Founded in 2014, APPS began as an outsourced mobile app development team catering to companies and startups. Their breakout success came with the puzzle game “A Word Game,” which ranked among the most popular games of 2017 and 2018, achieving over 22 million downloads globally.
APPS has continued to build on this success, developing a series of popular titles, including “Carpet Roller – Dress & Rugs,” “How Many – Trivia Game,” “Trivia Race 3D – Roll & Answer,” “Fashion Battle – Dress to Win,” and their latest acclaimed release, “Drill And Collect – Idle Miner.”
To mark their 10th anniversary and reflect their evolving brand identity, APPS unveiled a new logo. The new logo embodies the creativity, playfulness, and joy integral to the brand. It is cleaner, aligns with modern standards, and better represents APPS‘s vision for the future.
We held an in-depth interview with APPS regarding their latest hit game, “Drill and Collect,” exploring the key elements contributing to its success.
With Drill and Collect achieving over 10 million downloads, what key design and gameplay elements do you believe have driven its widespread popularity?
The success of Drill and Collect comes down to a few key things. First off, the underground digging mechanic is something new and engaging that you don’t see in other idle arcade games. Players really feel like they’re digging through the ground, which is super satisfying. Plus, the game has this loop where you dig, collect, sell, and upgrade your equipment. This keeps players hooked as they try to make everything more efficient and expand their operations.
The way we gradually introduce new content and areas also keeps players interested because they always have something new to aim for. Lastly, balancing manual and automated gameplay makes the game challenging but fun, keeping players invested in finding the best strategies.
Image Credit: APPS
What live-ops strategies and updates have effectively kept Drill and Collect players engaged?
We’re still in the early stages of implementing live-ops strategies in Drill and Collect, but we have some exciting plans for the future. We’re looking at introducing social and competitive events to bring new challenges and content to the game. We also want to add solo events so every type of player has something to look forward to.
By listening to our community and incorporating their feedback into these updates, we hope to keep the game dynamic and enjoyable. We’re planning special in-game events, limited-time offers, and seasonal updates to keep players coming back for more. These upcoming live-ops strategies will be key in keeping our players engaged and excited for what’s next.
Image Credit: APPS
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced while developing Drill and Collect, and how did you overcome them?
One of the toughest challenges was making the underground digging mechanic feel realistic and satisfying. We did a lot of research and went through many versions to get the physics and visuals just right. Another big issue was performance, especially with all the materials in the game. We tackled this by optimizing our code and tweaking how materials are handled.
Another challenge we faced was introducing new mechanics. You know how tricky it can be to add new content and mechanics in arcade idle games—it often creates a butterfly effect, disrupting the existing balance, and then you have to re-balance everything. We overcame this by creating numerous versions, conducting extensive tests, and spending long hours experiencing each version to make decisions based on how they felt. This careful and iterative process helped us ensure that new additions enhanced the game without causing issues.
How do Apps leverage player feedback to improve Drill and Collect? Can you share an example of a significant update based on community input?
We have a “Write Us” button in the game where players can send us free-text messages with their feedback. Another crucial channel for us is Discord, where we’ve built an organically growing community. When things aren’t going well in the game, we hear about it through these channels.
We also read suggestions that could enhance gameplay and consider whether they could evolve into new content ideas. In our view, the community that forms around a game is incredibly valuable. That’s why we want to do even more in community management and make it more interactive.
Image Credit: APPS
What strategies and innovative approaches do you use to ensure your games remain popular and maintain high download rates?
Since Drill and Collect is a game that drives high playtimes and retention, we always focused on that strength. In that matter, working with incentivized networks helped us a lot. Players download and play the game maybe only for the reward that they will get. But because of the fun they get by playing Drill and Collect, they stop thinking about their reward and keep playing the game.
Image Credit: APPS
What key visual elements differentiate hyper-casual games in the market, and how did these elements affect Drill and Collect’s visual style and art direction?
We think the simple and appealing design of hyper-casual games is definitely an advantage, so we tried to embrace this art style in Drill and Collect as well. We went with a clean and vibrant art style that helps players easily navigate and grasp the game mechanics. The underground environment is realistic yet approachable, providing an immersive experience without being overwhelming. This balance between simplicity and detail helps attract a wide audience, making the game accessible to both casual and dedicated players. Our art direction focuses on intuitive design and visual feedback, ensuring that players can easily enjoy the gameplay.
Image Credit: Play Store
What lessons have you learned from the development and launch of Drill and Collect that you plan to apply to future game projects?
One major lesson we’ve learned is the importance of having a core mechanic that’s both engaging and unique. Giving players a sense of progression and accomplishment through well-designed challenges and rewards is key to keeping them interested. We’ve also realized how important community feedback is in shaping the game’s development and making sure our updates resonate with players.
Additionally, balancing new content and mechanics with the existing game flow is essential to avoid disrupting the player experience. Moving forward, we’ll use these insights in our future projects by focusing on innovative gameplay mechanics, actively engaging with our community, and continuously refining our designs to create fun and enjoyable games.
