To be honest, the mobile game market has changed so much in the past few years. As a veteran player who came from the Symbian era, I sometimes feel a little confused. In the past, mobile games were Snake and Tetris. At most, there was an RPG on the Java platform. The gameplay was so simple and cute. What now? Just open any app store and you will find dozens of elimination games, such as match 3, match 4, Lianliankan, Bubble Bobble, and games like "Happy Match" that combine elimination with simulated management.
Not to brag, I downloaded "Happy Match" and played it for three days, and my first impression was that it was "very good." The plot at the beginning of the game - the founder of the night market has disappeared, the night owls are crying for food, you have to take over the night market - at first glance it seems a bit like a web novel routine, but it is really fresh in an elimination game. In the past, when we played Elimination, we just popped bubbles, connected fruits, and at most had some background music. Now manufacturers are beginning to design world views, characters, and even main tasks for the game. Although the background of this night market is simple, the cycle of eliminating messes, completing orders, and building stalls makes you feel that every step has a purpose and is not just a matter of scoring points.
In fact, this is a major trend in the development of mobile games: light gameplay + moderate narrative + development/management system. From "Traveling Frog" to "Synthetic Watermelon" to the short-term popularity of "Sheep", users' demand for pure fun is declining, and they are more willing to experience "small luck" or "sense of accomplishment" in games. The rhythm of "Hehehe" and "Diandian" in "Happy Match" is actually very slow, suitable for fragmented time, but by accumulating star wishes and unlocking new stalls, you will unknowingly invest half an hour. This kind of design idea, to put it bluntly, is to capture the contemporary people's psychology of "wanting to relax but not getting too bored".
In addition, I noticed that this game is free to download and there is no compulsory entrance fee. The industry has also returned to rationality in the past few years, unlike around 2015 when the whole screen was filled with the routine of “recharge 6 yuan for the first time and get a magical item”. Nowadays, many popular casual mobile games rely on advertising incentives and a small number of paid props to make money. For example, in "Happy Match", watching ads to get extra props or speed up construction is not very annoying, and at least it does not undermine the fairness of the game. I personally think that this model may be the mainstream direction of casual mobile games in the future - light payment, high retention, and relying on content and social interaction to stick to users.
But to be honest, this type of game has a common problem: it's easy to get bored in the later stages. The plot advances quickly in the early stages, and the difficulty curve of eliminating levels is reasonable, but after playing a hundred levels, it may feel repetitive. I hope the developer Leyou Sunshine can add some random events or limited-time activities in the future, otherwise old players will easily lose. After all, since the Saipan era, we have seen many cases of "the server becomes hot after three months of service".
In short, "Happy Crush", as a new casual game, has done a very careful job in combining gameplay and plot. It is suitable for players who are looking for a relaxing game without using their brains too much. It's not a boast, but you can give it a try. 😌