How Squid Game blew up mobile game stores: the numbers, plots and leaders
This September Netflix released Squid Game series which became its most watched show ever. Within a month, App Store and Google Play were replenished with thousands of Squid Game inspired apps. Let’s find out more about mobile games that continue to move the world leaders out of the top charts.
Types of mobile games based on challenges in Squid Game
The plot of South Korean series gave mobile game developers a wide variety of ideas for their apps. After watching the show numerous people became obsessed with nerve-racking survival games the characters participated in and wanted to try them. The most smart studios quickly rolled out Squid Game based apps which got thousands or even millions of downloads in just several days. Now users can test their reaction, speed and stamina playing games in which the survivor becomes the winner:
1. Red light, green light
Green light means move — red means freeze. The basic rule of the game from our childhood in Squid Game gets a cruel twist: those who continue moving after the doll stops singing the song will be killed immediately.
2. Honeycomb shape cutting
This game requires unerring accuracy: the players should cut virtual Dalgona candy according to its shape and try not to break them. Spoiler — it is quite hard to manage.
4. Other games that were in the plot (Tug-of-war, Glass Stepping Stones and Marbles) as well as the Squid Game itself mostly become an addition to two main games and come bundled with them.
Also in a month both stores became flooded with various runners, shooters, quizzes, wallpapers, puzzles and even coloring Squid Game inspired games.
Squid Game apps in Top charts
Games based on the Netflix show became the extremely popular on Android platform. On average, in the second half of October, about 3 out of first 10 apps of Google Play Top Free chart were inspired by violent challenges from Squid Game. For comparison, in the same chart in Apple Store only 1 game out of 10 was related to the series.
The Squid Game inspired apps became most popular among users from Russia (7 out of first 10 apps in Android Top Free chart were show-based), Mexico (6 out of first 10), as well as Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia and Thailand (5 out of first 10).
The most popular show inspired games
It seems that the Squid fever is going to stay with us for quite a while, so we should prepare for more upcoming releases based on the series. Meet the games that have already overtaken the world leaders in App Store and Google Play:
- Cookie Carver: Life Challenge by Casual Azur Games: more than 4,2 m downloads on Android;
- Candy Challenge 3D by Idil Morgul: more than 4,6 m downloads on Android and more than 4,8 m on iOS;
- 456: Survival game by YoloGame: more than 6,8 m downloads on Android;
- Squid.io - Red Light Green Light Multiplayer by WoGames: more than 3,4 m downloads on Android;
- Survival Challenge 3D by Osman Senol: more than 3,8 m downloads on iOS.
