Mobile App Success Story: Run Sausage Run!

If you are like us then you want to keep up with the latest trends and to know which app is in top charts. In that case, you probably visit App Annie very often. For example, we want to so see which app is #1 on Google Play Store and … Ladies and Gentlemen, we have Run Sausage Run!.

Now, guess who is in top 3 on Apple App Store? Yes, that’s right! The same app. How about that? Let’s see why Run Sausage Run! is one of the favorite games of users from the United States.

Brilliant Idea

Run Sausage Run! is the creation of TabTale, a development studio from Israel founded in 2010 which promises weekly engaging mobile content for all ages. Crazy Labs, Sunstorm and Coco Play are part of TabTale’s big family and every team is focused on its own skills and on certain audience. Run Sausage Run! is included in Crazy Labs’ portfolio along with other amazing games for players 13 years and older. The game is available on the main markets and engages users from many corners of the world. Even though we don’t have more information about the way developers started to create this game we will try to discover the secrets behind its success.

How Run Sausage Run! Did It

As you probably guessed by now Run Sausage Run! is about … well, a running sausage! But we want to see if there is something more than these simple game physics, something special that attracts customers.

App Store Optimization

When you upload your app on the market is the perfect moment to make sure that all potential users will be impressed and they won’t close the page for trying your competitors’ creations.

Let’s check the elements that appear on the app store for Run Sausage Run!.

App icon – hilarious image of a desperate sausage trying to escape from flames;

App title – just the name of the app which combines a serious action induced by the repetition of the word “Run” with the ridiculous situation generated by the hysterical character;

App description – very simple and funny; after all, what creators can say about a piece of meat that wants to be saved from knives, barbeque or steak tenderizer?

Promo video – describes the most interesting moments of the app; take a closer look at the name of the game in the video – is that blood or it’s just ketchup?

Screenshots – a few images with explanations (where those really necessary?) for users to understand what kind of game is Run Sausage Run!;

Reviews – many great opinions and some of them received personalized answers from the team behind the game.

Now, what’s not to like about this game?

Splash Screen

If you take a closer look at the presentation of the game on the app store or on the official site, you will notice that TabTale doesn’t promote only Run Sausage Run!. Instead, there is a connection between the app and the entire company. For this reason, a splash screen introduces the development studio before the first image with the famous sausage. This happens even though the game isn’t that complex. People need to recognize the brand behind the game. What if they want to share it with their friends (because they have that option)? They can also talk about the studio that created the app.

Cross – Promotion

We keep saying that every developer can and should use the most popular creation for promoting other apps. And this is also available for the team behind Run Sausage Run! especially because of their impressive portfolio. The “More Apps” button isn’t visible from the main page but it can be accessed from the main menu. Whenever users want to change the settings or to see the Leaderboards they can also check other games produced by the same company. Actually it makes sense because when people arrive in this section it means that they are already engaged and they probably want to discover more.

Rewarded Video Ads

We mentioned that the app is free for everybody who wants to download it (or wants to save that sausage). But for monetization, its creators chose to charge users for premium features and to display different types of ads during gameplay. While some of the ads where criticized by the audience for being too intrusive or too frequent, a format is definitely appreciated. We are talking about rewarded video ads. The reasons for the way people receive this type of message are that they get to choose if they want to watch that clip or not and because after 15 seconds they receive something valuable. In that case some extra coins or the chance to continue the game after the sausage was chopped (Yes, that can happen!). So, the main takeaway is to select your ads according to your users’ preferences.

Bonus Tip: Set And Maintain High Quality Standards!

So far, we’ve made it clear that Run Sausage Run! is a very addictive game. But this happens because TabTale have certain rules regarding the products released and they want to satisfy their customers with high quality games. You know how hard is to win parents’ trust when you build an app for small users! And that’s also the case of Run Sausage Run! Even though it is for older kids and grown-ups it is still a challenge to make sure that the audience enjoy your creation. It is very difficult to manage all these types of demands but somehow almost all the games released by this development studio reached an impressive success.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, we’ve covered the main concepts that make Run Sausage Run! (one of) the most popular games of the moment. If you think about it for a second, Snapchat also impressed its audience with an animated hot dog. And recently Apple and Google argued on a burger emoji. What’s with these brands and processed meat? Maybe there is a connection between fast food and the fast – moving world of mobile apps?