Improving Onboarding in Pop Slots by Playstudio
Onboarding is the most crucial step in any game. Fix onboarding first, then focus on gameplay, retention, and monetization.
POP Slots is a free-to-play slot game developed by PlayStudios. It offers players an engaging virtual Las Vegas experience. Players can play slot games while interacting with each other in a virtual casino environment.
It is one of the top-grossing slot games. It generates $70 million in annual revenue worldwide.
In this article, we will improve the game's onboarding.
Improving onboarding will increase short-term retention, which will lead to higher long-term retention and revenue, i.e., the LTV of the user.
Objective
The objective of the onboarding is to send players into the gameplay with enough context as quickly as possible.
Funnel
The typical funnel for a f2p slot would be the following. Our objective would send a maximum number of users on the last step, i.e. spinning 100 times. Research suggests that the first 5 to 10 minutes are crucial if you want to keep players coming back
Step 1: Installs
Step 2: Login/Account Creation
Step 3: Gameplay: 10 spins → 50 spins → 100 spins.
(Assumption: 1 spin = 3 seconds)
The first 5 to 10 minutes are critical and will make or break your D1 retention.
Goal
Increase the % of players who do at least 100 spins out of all login users.
Onboarding
Step 1: Pre-Permission Banner to allow App Tracking
When you install the game, you will see a pre-permission banner to allow app tracking. The objective is to nudge users to allow tracking.
Game developers use this tracking to show personalized ads and measure ad performance using a device ID called IDFA. With ATT, if users deny permission, games can't target ads effectively or track which ads lead to installs, which affects revenue and user acquisition.
Recommendation: Skip this permission on first login. Show it from the second login onwards, when users have played the game and are more likely to return.
On click of OK, players with get ATT permission. We don’t have control over the ATT pop-up, so this screen can’t be avoided.
Step 2: Login Screen
Skip this screen and take the player to the game. They should be able to play the game immediately.
Recommendation: Either log in silently or postpone the login to the second session. Once players play the game, they are more likely to log in.
Step 3: Game Lobby
Once you log in, you are thrown into the lobby without any guidance. I couldn’t find a single slot game on this screen. I was lost and kept clicking buttons to access the game.
This will create a huge drop in the onboarding funnel conversion. As a player, I was lost and couldn’t find the game I was looking for.
Recommendation: Either guide players to the gameplay or take them directly to the gameplay screen.
Step 4: Game Lobby / Virtual Casino
Somehow I click the right arrow in the lobby and then I landed to a casino looking like screen. I clicked the Enter Casino and I went inside.
Step 5: Gameplay
I had to select a slot machine (not needed, auto-select the best one). I started playing slot games. In the next few screens, I saw a lot of banners that kept me from playing the game.
Recommendation: Don’t show any sales, deals, or feature unlock popups in the first 100 spins, it breaks the flow.
Recommendation
There is a never-ending list of screens to complete 100 spins. We can redesign the new onboarding by removing all unnecessary screens, even postponing login to the second session.
Do you want to improve onboarding, engagement, retention, or monetization for your free-to-play game? Reach out to us at: coreloopsconsulting@gmail.com.