September 7, 2025 • By Evonix Team
Building Games That Last
In an industry flooded with new releases, keeping players engaged beyond the first session is the holy grail of game development. A high retention rate means players are returning day after day, week after week. This continuity drives revenue through in‑app purchases and advertising, but it also does something more important: it signals that people genuinely enjoy your game. They’ve woven it into their routine and are invested in its world. Without retention, even the most visually stunning game will fade into obscurity. Growth becomes expensive when you constantly need new users to replace those who churn, and community feedback dries up. This is why modern studios obsess over Day‑1, Day‑7 and Day‑30 retention metrics – they tell the story of a game’s staying power.
Crafting an Onboarding Experience
The journey to strong retention begins the moment a player installs your game. Onboarding should feel like an invitation rather than an instruction manual. Teach the basic mechanics quickly through interactive prompts, but avoid overloading the player. Let them experience a small victory early on to foster confidence. We use tooltips, glowing highlights and gentle animations to guide new players through their first few moves. If the onboarding is confusing or boring, players will bounce before they experience the heart of your game. Testing different onboarding flows with A/B experiments reveals which approaches result in higher early retention.
Keeping Content Fresh
No matter how engaging your core loop, players eventually crave novelty. Regular content updates – new levels, characters, modes or events – give returning players something to look forward to. Seasonal themes and limited‑time challenges create urgency and encourage players to check in frequently. For our card games, we run tournaments with special rules, release new deck art and add thematic soundtracks during regional holidays. Behind the scenes, we plan these updates months in advance, using analytics to identify when engagement dips and what content resonates most.
Rewarding Progression
Human beings love to progress. Games that visualise advancement – through XP bars, rank badges, unlocked cosmetics – tap into this psychological drive. Reward structures should be carefully paced: early rewards build momentum, while later ones require more effort. We design tiered achievements and daily missions that align with desired behaviours, such as completing a tutorial or playing a certain number of hands. Progression systems also help players set personal goals; a user who wants to reach the next rank is more likely to return.
Fostering Community
Games that thrive long‑term create spaces where players can share strategies, celebrate victories and commiserate over losses. Social features – chat channels, forums, guilds and leaderboards – help turn a solitary activity into a communal one. At Evonix, we encourage positive interactions through emotes, friendly tournaments and moderated chat. We also highlight user‑generated content like fan art and strategy guides. When players feel part of a community, they are more likely to invest emotionally and financially in your game.
Data as a Design Partner
Collecting and analysing player data allows us to see beyond intuition. Heatmaps show which tutorial steps confuse players, and session logs reveal when users quit in frustration. By examining this data, we can identify pain points and adjust difficulty, pacing and UI accordingly. Predictive modelling helps us forecast churn and intervene with tailored offers or tutorials. In our card games, we use dynamic difficulty adjustment to match AI opponents to a player’s skill level, keeping them in a state of flow without frustration. Data also informs monetization: by observing spending habits, we can offer fair bundles and time‑limited deals that appeal to different player segments without resorting to exploitative tactics.
Personalisation and Ethical Use of Data
Personalising the player experience based on data leads to higher satisfaction. Recommending a mode based on past behaviour or suggesting a deck skin that matches a player’s taste makes them feel seen. However, this must be done ethically. We collect only the data necessary to improve gameplay, anonymise sensitive information and provide clear privacy policies. Trust is essential; if players suspect their data is being misused, they will churn. We commit to using analytics to make games more fun and inclusive, not to manipulate players.
The Economics of Retention
Retention isn’t just a feel‑good metric; it has profound economic implications. Acquiring new users through ads and partnerships can be expensive. Every time a player leaves, you must fill their seat with someone new, driving up marketing costs. Studies show that improving retention by even a few percentage points can dramatically increase lifetime value because retained players are more likely to make purchases and less likely to require re‑acquisition. A loyal player base also attracts advertisers and partners who see stability as a sign of quality. For small studios, good retention can mean the difference between sustainable growth and an unsustainable burn rate. As a result, smart investment in player experience is often more cost‑effective than pouring money into advertising.
Data Science in Practice
Behind the scenes, a multidisciplinary team works on the algorithms that power our retention efforts. Data scientists build dashboards that combine telemetry from millions of sessions into clear visualisations. Machine learning models classify players by style: some are completionists, some are thrill‑seekers and some simply socialise. These insights help designers create content tailored to each group. We also run controlled experiments – releasing a new feature to a small percentage of users and comparing their behaviour to a control group – to measure impact. If a change reduces churn or increases playtime without harming well‑being, we roll it out to everyone. This scientific approach demystifies design decisions and prevents knee‑jerk reactions to anecdotal feedback.
Player Well‑Being and Philosophy
While data can optimise engagement, our ultimate goal is to enhance players’ lives. We reject manipulative designs that rely on addiction and instead focus on creating healthy habits. Our games include reminders to take breaks, caps on session length and options to disable certain notifications. We believe that respect for the player fosters long‑term loyalty. In line with philosophies that emphasise balance, we strive to create experiences that feel enriching rather than compulsive. After all, the best retention comes not from design tricks but from genuine enjoyment and trust in the developer.
Win‑Back Campaigns and VIPs
Even engaged players sometimes drift away. Win‑back strategies, like push notifications highlighting new content or special rewards for returning users, can rekindle interest. It’s important to strike a balance between being inviting and being intrusive. For your most dedicated players, VIP programmes can provide exclusive events, sneak previews and personalised support. These initiatives show appreciation and deepen loyalty. Retention isn’t just about keeping everyone; it’s about nurturing relationships with those who love your game the most.
Iterate Forever
Retention and data‑driven design are not one‑time tasks; they form a continuous cycle. Launching a game is the beginning, not the end. You release new features, observe how players respond, refine them based on feedback and repeat. Listening to your community, staying adaptable and being willing to pivot when the data suggests are hallmarks of healthy development. Success stories like Overwatch and Angry Birds show how iterative updates and analytics‑guided tweaks can keep games thriving for years.
Our Commitment
At Evonix, we’re passionate about building card games that people return to again and again. We combine timeless game mechanics with modern retention strategies, ensuring that each session feels rewarding and fresh. By embracing data ethically and listening to our players, we hope to foster communities that span generations and geographies. Whether you’re here for a quick match or a deep dive into strategy, we’re grateful for every hand you play.
