two & a half gamers ✈️ Epic Plane Evolution: The $150K/day Hypercasual comeback
We break down Epic Plane Evolution – Voodoo’s hypercasual throwback hit that’s pulling in ~$150K/day in ad revenue with over 100K daily downloads.
Key insights:
Gameplay: Players start with a broken cardboard plane and unlock wings, tails, and rockets through upgrades. Controls are intentionally clunky — planes crash often, driving engagement and retries.
Monetization: Heavy use of rewarded ads (“convert or die” mechanic) and interstitial spam. iOS users see gems + VIP purchases, while Android has no gems at all, leading to 80–85% of revenue coming from iOS.
Retention: Despite frustration, average playtime is ~13 minutes/day across 3 sessions, powered by the addictive slingshot mechanic.
Revenue Mix: Estimated $150K/day, 80–84% ads, minimal IAP. VIP subscriptions and gem bundles exist only on iOS.
Creative Strategy: Basic hypercasual creatives (gates + plane gameplay). Some gameplay ads actually teach players how to steer — a sign of design flaws.
Market Context: Falls under “Arcade Driving” genre, sitting alongside Hill Climb Racing & Traffic Rider. Current run rate ~$10M annually, but easily cloneable. Vietnam devs likely to copy/expand with IAP depth.
Future Potential: If Voodoo adds events/meta (e.g. Legend of Slime style), this could evolve from hypercasual into hybrid-casual. But for now, it’s a hypercasual money-printing surprise hit.
Takeaway: Epic Plane Evolution proves hypercasual isn’t dead — it just needs the right loop, frustration, and ads.
Get our MERCH NOW: 25gamers.com/shop
--------------------------------------
PVX Partners offers non-dilutive funding for game developers.
Go to: https://pvxpartners.com/
They can help you access the most effective form of growth capital once you have the metrics to back it.
- Scale fast
- Keep your shares
- Drawdown only as needed
- Have PvX take downside risk alongside you
+ Work with a team entirely made up of ex-gaming operators and investors
---------------------------------------
For an ever-growing number of game developers, this means that now is the perfect time to invest in monetizing direct-to-consumer at scale.
Our sponsor FastSpring:
Has delivered D2C at scale for over 20 years
They power top mobile publishers around the world
Launch a new webstore, replace an existing D2C vendor, or add a redundant D2C vendor at fastspring.gg.
---------------------------------------
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
Podcast:
Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-2um8eguhf-c~H9idcxM271mnPzdWbipg
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Epic Plane Evolution
04:08 Gameplay Mechanics and Challenges
11:39 Monetization Strategies and Ad Revenue
14:10 Unexpected Success and Future Improvements
18:15 The Decline of Banner Ads
21:13 Analyzing Competitor Strategies
24:14 User Acquisition and Monetization Trends
28:24 Creative Strategies in Mobile Gaming
32:16 Future of Mobile Gaming and Audience Engagement
---------------------------------------
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
---------------------------------------
Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!
Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!
Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me