When designing mobile games, I do a lot of market research - part of which is playing a lot of similar games. I don’t do this to copy them, but because the mobile gaming market is so competitive, it’s helpful to know what exists out there before I add a new game to the mix. As the adage goes, learn the rules first before you break them.
Whenever I install a mobile game to study, especially a free one, I always record the first time I play it. I highly recommend you do the same - and here’s why.
1) The FTUE is the most important part of the game
The first-time user experience (FTUE) of a mobile game is crucial. Most mobile games are free-to-play (F2P), which means your player has made no real investment in your game (other than the initial download). It’s different from paying $60 for a premium console title - they’ve done their research, watched reviews, and will put in some extra effort to get their money’s worth. An F2P mobile game costs them nothing to install, so if they don’t like it, they can just as quickly uninstall it and move on. It’s why Day One Retention (D1) is so important. According to the GameAnalytics 2026 Mobile & PC Gaming Benchmarks report, the top 25% of games have a D1 retention rate just above 30% - so almost 70% of players don’t return the next day! If you want to capture and keep your players’ interest, it’s good to learn from other games who have already tried to solve this problem before.
Since the FTUE is so important, this is where many mobile games will put in their best effort. If you’re studying your competitors, who might have bigger research / marketing budgets than you, you should pay attention to what they’re doing in their first session.
2) You can never repeat your first time
It’s good to capture your first impressions of the game - and that means recording how YOU played it. Sure, a lot of mobile games have playthroughs available on YouTube. But FTUEs are iterated on all the time; the video you watch might be completely different from how you experienced it. Not to mention, that video won’t have YOUR own playing habits. When you turn on Screen Recording on your mobile phone, your taps are usually recorded, too. So your recording will show not just what you’re tapping on, but what is confusing you, which is super important to know during onboarding. And while you can delete the game’s cache or reinstall to experience the FTUE again, it’s possible that the tutorial has changed by then. Or, because you already know how the game works, you’re no longer playing as a true first-time user.
3) It makes your design explanations easier
Sometimes a stakeholder or client will want a feature inspired by another game, or the team is stuck on a design decision and wants my input. Being able to pull up my screen recordings and show them an example of what I’m thinking about is super helpful. For example, I can make a GIF of a match-3 game and how it uses juiciness to give positive reinforcement to the player, and compare this side-by-side with our current game to show what we can improve. Again, don’t do this just to copy someone else - instead, use it to understand WHY something works, and compare it to how your team wants to achieve a similar goal.
GIFs in particular are great because you can put them in your chat and the team views them right there, rather than asking people to download or watch a video. ScreenToGIF is a great free tool for this. I also used to take screenshots while I play a mobile game, but now I just screenshot from the screen recording. It saves me the effort and I can keep playing continuously.
Studying the competition gives you more information as a game designer to make something innovative, and recording your first session will help you break down your first impressions better than just relying on your memory of it.
Do you also record your mobile gameplay, or am I the only one with a giant folder of screen recordings? What kinds of tools do you use for your research? Let’s chat on Bluesky!
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