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Matej Lančarič

UA Mobile Growth Extraordinaire ·

Helping you stay 2.5 steps ahead of the games industry. Don't be too serious, except about UA.
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As the UA landscape evolves, so do the creative trends that shape how games communicate with their audiences. With the rise of Applovin and increased spend on SDK networks, I’ve decided to bring you a monthly trends review of top-performing playable ads across different genres.

For those that read only summaries, here are playable trends February in a nutshell:

February – a month of the big guns of playable ads
- So, you want to know what the big guns do? You want to be like them and last months Flambé wasn’t enough? Well guess what – in february – one of the industry big shots said: “I am going ALL IN”. Need any hints? Kingdom, Royal, Match3, Kings, Kingdom of match3… I guess you already know:)

February – when Royal Kingdom flipped the switch

So, you want to know what the big guns do? You want to be like them and last month’s Flambé breakdown wasn’t enough? In February, one of the industry’s loudest royalty IPs basically said: “Screw it, I’m going ALL IN on playables.” Need hints? Kingdom, Royal, Match3, Kings, Kingdom of match3… yeah, that one.

Let’s zoom in on what Royal Kingdom has been pushing lately and why it matters if you’re building your own playable system, not just random one-offs.

What Royal Kingdom shipped in playables

Royal Kingdom is still a match3-first puzzle adventure on paper, but their playable strategy is way more aggressive than “here’s a level, match some tiles, thank you, bye.”

Here’s what they explored just in this batch of releases:

Classic match3 under pressure to save the king
Same core board, same match logic, but cranked-up urgency: timer, danger, “save him NOW” framing. It’s emotional pressure on top of a very familiar mechanic.
Gate mechanics + short loop “playables-as-videos”
They’re mixing gate choices with pre-rendered short loops, exported as playables rather than pure video. That gives you the illusion of interaction without the heavy dev lift every time.
Cannon shooter instead of match3
Same narrative, different input. You’re still saving the king, but now you’re firing a cannon instead of matching tiles. This borrows from hypercasual shooters and 4X siege-style creatives.
Tower defense with and without match3
Sometimes you defend via pure TD placement, sometimes you layer match3 on top. It’s basically: “What if this was a midcore ad?” running on top of a casual royalty IP.
Ship sailing and base building
Sailing between islands, looting wrecks, collecting resources, and then building up your base. It’s miles away from classic match3, but framed as part of the same royal universe.
Is that all? NOPE! Puzzle/Jigsaw – the all time favorite of last half a year – was spotted as well.

All of this sits on top of one IP, one brand, one store page. They’re not testing genres – they’re testing fantasies and emotional hooks inside one UA funnel.

Why this “big gun” approach works

What Royal Kingdom is doing here is not random chaos, it’s systematic chaos inside a controlled frame.

A few key things they’re clearly leaning into:

Emotional pressure beats chill polish
“Save the king,” “defend the kingdom,” “don’t let them sink your ship” – everything is framed as near-fail, not cozy progress. Anxiety > power fantasy in 2026 creative meta.
Genre-bending inside one IP
Match3 core, but creatives borrow from tower defense, shooters, 4X conquest, base-building, and even light idle resource gathering. This widens audience reach without changing the product.
Playables as a system, not a format
Gate loops re-used, pressure scenarios re-skinned, mechanics swapped in and out. This is a pipeline mindset: build once, remix ten times, then follow the data.

This is what “big gun” looks like: maximum diversity on top of a single, very polished game loop.

Templatization not just for ease

Simmilar to last month. Even Royal Kingdom is using templatization of their playables.

Shared visual/mechanics?

Same CTA buttons and colors
Custom same loading screen for EVERY playable, so you know what is comming
Same wonderfull end card with hexa-shaped mozaic of different gameplays
And of course same character is being saved no matter what game you play

Talk about brand building eh?

How to steal this for your game

You don’t have their budget, but you can absolutely steal the structure.

Start with one hero pressure scenario
Take your core loop and turn it into a “save X before Y happens” moment. Timer, danger, visible fail state. That’s your base playable.
Spin off 3–5 mechanic skins
Replace matching with shooting, dragging, tapping, gating, or lane defense – but keep the same story and stakes. Don’t rewrite the universe, just swap how you interact.
Treat gates and loops as LEGO
Reuse the same short loops, gate choices, UI framing, and end cards across all your variants. Change only what actually teaches or tests a new emotional angle.

If you do this right, you end up with a playable “universe,” not just a folder of random experiments.

Data from PlayableMaker – what is being created?

Our friends at PlayableMaker have shared their latest data and insights for February 2026, revealing trends in templates, game mechanics and ad network usage. Here’s a quick summary:

Did you know that you can now vibecode your playables? Here are some examples we liked last week:

New Popular Templates for February 2026

Video Gallery and Video Scrolling: End cards are no longer just static images. Lets users view a series of videos that scroll automatically or can be navigated interactively, with all gallery items, transitions, and buttons fully customizable.
Kitchen Cleanup Merge: Merge cooking items that are scattered all over the floor. Cleanup everything to win.
Onboarding: Simulate your on-boarding experience with simple questionnaire. Activate the user before he starts and spark his interest.
3D Merge Dragons: 3D Merge Dragons as you know it. Matching 2 same objects but on more space oriented style, as per your favorite games.
Hero Selection Merge Spin: Showcase your game’s heroes and enemies, building excitement as players anticipate their next encounter. The template end in a call to action, encouraging users to download your app and join the adventure. Perfect for gaming apps looking to draw players into their world before they even play.
Character Selection: Choose your character for a new game!
Slots Wheels Upgrades: First slot machine, than spin the wheel and than upgrade object. Combination of 3 favorite game mechanics.

February New templates added in February 2026

Game Mechanics Trends – most used game objects

Merge 3D (15%): Newcomer went for top spot right away! Who doesn’t like dragons?
Image Carousel (11%): Easiest way to upgrade your end card is to put a carousel wioth app store images in to it. User gets immediately what he should expect.
Spin The Wheel (9%): Back to the top where it belongs. Can be utilized with so many ideas, and it shows.