Etermax, the maker of Trivia Crack, has launched its Topic Twister mobile word game on iOS and Android. The title is part of the company’s bid to accelerate game launches during the pandemic to keep people playing games.
The title is the Buenos Aires, Argentina-based company’s fifth mobile game launch of the year as it tries to be the king of the word game sector. That will be tough to do as long as there are games like Zynga’s Words With Friends and Scopely’s Scrabble, but Etermax is no slouch with its long-running hit Trivia Crack, which is the main reason the company’s portfolio has more than 700 million downloads.
“Word, logic, and trivia games, those that help exercise the mind, have always existed,” said Mariano Fragulia, chief product officer at Etermax, in an email to GamesBeat. “At Etermax, we have been inspired by these games to reinvent them and adapt them to today’s technology, whether on mobile, social networks or even on voice devices such as Google Home or Amazon Alexa.”
She said each Etermax game has four main characteristics that stand out. They have simple mechanics that entertain even in short sessions. Most of them focus on the importance of language to enhance cognitive skills (trivia, crossword, word searches or puzzles). They strengthen the generation of connected communities and encourage interaction between people. And they can be launched them simultaneously worldwide, making them available for anyone who loves a challenging word game.
Since the quarantine began, Etermax has registered up to five times more downloads in several countries. It also saw an increase in consumption of at least 20% per day, compared to the usual rates. For example, the percentage of players challenging a friend to a game grew 50% over the previous quarter in Trivia Crack 2 or Words & Ladders, Fragulia said.
Topic Twister
Above: Topic Twister is launching globally in multiple languages.
Inspired by the traditional category word game, Topic Twister tests the skill of players. When challenging an opponent, the player must spin the twister and write a word that begins with the assigned letter in each of the five categories presented at random in less than 60 seconds. The player who has completed the most valid words will be the winner of the round.
That means you have to know your vocabulary and recall words with speed in competition with direct opponents as well as players from all over the world through the weekly ranking. By winning games, players receive stars that allow them to move up the ranking to unlock chests. There are ten initial leagues, and the higher the league the player belongs to, the greater the rewards.
In addition, Topic Twister has a series of power-ups available that can be used by investing the rewarded coins for games won or from the daily bonus, as well as those that are acquired in the integrated shopping store. The power-ups include the options to know if the entered word is valid or not; rotate the swirl again to get a different letter; change category; buy more time or unveil a valid answer by category.
The game is available in Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, Italian and German.
A strategic shift
Fragulia said that in 2019, Etermax accelerated its product generation and focused on making its global delivery of games much better. By 2020, the company had an ambitious plan to launch six new games in the year. Despite the pandemic, the company has been able to launch five titles.
Other games launched this year include Words & Ladders, Word Show, Word Crack Mix 2, and Word Crack 2. All of the games, including Topic Twister, focus on accessibility on mobile devices, Fragulia said. Working during the pandemic hasn’t been easy, but the company wanted to deliver.
“We reinforced our commitment and responsibility to keep our users connected and entertained with their loved ones, while we must be physically separated,” Fragulia said. “Video games, especially social games like the ones we develop at Etermax, have always been a great way to connect with others. In this context, our games are presented as a different way of being close to family and friends and sharing with them a space of entertainment and distraction, bringing new proposals each month so that people of all ages can have fun, socialize and widen their knowledge and skills.”
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/venturebeat/SZYF/~3/OiNMWG-67sY/