Cross app subscription

Playing all mobile games with one subscription

About the project

All GameHouse Original Stories (GHOS) games have free levels to begin with, but eventually you will have to buy the game or get a subscription. With one subscription you can play all GHOS games that are in the App Stores.

The problem

A subscription across multiple apps is something you don't see often, so users aren't used to it. We had to explain very well what we meant with the subscription and what the benefits were for the players.

Mission

The mission is twofold; we want to make sure the user understands what subscription means, that it’s not only subscribing to this game but also to all other GameHouse Original Stories games. And from a business point of view we want to increase the subscription sales and have a low drop-off when the trial period is over.

My role

  • Flows
  • Visual design

Flows

A game has a certain flow and interrupting that flow to show anything that is subscription related has to be done very carefully. You don't want the player to see it as an ad or become so annoyed by the number of screens not directly game-related that they leave the game. So every screen has to be timed well and capped at a certain time.

Small detail of the high level flow of a game

Visual design

A lot of the screens we implemented in the games were ab-tested, especially the paywall where you can buy the game or a subscription. Some of the screens I designed:

  • Paywalls - where the player can buy the game or a subscription.
  • Welcome back - when a player comes back to the game, we show them a screen to welcome them back and let them know we have a catalogue app.
  • Purchase confirmation - when you come back from the App Store screens of buying the game or a subscription you will get a confirmation screen in the game.
  • Cross promotion - a screen to tell the player that there are more games out there which they might also like.
  • Subscription status - screens only for subscribers to inform them about their subscription (ended, canceled, suspended, trial ended, etc).
Some examples of the different paywall designs

Result

If you do a lot of ab-tests, you know that a lot of them fail, but also when they fail you learn. The most successful changes we did is changing/adding features, such as adding a trial period to the subscription or offering different subscription plans.

What I've learned

  • Creating a lot of designs, don't make them perfect.
  • Go as fast as possible, test and iterate.
  • Design changes have less impact than changing/adding features.
 

Next project

Onboarding