Monetization Design Direction
Version date: 2026-06-15 | For discussion of the current-version monetization plan
1. Player Segment Definitions
This section separates players into two dimensions: activity tiers (A0-A5) describe average daily online time and progression speed, while payer tiers (P0-P5) describe monthly spending capacity and product coverage. External discussion should mainly use payer tiers, with activity tiers used to explain resource-demand differences within the same payer tier.
Activity tiers use average daily online minutes on active days. Current observed progression provides a useful check: Active Day 1 Q50 is around level 15 and Q90 around level 41; Active Day 7 Q50 around level 99 and Q90 around level 238; Active Day 10 Q50 around level 140, Q90 around level 320, and Q95 around level 440.
| Activity Tier | Avg. Daily Online Time | Progression Reference | Monetization Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| A0 Low Activity | <15 minutes/day | Below 5 levels/day; monthly progress is usually low | Level pressure should not be the main lever. Focus on retention and reactivation. |
| A1 Light Activity | 15-40 minutes/day | About 5-12 levels/day | Suitable for low-price packs, ad revives, and light supply. |
| A2 Mid Activity | 40-75 minutes/day | About 10-20 levels/day; main normal-player band | The “normal player at about 60 minutes/day” assumption mainly maps to this tier. |
| A3 High Activity | 75-90 minutes/day | About 18-25 levels/day | Revives, tools, and push packs begin to consume steadily. |
| A4 Core Activity | 90-120 minutes/day | About 25-35 levels/day | Supply and event support for mid-spender and above should pay close attention to this tier. |
| A5 Super High Activity | 120+ minutes/day | 35+ levels/day; extreme high-activity samples evaluated separately | Consumption can vary widely inside the same payer tier, so resource supply should be evaluated together with payer tier. |
| Payer Tier | Monthly Spend | First-Month Spend | Typical Progression Reference | Definition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P0 Free | $0 | $0 | Low-activity majority <100; retained normal players around 100-450 levels/month | No payment. Progress depends on ads, waiting, and retries. Highly active free players may reach deeper progression, but still rely more on ads, waiting, and event supply. |
| P1 Micro Spender | $1-$10 | $1-$10 | About 100-450 levels/month | Does not buy ad removal. Mainly buys the piggy bank or a small number of high-value low-price packs. |
| P2 Low Spender | $11-$50 | $25-$65 | About 250-650 levels/month | Usually buys ad removal and the beginner pack in the first month. Regular monthly spend is mainly the pass and the first two weekly chain-pack tiers. |
| P3 Mid Spender | $51-$200 | $65-$220 | About 450-950 levels/month | High activity. Seeks comfortable progression, event completion, and album progress. |
| P4 High Spender | $201-$600 | $215-$620 | About 700-1300 levels/month | Progresses quickly, completes events and collection goals, and buys major supply items. Should not be blocked for long by base levels. |
| P5 Whale | $600+ | $615+ | 1000+ levels/month; extreme high-activity cases handled separately | Pursues full collection, very fast progression, deep progression systems, long-term scarce goals, and prestige. |
Note: this document uses payer tiers as the main structure for monthly budget, product mix, and experience goals. Activity tiers are a supporting dimension for progression speed and resource demand within the same payer tier. Later, more granular event and pack design can use “activity × payer” portraits such as high-activity low-pay, main paying users, high-spend deep players, and low-activity returning payers.
2. Monthly Baseline Consumption
A regular month only counts repeatable spending. Ad removal and the beginner pack are first-month one-time purchases and should not be included in later monthly baseline spend.
| Payer Tier | Regular Monthly Baseline Spend | First-Month One-Time Spend |
|---|---|---|
| P0 Free | Ad revives, energy waiting, repeated retries. | None. |
| P1 Micro Spender | Piggy bank, $0.99/$1.99 high-value packs, and a small number of low-price push packs. | May buy the beginner pack; does not buy ad removal. |
| P2 Low Spender | Pass, first two weekly chain-pack tiers, and piggy bank. | Ad removal and beginner pack. |
| P3 Mid Spender | Pass, Candy Pass, full chain pack, push packs, coin fund, and album completion packs. | Ad removal and beginner pack. |
| P4 High Spender | Pass, Candy Pass, full chain pack, push packs, higher coin fund, event packs, and collection completion. | Ad removal and beginner pack. |
| P5 Whale | All baseline items, push packs, selected card packs, universal cards, event supplies, collection completion, and future high-cap resource sinks. | Ad removal and beginner pack. |
3. Current Observed Spending Base
Current live paid spend is still concentrated in shallow spending. The small number of mid-tier and above users shows that the current product structure does not yet fully support mid-to-high spend.
| Cumulative Spend | Payers | Share of Payers | Share of Paid Revenue | Median Progress | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ≤$10 | 97 | ~65% | 24.1% | Level 80 | Mainly supported by ad removal, beginner pack, piggy bank, and low-price packs. |
| $10-$30 | 28 | ~19% | 21.4% | Level 120 | Entering early low-spender behavior, but a stable monthly spend pattern has not fully formed. |
| $30-$60 | 21 | ~14% | 34.3% | Level 198 | Close to the upper low-spender range or mid-spender entry, but still needs more recurring spend points. |
| $60-$100 | 2 | ~1% | 5.9% | Level 251 | Mid-spender sample is small, indicating that mid-stage packs and collection spend are not fully opened yet. |
| $100-$200 | 1 | <1% | 5.4% | Level 467 | High-activity mid/high-spender entry sample. |
| $200+ | 1 | <1% | 8.9% | Level 1328 | Extreme high-activity sample with 7.5 hours of average daily playtime; not used as the normal monthly progression model. |
Current Push Pack and Coin Fund Setup
Current volume is small and basic. The next step should strengthen trigger timing, tier value, activity/collection scenario binding, the relationship with revive gaps, and tier-specific personalized push logic.
The trigger rules below follow “Special Pack Design Plan V2 2026-04-29.” R/N/S types are mutually exclusive in the same failure or return-to-main flow, and priority is fixed as R > N > S.
| Product | Price | Current Orders | Current Revenue | Trigger Condition | Current Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Push Pack R1 | $0.99 | 10 | $9.90 | Only shown inside a level when the player taps Exit on the failure screen. Current level is Hard/Boss, this failure is a near-miss, and current coins < 900. Once per level lifetime; shares a 24h account-level cooldown with R2; only one of R1/R2 can appear in a day; offer valid 2h. | Low-price rescue entry, suitable for the first meaningful blocker. |
| Push Pack R2 | $1.99 | 11 | $21.89 | Only shown inside a level when the player taps Exit on the failure screen. Current level is Hard/Boss, same level has failed for the second consecutive time, and current coins < 1800. Once per level lifetime; shares a 24h cooldown with R1; only one of R1/R2 can appear in a day; offer valid 2h. | Low-price supply pack for light spending after repeated failure. |
| Push Pack N1 | $1.99 | 11 | $21.89 | Only shown on the main screen after the player exits from a failed Boss level. Default nodes are 24/49/74/99/124/149..., and it is the first challenge failure. If R1/R2 already triggered in this failure flow, N1 does not trigger. Once per node lifetime; offer valid 6h. | Basic node-preparation pack; still shallow support today. |
| Push Pack S1 | $4.99 | 9 | $44.91 | Opens after level 99, only on the main screen, at most once every 50 levels, mutually exclusive with R/N and lowest priority. Trigger when 72h coin spend is ≥3600 or last-10-level revive cost is ≥1800, and coin inventory is <3000. Offer valid 6-12h. | Mid-tier rescue supply and a possible monthly spend entry for mid spenders. |
| Push Pack S2 | $9.99 | 8 | $79.92 | Opens after level 99, only on the main screen, at most once every 50 levels, mutually exclusive with R/N and lowest priority. Trigger when 72h coin spend is ≥7200 or last-10-level revive cost is ≥3600. If inventory is <3000, show S1 first; if inventory is ≥3000, show S2. Offer valid 12h. | Higher instant supply; should later bind to activity, collection, and Boss gaps. |
| Coin Fund 701 | $4.99 | 19 | $94.81 | Opens after first clearing level 99, then one round every 50 levels. Each round has a 48h purchase window; after purchase, valid for 7 days. Only one coin fund can be active or available at a time. | F1 basic coin fund, 12,000 coins, aimed at Active/Core users who enter the post-99 coin-pressure zone. |
| Coin Fund 702 | $9.99 | 2 | $19.98 | Opens after first clearing level 149, or after completing F1 at least twice. After purchase, valid for 10 days. Only one coin fund can be active or available at a time. | F2 advanced coin fund, 22,000 coins, aimed at Core/Whale and high-frequency coin-spending users. Current orders are small mainly because the paid-player base is still small; continue observing support. |
4. Level Pressure and Revive Consumption Targets
Mature stages should not keep increasing pressure indefinitely. The target is to create frequent moments where the player feels close to clearing and a revive has value, instead of leaving players stuck for a long time.
| Level Range | Current Extra Retries | Current Revive Levels | Current Actual Revives | Target Extra Retries | Target Revive Levels | Target Actual Revives | Status | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-50 | 4.0 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 3-4 | 1-2 | 1.5-2 | On Target | Keep light pressure; focus on tutorial, first-purchase awareness, and early confidence. |
| 51-100 | 5.7 | 6.6 | 6.9 | 6.5-7.5 | 6-8 | 7-8.5 | Needs Strengthening | Player pass rate is about 99.4% and attempt pass rate about 90.2%, leaving room for light strengthening; improve revive triggers and push-pack support. |
| 101-150 | 11.2 | 7.4 | 8.0 | 9-10.2 | 6-7 | 6.8-7.8 | High | Overloaded points such as L124 need to be reduced while preserving the first meaningful monetization pressure band. |
| 151-200 | 7.2 | 6.1 | 6.6 | 8.5-10 | 6-8 | 7.5-9 | Low | Increase mid-stage pressure so revives and push packs have stable value. |
| 201-250 | 11.5 | 8.1 | 9.2 | 9.5-11 | 7-9 | 8.5-10 | Needs Tuning | Close to the mature pressure platform; the upper end is slightly high, so avoid further pressure increases. |
| 250+ | ~7.3-12.2 | ~6.0-7.2 | ~6.4-7.8 | 9.5-11 | 7-10 | 8.5-10.5 | Segment Watch | 250-300 is close to target; 301+ is lighter. Keep the late-game pressure platform stable and do not keep increasing it. |
Notes: extra retries means additional failed attempts generated while clearing 50 levels. Revive levels means the number of levels where at least one revive happens. Actual revives means total revive count; some Boss or super-hard levels may have more than one revive in a single level.
5. Expected Player Experience
Free and Micro Spenders
Free players can keep playing long term, but will clearly feel ads, waiting, retries, and resource gaps. Highly active free players may still reach deeper progression, but with more friction.
Micro spenders use piggy bank and low-price packs to reduce local blockers, but still keep the ad experience and do not get the full ad-removal improvement.
Low and Mid Spenders
Low spenders see a clear experience improvement after first-month ad removal. The pass and the first two chain-pack tiers support baseline progression, but albums and events still create pressure.
Mid spenders can progress comfortably with high activity and can pursue album completion through push packs, coin fund, and collection packs.
High Spenders
High spenders should not be blocked for long by base levels. Spending should focus on faster progression, event completion, collection completion, and continuous supply. Mainline pressure provides baseline consumption, while events and collection provide clearer goals.
Whales
Whales should not be served by simply increasing failure counts. Their main goals should be selected card packs, universal cards, event supplies, scarce collection, PVP competition, and long-term resource sinks.
6. Monetization Design Thinking
The current plan should remain the near-term commercial foundation, while there is also a less mature long-term direction that still needs validation. The current framework is: moderate level pressure + revive consumption + push packs + passes + album collection.
Puzzle games usually create payment demand through failure, but the downside is clear: players feel pressure, churn risk increases, and the fast-play experience is weakened. Recent merge games, represented by Gossip Harbor, suggest another direction: keep the core play loop low-barrier, quick to start, and continuously playable, then use dense missions, dense events, collection goals, and competitive systems to create long-term pursuit.
Overall Direction
| Area | Current Role | Future Adjustment Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Mainline Levels | Baseline monetization pressure source, providing value for revives, tools, and push packs. | Carry more retention and baseline consumption. After level 250, keep a stable pressure platform and do not continue raising failure pressure. |
| Revives | One of the main payment drivers. | Keep baseline value, but optimize the feeling that the player was close to clearing after revive instead of simply adding more failures. |
| Push Packs | Blocker supply and instant rescue. | Extend to events, PVP, collection, and other supply scenarios so packs do not only serve mainline failure. |
| Events | Supporting content. | Become the main loop target for mid-to-high spenders. Use dense tasks, short-cycle rewards, and near-completion goals to drive supply purchases. |
| Album Collection | Long-term goal. | Become a stable spend point for mid spenders and above. Mid spenders complete through high activity and moderate payment; high spenders and whales complete via month-end packs, selected card packs, and universal cards. |
| Candy Party / PVP | Existing PVP-style black-hole gameplay. | Upgrade into a deeper competition and progression monetization system with seasons, ranks, progression lines, challenge attempts, event tickets, sprint packs, exclusive cosmetics, and scarce rewards. |
| High-Spender / Whale Support | Currently depends on progression, collection, and resource supply. | Shift toward PVP competition, deep progression, scarce collection, and event sprinting. Avoid putting all high-spend pressure on mainline level failure. |
Goals for Events and Deep Systems
- Always show short-term goals: a few more levels, a few more runs, a little more collection progress, one more chest.
- Create stable consumption for mid spenders and above: event supplies, coin fund, push packs, and collection packs should form continuous demand.
- Give high spenders and whales higher goals: full collection, Candy Party seasons, PVP rank, scarce cosmetics, progression materials, and prestige competition.
- Keep mainline sustainable: mainline levels provide pressure and revive value, but should not become the main source of late-game churn.
Final direction thinking: use moderate level pressure in the current version to establish baseline monetization; long term, use levels for retention, events for goals, and collection plus Candy Party/PVP depth systems to support high spenders and whales.