An App Store Video should be able to convey the tone and usage of an app within seconds. For calming games, this often requires proper usage of visuals, text and music. Such is the case for Kami 2, a mobile game featured in Apple’s “Grab a Moment of Zen” list. Does the video properly convey the tone, and how does it compare to other calming games? We explore that in today’s App Store Spotlight.
Kami 2 is a relaxing mobile game where users solve origami-inspired paper folding puzzles. Players tap patterns to try and fill the image with a single color, illustrated by paper patterns unfolding. The App Store Video consists of three core elements:
This serves to illustrate several important messages. The focus on gameplay shows users how to play, as well as the variety of puzzle patterns and complexities they can solve. The text backs this up, giving potential users a brief explanation of how it works. All the while, the background music is calm and soothing, helping set the tone.
With that said, the text could still be used to illustrate more benefits of the app. While it’s a mobile game designed for relaxation, the text only tells players to pick a color and fill the page. It could potentially include additional information about how the game can help users relax and unwind or lose themselves in pattern puzzles. This can present an extra value proposition to interested users.
While the music is relaxing, videos do not always play with the sound on. The video could benefit from visual cues, including the aforementioned text, to indicate that it’s designed to be a calming game.
Videos should be engaging from the first second. Kami 2 uses its opening shot to name other apps the developer has released. This can be a good value proposition for fans of those apps. However, it may be helpful to test an opening featuring more visually engaging content from the game itself.. When videos auto-play in search results, those first few seconds can make a big difference.
Kami 2 isn’t the only app included in Apple’s “Grab a Moment of Zen” list, and there are many competing “calming game” apps. How do other apps use their videos, and what can Kami 2 learn from them?
One competitor is the aptly named “AntiStress Anxiety Relief Game.” The video is as direct about the purpose of the app as the name is, quickly telling users how they can use it to “chop their stress” away.
The video cuts to a number of mini-games and activities the app uses to help with stress relief. These are often backed up by on-screen text touting benefits like “boost your energy.” Like Kami 2, this video uses relaxing music alongside the in-app footage to establish the tone.
AntiStress utilizes keywords focused on stress relief and relaxation throughout its title and description, as well as within its creatives. By highlighting its value propositions in these fields, AntiStress has managed to rank #1 in searches for terms like “calm games,” “soothing games” and “stress relief game.”
Flower is another app on Apple’s “Grab a Moment of Zen” list. Like Kami 2, it uses a video focusing on showcasing the visual design and animation while setting the tone with the background music.
While both apps use a short amount of text with the video to establish a value, Flower focuses on the game’s accolades, calling out how “the highly-acclaimed experience” is now available on the App Store.
This is a similar upfront value proposition to what Kami 2 uses. Where Kami 2 calls out other apps from the developer in the opening moments, Flower focuses on its own claim to fame.
It does not highlight the calming game aspects in its title, but like with Kami 2, the music serves that purpose.
The App Store Video for Kami 2 has a solid foundation, but it could potentially improve its messaging. We can see that including value propositions is popular among apps in this field, while using keywords within the on-screen text can help connect the app to its keywords for users. With a video that follows App Store Optimization best practices, Kami 2 could let more users see how the app can help them relax and improve its positioning in the App Store.
Want to learn more about App Store Optimization? Contact Gummicube and we’ll help get your strategy started.
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