[GLU#5] Latest Game Trend: Watermelon Game

And how to make a mobile game that goes viral

Watermelon Game is the latest mobile game trend on Social Media and players are going crazy for it.

Originating from Japan, the game has amassed millions of views across various social platforms such as YouTube & TikTok.

The game is a re-skin of a classic 2048 drop balls gameplay.

Instead of numbers, you have fruits.

The game gets frustrating as the fruits that merge, result in new bigger fruits popping in.

Players keep sharing their gameplay videos as they try to reach the Watermelon fruit but fail. It seems so easy but it is frustrating!

The challenge is to get to the Watermelon fruit, which comes after 12 levels of merging.

I had previously written an article on the factors that help create a viral game. This trend follows all the factors that I previously mentioned.

Here are 3 factors that you should focus on to create a viral game:

1️⃣ 2𝐃 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬

Most viral mobile games have a 2D character as the protagonist.
Why? It’s in the art.
2D games allow for quirky, cute, and unique characters that integrate with fun mechanics/story and captivate a broad audience.

2️⃣ 𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭

Remember ‘Dumb Ways to Die’? A decade-old game, yet it surged back to the top sometime ago
Similarly, ‘Among Us’, though released in 2018, gained massive popularity during the COVID era.

Similarly, the gameplay content itself is highly shareable as the game seems to easy yet frustrating, combined with a mass-theme appeal.

3️⃣ 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞

Games like ‘Bacon The Game’ and ‘Cats & Soup’ integrate social sharing features via a button on the win screen.

And so do the latest Watermelon Games. This allows more content to be shared on Social Media and follow the hype train.

I am also creating a Watermelon Merge game!

Stay tuned as I share more info on it!

That's it for today!

Let me know what you think. Your feedback is the single most important thing to me.

Just reply to this email. (I read & reply to every single email.)

Until next time,

Anul