,
it partnered with Wandoujia on the launch.
150,000 downloads
“
in the first week.
Our China launch with Wandoujia was a big success.
A few short days after we got in contact, we were ready to launch with a nicely
designed campaign that fit with our brand image. Wandoujia has delivered hundredsof-thousands of downloads, including some of our highest-quality users in China.
!
-Alvin Tse, Product Director at Flipboard China

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24. Let’s connect!
http://appindex.wandoujia.com
tyler@wandoujia.com
International PR
zhangyan@wandoujia.com
International Developer
Relations