Monster Strike

Monster Strike took billiard physics and turned them into a battle against monsters: the player drags a character on the screen back like a billiard ball with a finger, releases it, and it bounces off the walls of the arena, strikes enemies, and triggers a chain of combined hits if it connects with multiple targets at once. This simple, tactile feel of dragging and launching turned the game into one of the most successful titles on the Japanese market, where it competed for revenue over the long term even with giants like Puzzle & Dragons, even though it remained a rather niche affair in the West.

The game from studio Mixi released in 2013 and was built around the fact that it could be played by up to four players simultaneously on one device – each player launching their character in turn – making it one of the few mobile games of its time designed for playing together on the couch in a group, not just solo during a commute to work or school. Popularity in Japan was so great that it earned its own anime series, a feature film, and an extensive merchandising presence that reached beyond the gaming industry.

Monetization runs on gacha draws for characters using in-game currency that can also be purchased, with the strongest and limited characters having a low chance of being pulled during seasonal events. Basic play and a significant portion of content are available for free without needing to pay for progress.

Why play it: For players who enjoyed the feel of physics-based games on mobile and want to see how a simple idea about launching characters managed to compete with big gacha hits for years.