Gaming apps entertain users for an impressive amount of time — on average users spend 1.5x longer using gaming apps than the average app. In addition to time engagement, popular gaming apps have a fiercely loyal user base. Take Candy Crush Saga, the most popular gaming app on smartphones. It attracts almost twice the share of weekly users, and they spend close to 3X longer using the app than what we’re seeing for the average app (evaluated by the App Engagement Index). That’s why it places ninth across all the apps that the App Engagement Index ranks, and earns the first spot among gaming apps evaluated during Q4 2014.

While Candy Crush Saga is the clear winner when it comes to engaging a large audience, other gaming apps earn their high scores for different reasons. Take Words With Friends for example. Although this gaming app has even more of a loyal user base than Candy Crush Saga, it attracts just 2/3rds of Candy Crush Saga’s audience size, and earns a 307 in Q4 2014.

 

 

 

The App Engagement Index helps professionals rank the user engagement of apps to provide data-driven answers to questions like: which apps make the best partners? Or how is my app performing relative to my competitors’? Technographics clients interested in learning more about how gaming apps compare, and why this is relevant, can read my latest report, “Three Gaming Apps Earn “Engaging” Scores On The App Engagement Index”.

Not a Technographics client and interested in accessing rich behavioral data metrics and insights? Contact us at data@forrester.com.

Nicole Dvorak is a data scientist serving all roles. Follow her on Twitter at @NicoleLDvorak