US players spent $5 billion on mobile puzzle games over 12 months, with Candy Crush Saga holding crown

Mobile puzzle games generated $5 billion in the US during the past year, according to a new Sensor Tower report. Analysts also shared data on the highest-grossing titles and their installs.

Key takeaways

• Overall, player spending on mobile puzzle games between April 1, 2021 and March 31, 2022 increased by 4.2% year-over-year.
• King’s Candy Crush Saga was the highest-grossing puzzle title in the US during this period, with $845.5 million in revenue. It is followed by Playrix’s Homescapes and another King’s game, Candy Crush Soda Saga.
• The Classic Match-3 subgenre was the main driver for puzzle games’ growth, generating $1.6 billion over 12 months. It is up 12.3% year-over-year.
• Mobile puzzle titles generated 554 million downloads in the US, which is down 20% year-over-year.
• According to Sensor Tower, this decrease follows a surge in installs that happened during the pandemic and lockdowns last year.

• Project Makeover was the most downloaded puzzle game during this period, generating around 14.5 million installs. It is followed by Wordscapes and Candy Crush Saga.
• Interestingly, Lion Studios’ Wordle became the most downloaded mobile title in the US in the first quarter of 2021, with 9 million installs.
• Although this game has nothing to do with the web game, which went viral earlier this year, it owes its success to Josh Wardle’s hit.

The full report can be found here.