Developing a Hyper Casual project that got turned down by a publisher because of the metrics

In 2020, we were approached by a developer with a game prototype where users were supposed to match numbered cubes by swiping. One publisher had already run their tests on it and immediately abandoned the project, because the metrics were inconsistent – good retention, but low playtime, high CPI and plummeting ratings. Revenue-wise, that wasn’t a good combination.

To change the situation, me and Chain Cube developer Ignat Bykov had to completely reimagine monetization, polish the game design, and conduct dozens of other experiments (which weren’t always a success). Here the iterations the project went through to get to the top of the stores, bring in $500,000 in the first months of scaling and stay profitable so far. We hope that other developers will find this information useful as well.