Today, we break down Carnival Tycoon: the “idle” game that’s really a Trojan Horse for social casino and slot machine mechanics. We compare every feature, monetization trick, and creative strategy to Coin Master, Monopoly Go, and the social casino giants.

Find out how Carnival Tycoon hit five million dollars a month, why rewarded ads are hidden everywhere, and what makes this copycat succeed where others flop.

You will learn:

Why Carnival Tycoon is more social casino than idle, and how it fakes the early game

How copy-paste UI, offers, and creative trends shape modern casino games

The secrets behind rewarded ad segmentation and thirty to forty-five percent ad watchers

What separates the titans (Coin Master, Monopoly Go) from the fast followers

Why LiveOps and ruthless economy balance are the real keys to scale

How AI, asset flipping, and creative theft drive UA in the social casino wild west

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This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. 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

Youtube:

Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-2um8eguhf-c~H9idcxM271mnPzdWbipg

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Game Overview

04:15 Gameplay Mechanics and Revenue Insights

07:14 Comparative Analysis with Social Casino Games

09:42 Visual Progression and User Engagement

13:15 Monetization Strategies and User Retention

16:18 Advertising Dynamics and User Segmentation

19:13 Session Length and User Experience

22:10 Final Thoughts and Future of Carnival Tycoon

28:52 The State of LiveOps in Gaming

29:39 Engagement Mechanics in Mobile Games

30:21 Analyzing Game Release Timelines

31:46 The Role of Marketing Partners in Game Scaling

32:35 Creative Strategies in Game Advertising

33:54 The Impact of AI on Game Creatives

35:35 IP Infringement and Creative Theft in Gaming

37:25 The Wild West of Mobile Game Marketing

40:46 Trends in Game Development and Marketing

44:02 Future of Onboarding in Mobile Games

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Matej Lancaric

User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant

⁠https://lancaric.me

Felix Braberg

Ad monetization consultant

⁠https://www.felixbraberg.com

Jakub Remiar

Game design consultant

⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar

Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!

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Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me