Jelly Splash and the monetization for kids

Frédéric Hatanian
Apr 14, 2016
2 min read

Studio: Wooga

Type: Puzzle

Competition: Candy Crush Saga (King), Bejeweled (PopCap)

Download: 10 000 000 on the Play Store

Price: free

Jelly splash is a cute puzzle game that was published in august 2013 by the German developer Wooga. In this game, the player has to make lines of jellies to destroy as many of them as possible and get the highest score while fulfilling the different goals assigned to each level in order to get to the next one.

The Game Economy

The economic system is very simple; the player can buy Wooga coins via the in-app store then spend them on bonuses or to refill her/his life.

The bonuses can then be played to facilitate a party and help the player get to the next level.

The only other way for the player to obtain Wooga coins is by opening some treasure chests after finishing a certain number of missions.

The game is also used as a platform to promote other games from the company via the social menu.

Another aspect of the monetization is the promotion of games from other developers via commercial ads that will appear after losing a game. Those are not video ads and therefore are not cutting off the player during his game time, they just offer a possible alternative for a disappointed player that just lost.

Why Do Players Pay?

Jelly Splash is a game for younger player and won't present any real difficulty for anyone so the bonuses are more of a way of to enhance the experience with colorful explosions and rainbow jellies that will keep the kids happy and let them win every time.

What to Improve?

The simple monetization system of Jelly Splash leaves lots of room for improvement like the possibility to pay to remove adds for people that are no willing to do the one finger move that will close them or even the possibility to buy some exclusive bonuses for paying players. But I think that Wooga is using the game more as a way to attract players and send them towards some other of their titles via cross-promotion.

Conclusions

Pros: Very simple monetization design that is easy to understand and mainly aimed for a younger public, light ad monetization that doesnt disturb the player.

Cons: No ways of earning coins outside of paying for them, the levels do not get really complicated to finish so the bonuses end up being tools to get the 3 stars or just a way to diversify the fun, but they won’t help the player advance through the levels that much.

Retention: