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If you take a close look at the leading casual, puzzle, and casino games, you’ll notice that most of them have a “piggy bank” feature – and in fact, for many of them, this feature is one of the top-selling in-app purchases.
In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into piggy banks in games, their purpose, types, and effects on game monetization. In addition, we’ll cover a few examples of piggy bank implementation from some of the world’s top mobile game titles like Township and Gardenscapes.
Let’s start with the basics.
👀 Related reading: Play and profit: A developer’s guide to in-app purchases for mobile game monetization
Piggy banks in games follow the same function as piggy banks in real life – as a way to store currency. While playing a game, players typically earn some type of currency (such as coins or gold, depending on the branding of the game). When the game has this feature, a small part of the players’ earnings goes to the piggy bank, filling up over time.
Once the piggy bank has enough currency, players can open it. But, instead of breaking it open like you might do to a real life piggy bank, users need to make an in-app purchase to unlock the earnings.
Just like discounted offers, bundles, and battle passes, in-game piggy banks are designed to provide more value to players than other standard store offerings.
In many games, the prices of piggy banks range anywhere between $1.99 and $4.99, though they don’t generate a large share of a typical game’s IAP revenue.
According to a Unity report, piggy banks are the 9th IAP category by total revenue percentage. This puts them behind features like currencies, battle passes, and ad removal, but ahead of gacha, starter packs, and lives.
However, this smaller share of IAP revenue shouldn’t dissuade you from adding piggy banks as a monetization option if it suits your game type, as piggy banks are not meant to be a primary revenue source for games, but rather an additional income stream by providing a little bit of extra value to players who choose to use it.
When it comes to monetization, timing is everything. When players start playing a game, a piggy bank offer shouldn’t be one of the first IAP offers they encounter.
Introducing the piggy bank should happen after the player becomes accustomed to the game’s mechanics and currency system, as they reach a certain level of engagement and immersion in the game. As a mobile game developer, you should wait before introducing piggy banks until players become invested in the game and start considering ways to accumulate more currency.
As piggy banks are rarely a player’s first purchase, you should focus on making the piggy bank feature appealing to existing spenders rather than as a first-time conversion offer.
The popularity of piggy banks is deeply rooted in human nature, and the appeal of piggy banks in games can be explained through different psychological factors.
As soon as players see a piggy bank filling up with currency, they know exactly what’s going on without any rules or explanations. Therefore, engaging with this mechanic feels both intuitive and tangible.
As players play and progress through the game, the piggy bank offer gradually becomes more valuable. Since this results from a player’s efforts, they perceive it as something they have actively earned rather than just passively received. This creates a psychological effect called the endowment effect – the tendency to value something more simply because we own it.
As the piggy bank fills up with currency and the game displays this progress, players can develop a strong sense of achievement. This is a satisfying process that makes some players more likely to make the purchase and access their savings.
Hexa Sort is a hybrid-casual hit by Lion Studios. In this game, players must arrange hexagon tiles by color on a board which then merge and disappear. The game monetizes with a blend of ads and IAP features, including a piggy bank feature.
The Hexa Sort piggy bank appears once players reach level 7. From that level checkpoint, it begins to fill up with a share of currency earned through gameplay, which is displayed with a progress bar. The piggy becomes available for purchase only when players reach a set savings goal.
Until this happens, the game doesn’t reveal its price.
Interestingly, despite a relatively high price ($4.99), the piggy bank is the 3rd most popular IAP in this game (Sensor Tower, iOS, US). This is better than the average for this type of offer and shows that the developer hit a sweet spot in terms of the cost vs perceived value ratio for players.
Playrix uses piggy bank features in almost all of its games, and Gardenscapes is no exception. But, in this match-3 game, it comes in a slightly different form.
Instead of a classic piggy bank, players save money in a feature called Gold Reserve. Although the form is different, the principle is the same.
By completing match-3 levels, players collect gold, and a portion of that earning goes into their safe.
Once they reach a set amount of gold, players can purchase the Gold Reserve at $2.99. Unlike Hexa Sort, Gardenscapes makes players aware of the price right away.
This feature is also very popular with players. According to Sensor Tower, the Gold Reserve is the 3rd best-selling IAP in the game (iOS, US).
It’s hard to imagine a better match for a savings feature than casino games, where everything revolves around money.
Slotomania, Playtika’s casino hit, has an interesting piggy bank placement.
To visualize player progress, the game takes players on a level road to “Slotocity”. As players progress through the game, they unlock different features on the road. When they reach level 25, they unlock the second feature on the road – a piggy bank. From then on, a part of the winnings from the slot machine goes to their savings.
In this game, players can purchase the piggy from the moment it appears at a relatively low price of $1.99. The longer they wait and continue playing, the more they save in it. But there’s a twist. Once players reach level 45, the game hands out the piggy bank for free. With this move, the developer demonstrates the value of the piggy bank, encouraging players to purchase it later in the game.
What should you pay attention to when integrating a piggy bank into your game, and how do you ensure it aligns with your broader monetization strategy?
Here are some things to keep in mind in this process.
While their basic principle is always the same, you can get quite creative with piggy banks. For example, you can create special event-themed piggy banks around important in-game events. Another option is to create multiple piggy banks where players can collect different items (e.g. currency, boosters, cards).
The form of the offer is also versatile – besides the traditional piggy bank, it could be a safe, treasure chest, or vault.
These are just some options to choose from when designing a piggy bank feature for your game. Therefore, make sure to explore different options to find the one that matches your gameplay experience and brand to be a more appealing offer to your players.
Setting rules and currency caps for your piggy bank
As showcased in the examples above, in-game piggy banks can appear under different conditions and circumstances. Some of the things the developer needs to determine when integrating a piggy bank include:
When adding piggy banks in games, it’s important to consider how they fit the broader monetization strategy, and balance is the key. Implemented properly, piggy banks should complement, not overshadow other IAP features, ads, and subscriptions.
To make sure a piggy bank doesn’t cannibalize other IAP features, the rewards from it should be appealing – yet not too generous. As for pricing, it’s most important that players perceive the offer as a good deal.
Generally, it’s recommended to stay within the $1.99 to $4.99 price range, determining the final price through testing and optimization.
👀 Related reading: A publisher’s guide to mobile game monetization
Hopefully, this guide has helped you better understand the role and impact of piggy banks in games, and how they can be an effective IAP offer to provide players if your game’s ecosystem is right for it.
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