Articles
Teardowns of real game shops, reviews of new mobile games and the math behind game economies. The numbers, what works, what doesn't and what I'd change.
Balance for 1,000 Levels: What the Sine Formulas Actually Draw
Three sine waves from a balance post repeat the same shape every 12.6 levels. What the formulas draw level by level, what King, Dream Games, Playrix and Tactile Games actually do in their games, and a formula that behaves like a real curve.
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Match Factory's Shop: Royal Match, Divided by 10
Royal Match's coin ladder divided by 10, broken in euros: a €9.99 pack with no bonus, sold right under a €9.99 bundle that has the same coins plus 6 boosters.
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What's Wrong With Yarn Loop's Game Shop?
Yarn Loop copies Pixel Flow's shop, flaws included: Pack 3 gives the same 556 coins/€ as Pack 2, and the €22.99 Mega Bundle drops to ×1.11 value from the Big Bundle's ×1.28.
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What's Wrong with Cake Sort's Game Shop?
Cake Sort's coin ladder climbs cleanly to a 2.98 value index, but the Starter Pack has no urgency, VIP is missing from the shop and Ultra is exactly 2× Super for 2× the price.
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What's Wrong With Magic Sort's Game Shop?
A solid Royal Match-style shop with no critical defects, but the €17.99 coin pack gives the same 1.11 value index as the €8.99 one and the free Daily Bonus is hidden.
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What's Wrong with Link Legends' Game Shop?
A compact 3-section shop with a smart free Lucky Pack on a 3-hour cooldown, and coin packs where the €5.99 pack gives less than three €1.99 packs.
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What's Wrong with Homescapes's Game Shop
Homescapes shop teardown: a clean coin ladder up to a 2× top pack, but the €0.99 intro offer has no one-time marker and Kits scale 1:1 across four tiers.
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What's Wrong with Pixel Flow's Game Shop?
Pixel Flow shop teardown: clean monotonic coin pricing up to a 2× top pack, a dead zone between Pack 2 and Pack 3, and a Medium Bundle with the worst booster value.
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What's Wrong with Color Block Jam Puzzle?
First impressions after 50 levels of Color Block Jam: solid level design, rushed UI around it, and a "500% more" Starter Pack worth roughly ×1.3.
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What's Wrong with Dreamy Rooms' Game Shop?
Dreamy Rooms shop teardown: bundles scale correctly, but the €5.99 coin pack gives 13.6% fewer coins per euro than the €1.99 base pack.
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What's Changed In 5-0 Poker's Recent Update?
5-0 Poker after the update: a redesigned store with chips up to 5B for 299.99, offers with no timers, and a level-up that unlocks tournaments but gives no reward.
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What's wrong with 5-0 Poker from Mobile Brain?
First hour of 5-0 Poker: a $2.99 Welcome Offer and a $5.99 Race Pack before the first match, boosters with no stated duration, and a carousel store.
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What's Wrong With Reviver:Butterfly?
Reviver: Butterfly sells three chapters for $2.99, $1.99 and $0.99, but its $5.99 bundle costs $0.02 more than buying them one by one.
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What’s Wrong with Gin Rummy Stars from BeachBum?
Gin Rummy Stars keeps promoting No Ads after you buy it, and shows its 4 to 6 daily promo popups again every time you return to the lobby.
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What's Wrong With Vita Mahjong?
Vita Mahjong keeps the first session ad-free, then ends every round with a forced ad, and offers to remove ads forever for €6.99.
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What's Wrong With mo.co?
Supercell's mo.co gives 3 invites at level 8, runs a classic shop structure with no ads, and has gameplay that turns repetitive quickly.
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Take-aways from playing Block Blast
Block Blast, #1 in casual in March 2025, earns only from ads: no IAPs, no paid No Ads. Its developers ran 3,000 A/B tests with about a 3% success rate.
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