by Diana Levintova – AppMagic
As we were fishing for some eerie Halloween mood, one of the titles caught our attention by confidently holding its position in both Top Grossing and Top Free rankings since early January 2023 (and actively boosting its revenue in the past few months): the Game of Vampires: Twilight Sun by DreamPlus Games.
It is an RPG Empire Builder with vampire vibes: a clan of vampires and other supernatural creatures is tasked with defending their kingdom from pesky rivals, forming alliances and participating in combats. The game also includes romance and a social system where players can attend masquerades to meet characters, develop relationships, and eventually start families. This adds an extra layer to the gameplay, as trained family members can be married off to other players, enhancing dominance and alliances.
Let’s do a quick Twilight reference bingo for this game and see if it has it all:
- Title
- ASO
- In-game content
- Ad creatives
Before diving deep into the review, however, let’s also take a step back and understand why we’re again obsessing over the lion falling in love with the poor lamb.
The Twilight Saga: Is It Back?
With an endless flow of new content, how come the Twilight series, which seems to have long been buried in the dust, is rising again? Could be Alice’s mind powers—or Edward watching us at night and putting thoughts in our heads while we, being the easily led lambs that we are, fell again for the masochistic lion’s trap.
There may be a few more prosaic explanations, though, such as:
- Search for feel-good entertainment during COVID-19. Back to our memories of the lockdown! In 2020, interest in the Twilight Saga seemed to pick back up with people searching for any dopamine hits they could find. Once Twilight became available on Netflix, the choice was crystal clear.
- Midnight Sun release announced. The latest news about Netflix doing a series based on the last book of the saga, Midnight Sun, put some serious kindling into the fire, with old and new fans rewatching and rereading Bella’s story.
- TikTok referrals. After the saga was brought back from the ashes together with Stephenie Meyer’s new book release, TikTox with its cringy scenes from the movies started gaining traction, with the #twilight hashtag reaching 28B views.
The Success Saga: Title
Before going directly to the game breakdown, let’s do yet another quick detour and have a closer look at the title. It has multiple layers of references and meaning, making it eye-catching for the audience:
- “Vampires” and “Twilight”: the easiest Twilight series-related hunch to catch.
- Twilight Sun: most likely a reference to the Midnight Sun book, where our favourite story is told from Edward’s perspective.
- Game of Vampires: a clear reference to the Game of Thrones that promotes immersion in the RPG strategy genre even at the ASO stage.
With seemingly little effort, all of this helps a lot with pinning down the target audience (yours truly, a seasoned Twilight fan, has already downloaded the game). Now that we’re done with the title, let’s move on to the next step: the app page.
The Success Saga: ASO
At the very first glance at the app’s page, we are greeted with not just a hint but a major reminder of the Twilight saga! Have a look at this picture and take in not only Edward’s and Bella’s characters—but also their poses and the location inspired by the movie.
Apart from Twilight, we can see a few other references to vampire movies and teen horror. For example, as true millennials, we also caught a hint of The Originals (a spinoff from Vampire Diaries). Additionally, all Twilight fans may have caught Rosalie’s vibes thanks to those cute white curls.
On top of that, when looking at the full version of the picture, we are offered a call to action: “Claim Dracula’s throne!” It is a clear reference to the ultimate forebearer of the whole vampire phenomenon. Why Dracula, though? Well, this IP has long been in the public domain and is free to use!
Cannot ignore another well-established vampire phenomenon that even our moms and dads know: the macabre Addams Family, and Wednesday in particular, who turned extremely popular after Netflix released the namesake TV series.
The Success Saga: Сharacters and Design
The game is filled with references to vampires, werewolves and other romantic horror characters from pop culture: simply a feast for dark novel fans.
Just as much, there are plenty of familiar visuals from Empire Building games: gorgeous interiors, throne rooms, luxury, romance, and kids (in our favourite dark and gothic style, of course)—which allows for the characters to be organically incorporated, making the overall visuals appealing.
The Success Saga: Ad Creatives
Following the book and movie trends, the game is geared toward the female audience, with 69% of all users being women. With this in mind, note that its most popular ad creatives (with over 1.5M impressions) are about a human girl saving a vampire in trouble—wounded or running away from the headhunters. The romance is fueled right on the spot, forcing yours truly to download the game after just three videos—ah, romantic souls are so easily hooked…!
Besides, there are a few other references to the popular 2010s franchise. Look at this creative here or another one there. The first reminds us so much of the original Twilight movie, and the second—well, it still brings up the controversial dynamics between Jacob and Bella’s daughter.
Scrolling a bit further down, we find familiar characters from Vampire Diaries: Damon and Caroline, hi there! Some middle-school crushes are forever, making us very nostalgic.
Key Takeaways
As in life, where both the present and the afterlife are touched by chance, Game of Vampires: Twilight Sun also reached its “moment of truth”. Developed with foresight and launched globally during the peak of Twilight’s renewed popularity, it quickly generated millions in monthly revenue.
However, luck alone doesn’t explain the game’s success. Every aspect of design, from its title and ASO to ad creatives, was intentionally crafted to evoke references to the popular franchise. This strategy, inspired by well-known titles, amplified audience engagement and fueled rapid success.
This kind of cultural alignment is a skill every publisher strives to master, which proves essential even for developers working on unrelated themes. Clever ad campaigns and familiar characters in ASO, as well as referencing trending pop culture, can be a powerful tool for securing new audiences.
Now, trends-based flexibility of this kind is not solely the domain of Hypercasual titles. Not at all! Look at the recent example of Bershka: this huge retailer with deliveries scheduled months in advance was able to launch its Twilight-inspired collection right in time for the Halloween season!
To achieve this, brands like Bershka had to establish extensive manufacturing and physical distribution networks worldwide. However, for your app or game, you can simply experiment with specific elements of the user journey—whether it’s introducing fresh keywords or trend-relevant references in your ASO or creating engaging and timely creatives. Sometimes, even minimal effort can be enough to keep users interested and maintain engagement in your project.