This article is part of an ongoing series of data-driven articles from PocketGamer.biz and App Annie highlighting trends in the mobile games sector.
In our weekly perambulations through the world of mobile games, we've rocked up in Russia.
The most downloaded mobile game in Russia - as in France last week - is currently AppLovin/Lion Studios' quirky hypercasual puzzle game Save The Girl.
Three brain games - Brain Out, Brain Test and Easy Game - feature in the top 10 in both countries, as do Gardenscapes and Fishdom. That's also the same as France.
The Russian download chart reflects the market's perceived core status too though, with PUBG Mobile and Brawl Stars ranking on the download chart, despite their relative age and millions of downloads already accumulated.
When it comes to the mobile games generating the most engagement in Russia, there's an interesting mix of titles, with user-generated content titles Roblox and Minecraft Pocket Edition ranking well.
Russian developer Playrix also ranks highly, with Gardenscapes and Homescapes both in the top 5, as does Belarus studio Wargaming's highly popular World of Tanks Blitz.
And, of course, everyone loves Brawl Stars, right?
What's really interesting to see, however, is the appearance of Moldova-based Your Story Interactive's Romance Club, Turkish outfit Fugo Games' Words of Wisdoms, and the CS:Go-inspired Standoff 2 from Axlebolt, which is another Russian studio.
This is another demonstration of the value of local (or relatively local) content, as well as demonstrating that more casual content is popular, even in Russia.
Yet, as ever, the top grossing chart is where we see the mobile games that best characterise a country's tastes.
The position of some of these commercially-successful titles are - of course - no surprise; we've already seen Brawl Stars, Gardenscapes, World of Tanks Blitz, PUBG Mobile and Homescapes in the download and engagement charts.
But what immediately stands out is Hero Wars - the mobile and browser RPG, which is in the #1 position.
Note, while developer Nexters is formally headquartered in Cyprus, most of the development occurs in Russia so it's another local success story. It's a game we've never seen in any of our previous country-based analysis.
Similar titles - doing especially well in Russia relative to other locations - are core experiences Game of Sultans and State of Survival, both of which are developed by Chinese studios.
Zynga/Small Giants' Empires & Puzzles is also worth highlighting. It's a global hit but particularly successful in the Russian market at #4.
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