Framework
Measure. Retain. Monetise.
A hit is only the beginning. After launch the hard problem is the living system: players arrive, some stay, a few pay — and most of what matters hides between those moments.
Our work with live products always collapses back to three questions:
- Measure — What are you counting, and does it change a decision this week?
- Retain — Why do players return after novelty — and keep giving minutes of attention?
- Monetise — When is value fair enough that money is a natural next step?
Most “analytics problems” are one of those three dressed up as a dashboard.
Measure without drowning
More events is not more product sense. Keep a stack small enough for a standup:
- Who is active (and who is about to leave)?
- Which loops they complete.
- Which moments correlate with spend or social proof.
- What changed after the last content drop.
If a metric cannot force a content, economy, or UX change, archive it.
Retain is a design problem
D1/D7/D30 are symptoms. The disease is usually a broken loop: unclear goals, dead time, unfair friction, or a meta only veterans parse.
- What is the first “I get it” moment?
- What is the second-session reason to return?
- What progression debt makes skipping a day feel expensive?
Retention work is product management — not confetti CRM.
Monetise on a healthy free loop
Fair monetisation answers:
- Does the paying player feel time, status, or power immediately?
- Does the free player still have a complete game?
- Do offers show up when motivation is high — not when the player is tilted?
That is why we model ARPDAU, conversion, and burn together. Revenue without runway is a vanity curve.
Try the maths
Use the free F2P Business Model Calculator. Plug in DAU, ARPDAU, retention, and burn. If the year only works with hero retention and hero spend, you have a product plan problem — not a spreadsheet problem.
Want a second pair of eyes
We can pressure-test the live model with your team — product and finance in one conversation.