'Idle' Games Decline, 'Unluck' Rises... Small and Medium Game Companies Surge 111%

111 Percent's New Release 'Unppal Jonmang Game' Ranks 12th in Sales
Ranking Rises with Maximized 'Luck' Element

Gameplay screen of 'Unppalzonmanggem,' the new release by domestic indie game company 111%

The new release ‘Unppal Jonmang Game’ by 111 Percent (%), a domestic small-to-medium game company famous for ‘Random Dice,’ is making waves by ranking high in sales charts. As revenues from the previously popular idle games decline, this is interpreted as a sign of changing market trends.

According to application analytics firm Mobile Index on the 27th, the mobile defense game Unppal Jonmang Game entered the top 10 within a month of its launch. In the third week of this month (17th?23rd), it ranked 13th on the Google Play Store and 3rd on the Apple App Store sales charts, placing 12th overall. This marks a two-position rise compared to the previous week, steadily trending upward since its initial entry at 40th place at the end of last month.

As its name suggests, Unppal Jonmang Game maximizes the element of ‘luck.’ It is a defense-type game where players summon characters using coins to defend against monster attacks, with the chance to obtain powerful characters depending on the player’s luck. Another feature is its cooperative mode for two players, moving away from the traditional single-player format. In addition to luck, creating strategies with other players to achieve victory is also cited as a key fun element.

This pattern differs from the ‘idle’ format that has dominated the domestic game market so far. In most existing idle games, players do not need complex controls to defeat monsters; they simply synthesize items. However, in Unppal Jonmang Game, players must constantly tap their phone screens to devise and strengthen optimal strategies for defeating monsters using randomly acquired characters. The combination of luck and strategic collaboration with other players is highlighted as a source of enjoyment.

Since the emergence of Unppal Jonmang Game, the influence of idle games in the domestic mobile game market has gradually diminished. For example, the representative idle game from China’s Joynice Games, ‘Mushroom Grow,’ ranked 6th in sales in the third week of this month but had dropped to 8th place the previous week. This has led industry insiders to speculate that the popularity of idle games may be waning.

Unppal Jonmang Game is said to be the result of seeking genre diversity rather than following the idle game approach during development. A representative from 111 Percent stated, “We focused on making the game unpredictable and ensuring players can experience new fun each time they play,” adding, “It seems to have been received as fresh even in the domestic mobile game market, where idle games are dominant.”