two & a half gamers Acecraft review: Retro Cartoons + Hardcore Gacha. Collectible Albums just hit Midcore!
We dive into AceCraft, Moonton’s new Tom & Jerry–themed midcore gacha shooter that mixes Cuphead-style 1930s cartoon art with Habi-inspired systems and miHoYo-style monetization depth.
Key insights:
Gameplay & Core Loop:
Systems & Meta
Dual banners (Tom & Jerry separately) with pity timers, skewed rates, and duplicate scaling.
Each major character has a signature weapon requiring rolls.
Collectible album (Royal Match / Monopoly Go style) with trade functionality, now ported into midcore — a first.
Co-op synchronous mode
Three-layer skill trees, elemental affinities, wingman companions.
Monetization:
~$330K/day IAP revenue post-launch (peaking with Tom/Jerry banner).
Battle Pass upsell trick:
Downloads ~300K/day at launch, half from China.
Scaling across 17+ networks: TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, Unity, AppLovin, IronSource, Mintegral, etc.
UA creatives lean on retro cartoon surrealism, dancing ads, Tom & Jerry music, plus street interview trend (borrowed from Raid Rush).
Prediction:
Likely to fade in Western markets (art style too niche, monetization too punishing).
Moonton may line up other WB/Looney Tunes IPs (Sylvester, Tweety, Popeye, Roadrunner) for similar launches.
Takeaway: AceCraft is one of the deepest midcore gacha launches in 2025 — but built for Asia, not the West.
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This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.
Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric
Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-2um8eguhf-c~H9idcxM271mnPzdWbipg
Chapters
00:00 Intro
03:46 Discussion on Ace Craft and Impressions
09:22 Core Gameplay Mechanics and Innovations
12:14 Character Development and Gacha Elements
15:04 Battle Pass and Game Structure
21:05 Exploring Game Modes and Social Features
23:05 The Collectible Album Revolution
25:23 Gacha Mechanics: A Deep Dive
31:48 Event-Driven Engagement Strategies
41:03 Nostalgia in Gaming: The Influence of Classic Titles
47:09 The Role of IP in Game Development
50:32 Cultural Differences in Game Reception
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Matej Lancaric
User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant
https://lancaric.me
Felix Braberg
Ad monetization consultant
https://www.felixbraberg.com
Jakub Remiar
Game design consultant
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar
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