With the decline of hyper-casual games and the rise of hybrid-casual titles, AppMagic has updated its methodology by incorporating hybrid-casual games into its quarterly reports.
The Q1 2025 report reveals that the top 10 Hybrid Casual games generated $87M in total net IAP revenue in the opening quarter of 2025, increasing over 67% over Q1 2024.
Rise of hybrid casual puzzle games
Hybrid casual puzzle games dominated the top 10 this quarter, generating 48% of the total revenue.
Three subgenres in puzzle games stood out, with Block Puzzle leading the way by bringing in 71% of the total Puzzle revenue this year. Screw Puzzle follows it with 20%, while Sort Puzzle contributes the remaning 9%.
Arcade titles followed the puzzle games with 45%, leaving a tiny share for other genres.
The top-performing titles in these genres are:
- Block Puzzle: Color Block Jam, Bus Escape
- Sort Puzzle: Block Jam 3D
- Arcade: All in Hole, Pocket Champs, Mob Control, Alien Invasion
- Strategy: Tower War
Standout Games
Color Block Jam by Rollic
Color Block Jam —in Q1 2025 alone generated $25M. For those who don’t know, the game blends Block Puzzle and Parking Jam mechanics, where players clear colored blocks by moving them through matching gates on a tight, grid-based board.
One of the game’s strongest features is its carefully designed difficulty curve and timers. The first session keeps players engaged for 20–30 minutes. Meanwhile, starting from level 20–25, completion times shorten, and the challenge intensifies. This encourages the use of paid boosters and consumable coins—a common tactic in Hybridcasual design.
Monetization is thoughtfully staged: early levels are ad-free to ease players in, while banner and interstitial ads appear later—often after each level—to boost coin rewards. IAPs like the Failed Level Pack help players get through tougher stages, while they also manage a limited lives system that resets over time or can be refilled with hard currency. The shop features constant bundles only—there are no limited-time offers in the game.
From the AppMagic Blog
Mob Control by Voodoo
One of the oldest hyper-casual hits, Mob Control, came out in 2021 and evolved into a perfect hybrid-casual game. The game reached an all-time monthly revenue high in March 2025 and generated $7.9M in IAP revenue and over 21M downloads in Q1 2025.
Mob Control shines in how it monetizes its audience. The game gives players a clear incentive to make their first purchase: any IAP, including a subscription, removes interstitial and banner ads. This significantly lowers the friction for first-time spenders.
But what makes the monetization model stand out is how it handles rewarded ads. Rather than eliminating them entirely, Mob Control introduces “skip tickets” (called Skip’its)—a system that lets players skip watching rewarded ads while still receiving the associated benefits. Skip’its can be earned or purchased and are also included in the subscription. Once they run out, players can either return to watching ads or buy more tickets. This keeps both IAA and IAP monetization streams healthy.
From the AppMagic Blog
Key Takeaways
- Hybrid casual puzzle games and arcade games continue to lead, accounting for over 90% of that total IAP revenue.
- The first quarter of the year shows that one of the scenarios for success in 2025 is pairing the Hypercasual core with layered progression and smart monetization borrowed from Casual titles
You can read AppMagic’s report on their website for additional insights on different games and takeaways.
