Motivations and Demographics

Feb, 2022 Motivations and

Demographics

Snapshot Report

February 2022

The motivations driving top mobile games

•
Using a
Category → Genre → Subgenre
hierarchy we are

able to differentiate games in a meaningful way and offer

accurate insights for all individual game types currently found

in the market

•
Our taxonomy is
created together with industry experts
and

is based on thorough testing and data-analysis of the market

•
In this report we are focusing on
how different motivational

drivers are reflected in the mobile gaming market and

what types of demographics they typically interest

GameRefinery’s Genre Taxonomy

GameRefinery uses a three-layered

approach to categorize games

The competition for players’ attention and engagement is fierce in the mobile gaming market.

With so many games to choose from, it’s never been more important for publishers and

developers to understand the key motivations of players so they can create gaming experiences

that keep players coming back for more.

But getting to the heart of what mobile gamers want isn’t easy. The resources that go into

creating polls, surveys and feedback channels can eat up valuable time and it’s difficult to use

these methods to gain insight into an entire market. On top of that, we all have different
reasons

for playing mobile games. These motivations do not just vary significantly from player to player,

but also in ways of how these motivations can be implemented in games. For example,

improving skills motivational driver can be implemented in games either through features that

require mastering reaction-based skills, like multi-touch controls, or through gameplay that

requires thinking-based skills, like Word games.

If you’ve ever wanted to understand the behaviors and motivations of a game’s playerbase, or

how to attract new players to your own game by introducing gameplay elements that appeal to

their motivations, you’re in the right place. In this report, we show with implementation

examples how these motivational drivers are reflected in the mobile gaming market and what

types of demographics they typically interest.

Motivations and demographics overview

Key points

•
How games appeal to players’ motivations can vary depending on the audience. This can differ, for example, in how

fast-paced the implementation is or is it more reaction vs. thinking based.

•
4X strategy and tycoon/crafting games appeal to players who enjoy optimizing resources and complex production

streams, but they interest different demographics – Players who enjoy optimizing resources are most often between the

ages of 25-44, but while men are likely to play more complex genres, like 4X strategy, women prefer casual

tycoon/crafting games.

•
Casual games have successfully combined renovation elements with entirely different core mechanics. Over the last two

years, the trend has accelerated – Every US top 100 grossing casual game released in the last two years uses renovation

elements.

•
Exploration: Discovering New Worlds is another key driver in the top US 200-grossing titles but implementations vary

significantly across the titles that feature this driver.

Motivational Driver Framework

Our current model consists of twelve different

Motivational Drivers, each covering a separate player

root motivation.

These Motivational Drivers are grouped based on

their nature to form meaningful pairs or

“motivational groups.” As an example, Improving

Skills and Completing Milestones falls under the

Mastery driver. While no taxonomy or model can

perfectly catch every single nuance of player

motivations, our approach has proven to be flexible

and works on an individual games level and at scale.

Ultimately, our model provides a macro-level view,

proving an actionable and effective framework in this

field.

Motivational Driver Framework

With this model, we’re able to estimate

with a high degree of accuracy which of

the twelve Motivational Drivers any game

in the market is catering to.

For example, our data suggest that
PUBG

Mobile
caters to players who like to

compete with others, enjoy excitement &

the thrill of the fast-paced gameplay, and

want to get better by improving their

skills. That emphasis is a match made in

heaven for certain player types, but for

those motivated by drivers such as

thinking & solving, role-playing, or

resource optimization, it might not be an

optimal fit.

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

PUBG Mobile differs significantly from other traditional Battle Royale games in terms of working with

others motivational driver – Check out the game’s features from the GameRefinery service to
find out
why

Motivational drivers describe the main reasons players enjoy playing the game. Score 5 = very important, 1 = not important.

Motivational drivers –
Escapism and Social

Motivational drivers –
Exploration and Management

Motivational drivers –
Expression and Mastery

Motivational data in the GameRefinery service:

Escapism – Excitement & Thrill

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Escapism

Excitement & Thrill

When we look at the top-grossing 200

mobile games in the US, 23% of the top 200

games score at least four on the Excitement

and Thrill driver in the framework. One

quarter of these games are slots, making it

the largest genre when looking at US

top-200 games that interest players looking

for escapism through excitement and thrill.

Other notable genres include battle royale,

arcade sports, fighting, and realistic sports

games.

Features players motivated by excitement and

thrill prefer:

Effect on the motivation

Read more about which features affect different

Motivational Drivers in the GameRefinery service

How
Escapism – Excitement & Thrill
manifests in mobile games

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Synchronous PvP modes,

multi-touch controls and

physics/gravity-modeling

In the case of battle royale, sports,

and fighting games, players,

particularly younger men, motivated

by excitement and thrill, enjoy the

adrenaline rush brought by acquiring

the needed skills, like aiming or

steering, rather than strategic

thinking. Mastering various

synchronous PvP modes,

multi-touch controls, or the game’s

physics/gravity-modeling, which

affects how the game is played and

the player’s success, motivates

these players.

Average player demographics

Garena Free Fire – Synchronous PvP mode requires mastering multi-touch controls and aiming

Real Racing 3 – Friction in steering and drifting

Male

Female

Age 16-24

Age 25-44

Age 45+

How
Escapism – Excitement & Thrill
manifests in mobile games

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Slots games are played for the thrill

of hitting the mega jackpots.

Various quick tournaments, where

a player who can win the most

money within a short time period

wins rewards, and progressively

increasing chances of winning the

jackpot are among the popular

features that slots games use to

create extra feelings of excitement

and thrill.
Typically, players aged

45+ enjoy this type of excitement

and thrill that doesn’t require so

much sensomotoric skills.

Male

Female

Age 16-24

Age 25-44

Age 45+

Quick tournaments and

progressive jackpots

GameTwist Online Casino Slots – Progressive jackpots

Gold Fish Casino Slots Games – Quick tournaments (slots games)

Gold Fish Casino Slots Games – Quick tournaments (slots games)

Average player demographics

How
Escapism – Thinking & Solving
manifests in mobile games

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Level goals, increasing level difficulty,

and monetized continue/retry possibility

In the US top-grossing 200 list, around 20% of

games score high on the thinking and solving

motivational driver. Most of these games are

match3 titles, but there are also other genres

that generally require thinking-based skills, such

as word, hidden objects, and bubble shooter

games.

Players motivated by logical solving enjoy various

types of level goals and special mechanics that

increase the levels’ challenge. They’re more

likely to pay for an option to retry failed levels

and like to immerse themselves in solving

various problems and challenges.

Average player demographics

June’s Journey: Hidden Objects – Defining mechanic hidden objects

Game of Words: Word Puzzles – Monetized timers

Royal Match & Candy Crush Saga – Monetized continue/retry and level goal

Male

Female

Age 16-24

Age 25-44

Age 45+

How
Social – Competing Against Others
manifests in

mobile games

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

(A)synchronous PvP modes, guild

mechanics and stealing from others

Players motivated by competing against

others enjoy typical midcore genres, such as

tactical shooter and 4X strategy genres, but

also casual genres with competitive

elements, like some board games,

depending on whether they like competing

more intensely or casually against others.

Because players that enjoy competing

against others love outwitting,

outmaneuvering, and outlasting other

players, they’re motivated by different

(a)synchronous PvP modes, dynamic ranking

systems, and guild mechanics. Opportunities

to steal other players’ resources, currency, or

items also thrills them.

Clash of Clans – Players can steal other players’ resources when

attacking their bases

Average player demographics

Rise of Kingdoms – Synchronous PvP mode

Male

Female

Age 16-24

Age 25-44

Age 45+

Rise of Kingdoms – Synchronous PvP mode

How
Social – Working With Others
manifests in mobile games

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Lords Mobile: Tower Defense – Donate guild treasure to other

guildmates

Non-competitive co-op-development

efforts and co-op playing modes

Players motivated by working with others

through non-competitive co-op development

efforts, such as guild perk systems, and co-op

playing modes are
typically men aged 25-44

who like different midcore genres.
Most of

these midcore games belong to the 4X strategy

genre, but there are also battle royale,

multiplayer battle arena, and tactical shooter

games, which emphasize more reaction-based

skills.

Players who like working with others also like to

experience a sense of togetherness by

borrowing characters, items, or units from other

players and donating them.

Average player demographics

Hero Wars – Fantasy World –

Non-competitive co-op – Asynchronous PvE

PUBG Mobile – Non-competitive co-op – Synchronous PvE

Male

Female

Age 16-24

Age 25-44

Age 45+

How
Exploration – Discovering New Worlds
manifests in

mobile games

Discovering New Worlds elements

in the US top 200 games

When we look at the US top-grossing

200 games, we can see a lot of

variation in how mobile games have

implemented elements of wonder and

exploration. Roblox, a sandbox game,

Pokémon GO, AR/location-based

game, and Star Trek Fleet Command,

4X strategy game, represent different

genres of games, but they all score

very high on the Discovering New

Worlds motivational driver.

Roblox (Sandbox) vs. Pokémon GO (AR/Location-based) vs. Star Trek Fleet Command (4X Strategy) motivational drivers

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

How
Exploration – Discovering New Worlds
manifests in Roblox

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Roblox

Roblox’s user-generated games

offer almost limitless possibilities

for players. The games range from

peaceful roleplaying games to

platform and adventuring and even

shooter, fighting, and racing games.

In addition to UG-games, Roblox’s

rich live-event content makes sure

that there’s always something new

for players that crave novelty.

Roblox – Insomniac World Party limited-time live event

Player demographics

Roblox – Gucci Garden collaboration event

Roblox – Nikeland collaboration event

Male

Female

Age 16-24

Age 25-44

Age 45+

How
Exploration – Discovering New Worlds
manifests in

Pokémon GO

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Pokémon GO

In Pokémon GO, capturing Pokémon while

walking around in the real world ensures

that there are always new areas to explore

and other nearby players to challenge.

Player demographics

Male

Female

Age 16-24

Age 25-44

Age 45+

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

How
Exploration – Discovering New Worlds
manifests

in Star Trek Fleet Command

Star Trek Fleet Command

Star Trek Fleet Command differs from

the other two games in that the

gameplay leans more towards

strategic thinking skills than

reaction-based skills. Players explore

the vast galaxy, completing

story-driven quests and fighting in

PvP modes. The game’s unrestricted

open-world PvP-matchmaking allows

players to freely attack other players

without AI filtering possible

opponents for them.

Star Trek Fleet Command – Unrestricted open-world

PvP-matchmaking

Player demographics

Male

Female

Age 16-24

Age 25-44

Age 45+

How
Exploration – Collecting Treasure
manifests in mobile games

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Collectibles albums and rare rewards

from special PvE modes or levels

Games that consistently offer a wide variety

of items, characters, or other items to

discover and collect can be found in a variety

of different genres on the US top-grossing

200 list, especially after collection systems

have found their way to almost all types of

mobile games. The majority, about 46% of

these games, are slots games, followed by
4X

strategy and turn-based RPGs, i.e., genres

that lean more towards collecting characters.

With album collectibles, slots players get

additional rewards for completing collections

and the joy of showing off their rare items.

Collections don’t affect the core game

experience, but they’re a flexible way of

increasing the feeling of progression.

Cash Frenzy™ – Slots Casino – Special PvE modes and levels

Slotomania™ Vegas Casino Slots – Collectibles album

Huuuge Casino Slots Vegas 777 – rare material items

myVEGAS Slots – Casino Slots – In many casino games, players can

trigger an autoplay mode to don’t have to spin the slots themselves.

How
Exploration – Collecting Treasure
manifests in mobile games

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Upgradeable characters and units

and shops with gacha mechanics

or refreshing wares

Players motivated by finding new items

and characters – either through

rewards, purchasing, or combining and

crafting items – are usually interested

in traditional character collection-based

genres like 4X strategy or turn-based

RPGs.

However, younger players prefer more

casual games that emphasize collecting

characters or rare items like Pokémon

GO or Kim Kardashian: Hollywood.

Kim Kardashian: Hollywood – Limited-time gacha

Average player
demographics

Star Wars™: Galaxy of Heroes – Character collection

State of Survival – Equipment items that give characters

boosts.

Male

Female

Age 16-24

Age 25-44

Age 45+

How
Management – Strategic Planning
manifests in mobile games

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Numerous troops to train, upgradeable

permanent buildings and guilds

Of the US top-grossing 200 games, only 11%

score high on the strategic planning

motivational driver, and over 70% of these

games are 4X strategy games. In other words,

players who like strategic planning and

executing tactical maneuvers often turn to

traditional 4X strategy games. Still, the top list

also includes genres like card battlers and

sovereign games, which have similar tactics but

are implemented around a different theme. In

these games, players motivated by strategic

planning enjoy training as many troops as

possible simultaneously, upgrading permanent

buildings, acquiring different permanent boosts,

and various guild mechanics.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links – Strategy and tactics play an important

role in the players’ success.

Average player demographics

Kiss of War – Upgrading battle units increases player’s

performance in battles.

West Game – Upgrading permanent buildings

Male

Female

Age 16-24

Age 25-44

Age 45+

How
Management – Resource Optimization
manifests in

mobile games?

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Multiple different permanent

buildings, resources or unit types

When we look at the US top-grossing 200

games that score high with the resource

optimization motivational driver, we can see

that two genres particularly attract players

motivated by this driver.

Both 4X strategy and tycoon/crafting games

appeal to players who enjoy optimizing

complex production streams and getting the

most out of available resources, but they

interest different demographics.
For example,

women favor tycoon/crafting games more

because of their more casual elements,

whereas the complex, competitive warfare

elements of 4X strategy games seem to appeal

mainly to male audience.

Player demographics – 4X Strategy

The Lord of the Rings: War – Troops are divided into melee and

ranged ones, each having their strengths and weaknesses.

Player demographics –

Tycoon/Crafting

Family Island — Farming game – Players gather resources to upgrade

their permanent buildings to gain boosts.

Male

Female

Age 16-24

Age 25-44

Age 45+

Male

Female

Age 16-24

Age 25-44

Age 45+

How
Expression – Customization & Decoration
manifests in

mobile games

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Fashion and home decoration themes,

decorative buildings and skins

The top US games that score high on the

customization and decoration motivational driver

are mostly a variety of casual games. For

example, in customization games, players

motivated by customization can express

themselves through the decoration of characters,

items, or buildings and show it to others. Other

similar elements can be found in the adventure

and tycoon/crafting genres as well.

Games often feature fashion and home and decor

themes. They include multiple buildings or skins

that are purely decorative and meant for

“bragging” purposes only and have no (or

minimal) effect on the actual gameplay. Also, the

games’ main character(s) often tend to be

women because the main player target group for

these games is often female.

Age 16-24

Project Makeover – Players earn coins from match3 levels, which

are used to complete tasks to progress further in the makeover.

Average player demographics

Redecor – Home Design Makeover –

Customization game with an interior design theme

Family Farm Adventure – Decorative furniture

Male

Female

Age 25-44

Age 45+

How
Expression – Customization & Decoration
manifests in

mobile games

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Casual renovation mobile games

Casual games have successfully combined renovation

elements with entirely different core mechanics in the

past because renovation elements tap well into

casual players’ psychological drive of wanting to clear

up space and improve it. However, over the last two

years, the trend has accelerated even more –

currently, every US top 100 grossing casual game

released in the last two years uses renovation

elements.

One of these games is Royal Match, where players

complete match3 puzzle levels with various goals to

get stars to renovate different rooms. One recent

example from the US top-grossing list is Zen Match.

It’s a mahjong-style puzzle game, where players

match puzzle tiles together on a mahjong-like

board to earn currency to design interior

styles for rooms.

Mahjong Solitaire Zen Match

Match3 Puzzle Royal Match

How
Expression – Role-playing & Emotions
manifests in

mobile games

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Storytelling, main characters,

and relationship systems

Role-playing and emotionally diving into stories

is not a big motivational driver in the US mobile

gaming market, as only 5% of the US top-grossing

200 games score high on that motivator. Mainly

these games are interactive stories, adventure

games, and turn-based RPGs.

However, while all of these games feature

storytelling elements, relationship systems with

in-game characters, and main characters in their

storylines, they are very different overall.
In

TBRPGs, narrative elements are just one aspect

of many, while interactive story games focus

mainly on storytelling and the player’s choices

that affect it.
This is also reflected in the player

demographics of the games, as interactive stories

and adventure games tend to interest more

females while TBRPG players are primarily men.

Player demographics – TBRPG

The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross – Narrative elements pop up

from time to time as the player progresses in the game.

Player demographics –

Interactive Story

Episode – Choose Your Story – Player’s choices affect how the game’s story

progresses or how the characters or their relationships develop.

Female

Male

Age 16-24

Age 25-44

Age 45+

Male

Female

Age 16-24

Age 25-44

Age 45+

How
Mastery – Improving Skills
manifests in mobile games

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Garena Free Fire (Battle Royale) vs. Wordscapes (Word) motivational drivers

Reaction-based vs.

thinking-based skills

There are several genres on the US

top-grossing 200 list that have games

that score high on the improving skills

motivational driver. Most of these
games

are a variety of midcore games that

emphasize reaction-based skills, such

as speed or aiming, but there are a

couple of sports and driving games as

well. However, there are also a few

casual genres that stand out from the

majority: rhythm-based, time

management, and puzzle and word

games. The first two genres emphasize

more reaction-based skills, while word

and puzzle games emphasize logical

thinking.

How games appeal to players’ motivations can vary depending on the audience.

This can differ, for example, in how reaction vs. thinking based the implementation is.

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Synchronous PvP-modes,

Special PvE modes and

levels, multi-touch controls

Players who prefer sensory-based

skills enjoy synchronous PvP modes,

often requiring mastering of

multi-touch controls and games’

physics/gravity-modeling. Another

good example is reaction-based skills

in rhythm games.

In turn, players who want to improve

their cognitive solving skills often

enjoy word games and getting better

at them on a daily basis.

Call of Duty: Mobile – The game contains different PvP

modes to train and master reaction-based skills.

Player demographics – Casual games

Beatstar & Wordscapes – Two casual games with different skill emphases

How
Mastery – Improving Skills
manifests in mobile games

Player demographics – Midcore games

Female

Male

Age 16-24

Age 25-44

Age 45+

Male

Female

Age 16-24

Age 25-44

Age 45+

How
Mastery – Completing Milestones
manifests in mobile games

Source: GameRefinery SaaS platform

Task/quest systems, leveling up,

non-competitive co-op development

efforts

Players motivated by completing milestones

enjoy different task systems, non-competitive

co-op development efforts, collectible

albums, and various leveling/progression

mechanics.

This motivation is an essential part of any

midcore game with power progression, like

the tactical shooter War Robots Multiplayer

Battle or any RPG. On the casual side, they

emerge as an essential part of core gameplay

progression in games such as idlers,

tycoon/crafting, or merge games. In these

latter game types,
the pace of completing

tasks is often peaceful and requires more

thinking-based skills.

Marvel Contest of Champions – Side quests system

Average player demographics

Lumber Empire: Idle Tycoon –

Core game is completing peaceful tasks

Township – Daily and ongoing tasks for the player to complete

Male

Female

Age 16-24

Age 25-44

Age 45+

We Know Mobile Games

We answer not just
what
is happening on

the market but
why
and
how
it is happening

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