Fixing the Bubble Shooter experience on mobile

Dec 14, 2022 in GAMEMAKER • GAMES
gamedev
3 min read

There’s a serious problem in a very niche game genre on Google Play. Every bubble shooter on the store is seemingly designed to take your money and steal your data. And since all of them are based on the hit game Puzzle Bobble by Taito, launched all the way back in 1994, it just seems wrong.

So I’ve recently launched my brand new game Just Bubbles, but before we at Frostcube launched Just Bubbles, I wanted to make sure that it stood apart from the marketplace. Most of the games currently available are visually appealing, but more in a distracting sort of way like a slot machine. Just Bubbles wasn’t designed to grab your attention to just make a quick buck off ads, it was designed to be an enjoyable and relaxed experience.

I’ve made a table comparing the top competitors, and most of the games currently depend on advertising revenue, in the worst cases they are creating a situation where you must spend money to progress. These games are creating a false proposition of value, designed to make you think spending money is worthwhile just to see that level counter go up, instead of what they should be doing, creating an experience worth paying for.

As you can see from the table below, even when they aren’t taking your money, they are mining you for data, which they mainly to share with 3rd parties.

Game Name	Free to Play?	No Ads?	No in app purchases?	Doesn’t collect data?	Doesn’t share data with 3rd parties?
Just Bubbles	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Bubble Shooter	✅	❌	❌	✅	❌
Bubble Shooter Kingdom	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Bubble Shooter Royal Pop	✅	❌	❌	❌	✅
Bubble Shooter Viking Pop	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Bubble Shooter 2022	✅	❌	❌	✅	✅
Bubble Shooter: Bubble Games	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Bubble Witch 3 Saga	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Bubble Shooter Rainbow	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Bubble Shooter Legend	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Bubble Shooter: Panda Pop!	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Bubble Witch 2 Saga	✅	✅	❌	❌	✅
Primitive Shooter	✅	❌	✅	❌	✅
Angry Birds POP Bubble Shooter	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Bubble Shooter 2	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Inside Out Thought Bubbles	✅	❌	❌	❌	✅
Bubble Shooter Genies	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Simon’s Cat - Pop Time	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Bubble Shooter! Extreme	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Bubble Shooter - Snoopy POP!	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Smurfs Bubble Shooter Story	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌

I will give a shout to Primitive Shooter, which is a pretty close second to Just Bubbles, but still has ads. For a focused Bubble Shooter experience you can download Just Bubbles now.