This document provides 6 hacks backed by science to boost game retention in mobile games. The hacks are: 1) Emphasize investment and progress by allowing continued progress. 2) Encourage collection through collectible sets and achievements. 3) Use specific calls-to-action in push notifications. 4) Foster community through social features. 5) Add randomness to reinforce returning behavior. 6) Listen to why users are dropping through in-app surveys to understand drop-off points.
15. Increase mobile game
retention through the use of
collectible sets to complete
and achievements.
Encouraging users to stay
longer to finish a collection
they have started.
18. In this study, researchers found
that adding a specific call to
action greatly increased the
amount of students getting their
tetanus shots.
The number of participants getting
vaccinated rose from 3.3% to an
impressive 33%.
27. Since the 1920s and the famous
experiments of B.F. Skinner,
science has shown a variable
reinforcement schedule (eg payoffs
or rewards, both physical and
psychological) can greatly help
reinforce behaviour patterns.
28. Adding some “luck” to your
app or game can help keep
users keeping coming back.
30. Whether in the first day or
after the first year, users will
drop out.
31. Use your statistics package
(Flurry, Mixpanel etc)
to understand where the drops
occur.
32. And use an in-app prompts (polljoy).
It lets you directly ask for feedback
from the users just before the drop
points, analyse results and identify
what needs to be fixed.
It can also reward users for giving
the feedback.
34. Confidential - polljoy, Inc - 2014 Learn more at polljoy.com
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