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Understanding freemium models with the free cookie clicker — a UX analysis
Do you remember Cookie Clicker, an addictive web game that let you click on a cookie to make more cookies? After this was released in 2013 by a French programmer, Julien Thiennot, in 2013, after constant subtle updates, the website is still available today (https://orteil.dashnet.org/cookieclicker/). When I opened the page recently, I had over 49 billion cookies from last time I played. I had no idea if this number was a lot, but I was always curious with mechanics behind its buzz in 2013.
I have worked on subscription-based products for a while, and I recently had an opportunity to explore the freemium model.
Although Cookie Clicker is not a freemium product, its game mechanics can still hint at the psychology behind freemium games.
According to a report by SWRVE, only 1.9% of all users make a purchase in mobile games, and about half of the entire revenue is generated by less than 0.2% of users. It’s a business model for a niche market, yet extremely effective for small cohorts of players. Understanding the freemium modality is not only about generating revenues, but also about comprehending how some people get so invested in services that don’t seem to pay them back. Before exploring Cookie Clicker, I want to first briefly summarize what freemium services are.
How freemium compares to free-trial
When the App Store was introduced, many apps generated revenue by selling their apps directly to consumers, if they didn’t sell ad space. In this case, people had to pay upfront to even see what an app was like — the hurdle for new users was too high, especially for apps without fame. Free-trial was introduced to solve the problem: potential users could download an app for free and experience it until its trial period is over. The conversion rate significantly…
