AFK Journey: A Highly Polished & Innovative RPG Game, captivating storytelling with stunning visuals

This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session #104. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.
Panelists: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jakub Remia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠r,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric⁠
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Agenda
00:00 Introduction and Recap of MAU Conference
02:13 Discussion on AFK Journey and Soft Launch
03:06 Overview of AFK Journey's Success and Revenue
05:49 Comparison with Other Games and Market Traction
07:55 Lilith Games' Portfolio and Revenue
09:03 Impact of Competing Games on Lilith's Revenue
10:10 Discussion on Lilith's Design and Product Quality
11:49 Exploration of Ad Placements and UA Videos
13:20 Overview of AFK Journey's Web Store and Real-World Rewards
15:33 Discussion on WhatsApp Groups and Web Store Trust
16:29 Comparison with Other Web Stores
18:23 Seamless and Streamlined Gameplay
22:20 Simplified Hero Collection and Equipment System
27:10 Difficulty Spikes and Honeymoon Period
28:10 Offers and In-Game Shop
29:49 Recruiting Heroes and Gacha System
34:02 Game Modes and Exploration
35:26 High Production Value and Engaging Storylines
37:50 Well-Developed Social Features
41:53 Improving in the Main Story Mode
43:25 Long Playtime and Endless Possibilities
46:01 Saving the Rating for the End
49:21 Engaging with TikTok and Social Media
52:14 Captivating Storytelling and High Production Value
58:28 Avoiding Cringy Ads and Focusing on Quality
01:01:29 High Innovation and Production Quality
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Matej Lancaric
User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant
⁠lancaric.me
Felix Braberg
Ad monetization consultant
⁠www.felixbraberg.com
Jakub Remiar
Game design consultant
⁠ / jakubremiar
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Takeaways
AFK Journey is a continuation of AFK Arena and has seen significant success in terms of revenue and downloads.
The game features in-game mail, a web store, and real-world rewards, which contribute to its overall engagement and monetization.
The design and product quality of AFK Journey are impressive, and the game is comparable to other popular titles in the market.
Chinese companies like Lilith Games invest significant resources and manpower into their games, resulting in high-quality products. AFK Journey is an idle RPG with critical innovations within the genre.
The gameplay is seamless and streamlined, with auto-battle and idle rewards.
The hero collection and equipment system are simplified and easy to manage.
The game has a high production value, with fully voiced-over storylines and animated environments.
Social features, such as guilds and friend interactions, are well-developed.
The game also offers various game modes, including boss battles, PvP, and a roguelite mode. AFK Journey is a highly polished and innovative RPG game with captivating storytelling and stunning visuals.
The game offers a unique gameplay experience and a wide variety of heroes to collect and upgrade.
AFK Journey incorporates social features, such as guild battles and a TikTok fan page, to engage and retain players.
The UA strategy for AFK Journey focuses on high-quality creatives that showcase the game's narrative and gameplay, while avoiding fake or cringey ads.
Overall, AFK Journey is a standout game in the RPG genre and has the potential to attract a large player base.
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[@nikolai6950]

Canada )))

[@BillyViBritannia]

24:50 Hey, long question for Jakub here: Interesting that you think this is genius because in my mind this only works because rpg players recognize levels as the main progression system in the game. However what they seem to have done is strip levels of their importance - like skills were traditionally level locked - and added another progression system on top which does whatever levels traditionally did. Levels are now kind of irrelevant. I could just as well after a few years say "all your characters are now automatically max level AND max rarity, but rarity just adds some stats; the main progression is now called 'expertise' and you pay for that"... So my question is, is that really from a game design perspective a genius move, or is it a hack into the rpg players mind to make them temporarily think that they get some quality of life improvements?

[@jakubremiar]

Skills are now locked behind the rarity layer with higher rarities unlocking endgame skills. Levels are basically used as gating mechanism within the game. Think of it as some kind of resource mass that spreads evenly between those 5 characters, so it gates your progression. Rarity on the other hand it the real character progression, as Legendary and Mythic characters not only unlock specific skills but also their hero unique item. What this did was essentially locked a possibility for bad decisions for not experienced players. You still need to chase after copies of those heroes but you can much more easily try different heroes and strategies with your hero collection now.