Time Limited Boosters

Do you believe that Time Boosters can increase not just player Engagement, but also Monetization?

No? Then this article is for you.

Many people underestimate the positive impact of Time Boosters. These boosters can elevate the gaming experience by adding value and motivating players to stay longer or spend more.

In this article, you'll find:

• A breakdown of 7 booster types with examples from popular games;

• Strategies to use boosters to prolong sessions and increase spending;

• Actionable tips to tackle game design challenges;

• A real example from Royal Match, where, in just 12 levels, I received over 4 hours (!) of Time Boosters and Unlimited Lives.

Boosters Types

(1) Unlimited Lives - allows players to enjoy the game without limits, focusing purely on player skill and level complexity.

• Typical for any Level-based game, especially popular in Match-3 and Hybrid Casual games.
  

(2) Pre-Level Boosters - help players complete levels by providing special items that make complexity easier.

• It is commonly used in Match-3 games but is also highly recommended for the Hybrid Casual genre.

(3) Discount Boosters - reduce the prices of in-game items like Energy or Resources (e.g., Meta upgrades cost less in Coin Master).

• Typically used in Hidden Object, Farm, and Merge-5 games.

(4) Extra Rewards

• Offers extra bonuses or larger rewards for completing tasks

(5) More LiveOps Event Currency

• Increases the LiveOps points earned for actions, motivating players to reach new milestones.

(6) Faster Progression

• Speeds up player progression. Popular in Social Casino games.

(7) Other Specific Boosters - ex. Better Drop Rates

• Increase the chances of obtaining Rare items, Cards, or Special rewards.

Boosters: Turning Playtime into Profit

Temporary boosters serve multiple strategic purposes in games. Here’s how they can drive player Engagement and Monetization:

(1) Prolong Player Sessions Length

Boosters encourage players to stay longer, making game sessions more engaging and enjoyable.

• For example, offering a 20-30 min Unlimited Lives at the Start of a Session can create positive momentum and encourage players to play more.

  • Imagine the average session length is 15 min. By giving a 20 min Unlimited Lives at the beginning, you can potentially prolong the session by another +5 min.

• Offer players another valuable Time Booster midway or toward the end of their Session.

  • For example, if the average session length is 15 min, gifting a 10 min booster after 10 min of play can potentially extend the session by an additional +5 min.

However, remember that if a player's Session is already Long, it becomes much harder to extend it further or double X2 its length.

(2) Encourage Currency Spending

Players may be motivated to purchase in-game currency to Maximize the Benefits of active Boosters.

• imagine your game has a high level of complexity.

• now, you receive a 15 min Booster that helps you progress X2 faster or cheaper

• After 5 min of activating the Booster, you realize you don’t have enough Currency to keep playing. However, you still have 10 min left on your valuable Booster. At this point, you have 2 options:

  • buy more Currency immediately and Continue playing

  • end the Session and Lose your remaining 10 min of the Booster

    Which option would you choose?

This scenario leverages the principle of Loss aversion. Players are driven by the Fear of Missing Out on the remaining booster time, which creates a strong motivation to spend. The urgency makes them more willing to pay, ensuring they don’t lose the advantage they’ve temporarily gained.

(3) Smartly Remove a 'Session Limit' Barrier

Lives restrict how long players can remain in a Game Session.

Most level-based games rely on 3 primary sources of Monetization:

• Revive

• Boosters

• Life Limits

However, the revenue share from life limits is usually minor. At the same time, limiting lives can shorten Player Sessions and, as a result ⭢ reduce player Retention (not always, but often).

For this reason, offering Unlimited Lives can be a smart solution in such cases:

• players feel rewarded and see it as a generous gesture

• Offering Lives can ease the game's difficulty without removing the challenge entirely, preserving Monetization potential:

  • Monetization from Lives may decrease;

  • However, if players play longer and return more frequently, - Monetization from Revives and Boosters is likely to increase.

  • In the end, the overall impact can be positive, especially if Revives and Boosters have a stronger influence on Revenue.

Additional Tips

• Time Boosters are good Gift for the 'New' and 'Returned' players - encourage players to play more and remove obstacles

  ⮕ Provide Unlimited Lives during their FTUE (First Time User Experience)

      ⮕ Offer a Booster as a 'Welcome-back' gift when they Return to the game

  

• Another advantage of Time Boosters is that it's a good Gift for the Player, and ... Good Currency for the Game Economy. Since Boosters are time-limited, they can’t accumulate indefinitely, even for the most active players.
  

• Experiment with different combinations of boosters. When used in Synergy, they can be even more effective.
  

• Use Booster to Solve the Problem in your Project. Depending on your needs, some boosters will be more effective than others.

Write me to DM, if you you want to know the story from my own experience: - How Time Booster helped me solve a project issue and boosted ARpDAU by +25%. - How I used a 'system approach' to create an effective loop using Boosters

Royal Match example

While preparing this article, I played Royal Match to gather some references. I decided to track how many Time Boosters I would receive, and here’s what I found:

Summary: After only 12 completed Levels I've got:

• 135 min - Unlimited Lives (more, than 2h!)

• 45 min of Booster_Arrow

• 45 min of Booster_Bomb

• 45 min of Booster_Lightning

• 15 min - x2 Points for the LiveOps

In just 12 levels, Royal Match showered me with over 4 hours of active Boosters! This is a perfect example of:

   ⮕ how to keep players hooked and motivated using Time Boosters  ⮕ while seamlessly Monetizing through Revives and in-level Boosters

It's a smart strategy that turns Engagement ⭢ into Revenue.