I first downloaded Archero because I kept getting targeted with it's ads. It's ads were everywhere. The video ads were quite interesting, they had people shoot an arrow through a phone. They got someone to chainsaw the phone with the archero game on. It certainly made me watch the ad, so kudos to their user acquisition team for thinking out of the box.
I saw the founder and listened to his sharing at the Google play 2019 awards in Shenzhen. Archero is the highest grossing game in China last year. That's nuts considering it's a hypercasual game.
I loved the gameplay and it's very similar to another game I love: Everwing.
So my blog title is inspired by Deconstructor of fun. I just checked and realised he wrote a blog post too on Archero.
I'm going to add to that blog and show some of the things I like.
Crazy User Acquisition
Here are all the video ads for Archero. I'm sure you've seen a few of them. I remember the founder saying they had 100 people on user acquisition alone.
Why level 5 is so hard
According to the publisher, level 5 was made super hard because they didn't have enough content for a level 6. This is actually a good reminder for myself. I don't need to launch with all the bells and whistles at first, I can always add that later when it's successful.
It's interesting to hear that at this point, the game is basically a content production house with over 100 artists creating new content.
Gradual unlock
I hate being overwhelmed at the beginning of a game. The steep learning curve really drives me nuts, that's why I never really liked lords mobile or mobile strike.
When you start, it's really simple. You just move around and shoot. Nothing else. As you progress, new features are unlocked to spend you coins that you've earned. I love this. It doesn't even show a locked icon, the features are completely hidden until you reach a new level.
Welcome back and time bonus
Every time you come back, you get a bonus. Ok, that's common. However, there's a skill you unlock called Time bonus. The longer you are away, the more you earn. I noticed this with Brawl Stars too, when you leave for more than a week and come back, you get a BIG reward like a new character to bring you back into the game. I left because I was getting bored of the grind and when I get to unlock something new after a week, I want to play again.
Conclusion
I liked this game alot and would give it 8/10. However, as noted in the other blog the game play falls short after a while. It is a hypercasual game afterall. It was great while it lasted!
