How Azur Games increased retention and doubled revenue with Hidden Objects 2

• Hidden Objects 2 outperformed its predecessor across key KPIs after the team reworked content strategy and monetisation systems.
• R1 retention improved from just over 30% in early prototypes to 40%+ on both Android and iOS, with strong long-term retention persisting through Day 30.
• In-app revenue share nearly doubled year-over-year after introducing ad-skip tickets and targeted offers.

Daria Korbyleva is product manager at Azur Games.

Diesel Puppet’s Hidden Objects 2 follows the genre and core mechanics of its conceptual predecessor, Hidden Objects. However, the team made several bold design and content experiments that allowed the sequel to outperform the original across most key metrics.

In this article, we’ll explain how and why this was possible.

An atypical hidden object game

In classic hidden object games, progression is usually linear: you complete one level, find all the items, and move on to the next location with similar visuals, difficulty, and item count. With Hidden Objects 2, we deliberately moved away from this approach and experimented with a fundamentally different structure, one that stands out in the genre.

In Hidden Objects 2, players can choose between multiple tabs, each offering a distinct visual style and gameplay mechanics. Some levels are black and white, others are cartoon-styled or highly realistic.

Certain locations focus on patterns, others on colouring objects, searching for specific item types, or finding identical objects. There are also very large locations with tiny items - in some cases, players need to find 30 or more objects in a single level.

All levels are categorised and available from the very beginning. When players open the main menu, they’re immediately presented with a wide variety of content. As a result, Hidden Objects 2 already offers several times more levels than the original game.

From day one, the project also included more meta features: events, a Season Pass, a wide range of offers, multiple hints and boosters.

From a gameplay perspective, Hidden Objects 2 removes time pressure entirely. There’s no timer per level, allowing players to explore locations at their own pace.

Many players tell us that the environments are visually rich and enjoyable to examine for long periods. This became possible thanks to replacing time limits with a lives system. If a player misclicks or selects the wrong item, they lose a life, but they can otherwise take as much time as they want.

During early prototype tests, R1 retention was just over 30%. However, thanks to our experience in the genre and a clear understanding of our audience, we knew the direction we wanted to take.

It's not about some universal hints that can be applied to any project, but about the deep familiarity gained from years of focusing on a specific genre. We've already written about this on PocketGamer, and without that entire journey, we wouldn't have been able to hit the visual style that resonates with players.

What truly totally changed was the workflow for creating such a large volume of 2D content, which allowed us to stand out in the market, where long-term retention is one of the key metrics even in hypercasual.

After several iterations, R1 reached around 40% on Android, over 40% on iOS, and demonstrated a strong long-term retention tail. Even by day 30, players remain highly engaged.

In the first Hidden Objects, players completed all unique locations relatively quickly due to limited content. In Hidden Objects 2, the volume and quality of content keep players engaged for much longer. With each update, we add 10–15 new locations, and each release delivers a small but consistent boost to LTV and long-term retention.

Improving monetisation of Hidden Objects

Across all our projects, we’re actively working to increase the share of in-app purchases, and Hidden Objects 2 is no exception. One of the first steps was introducing tickets that allow players to skip ads, along with dedicated offers for them. Since then, the share of in-app revenue on the project has nearly doubled in a year.

We also have plans to add event-based monetisation. Currently, the game features two main types of events. The first type involves collecting event items or badges within locations - for example, flowers, clovers, or pandas. Players need to collect a set number of these items (e.g., 50) to receive a reward, such as ad-skip tickets or hint packs.

In the best-case scenario, completing 100 levels and collecting 100 badges unlocks a unique bonus location available only during the event. 

This strongly encourages replayability: if a player completes a level but misses a badge, they’re motivated to replay it to reach 100% completion and unlock the exclusive reward.

The second type consists of rotating calendar-based events. There are three recurring events that rotate over time, as well as seasonal events tied to specific dates. For example, in autumn, we ran a Halloween event from October 15 to 31; in winter, a New Year’s event; and we also prepared Valentine's Day and Easter events.

During these events, players search for regular items as usual, but also have a chance to receive special event cards. For Halloween, these were flashlights; for New Year’s, mittens. Easier locations reward one flashlight, while more difficult ones grant several. Collecting enough event items unlocks a unique bonus location at the end of the event.

We invest heavily in these bonus locations. They’re large-scale, visually rich, and fairly complex from an art perspective. Each bonus location can be replayed infinitely, with randomised sets each time - and, considering how big the full item list is, even 50 playthroughs won’t feel the same. If a player misses the event, they can later purchase the location separately, and many players do.

This led us to another monetisationmonetisationpportunity: selling particularly successful and visually impressive locations as standalone in-app purchases. Currently, we offer premium locations priced at $5. These locations are large, animated, and visually detailed. Data shows that players enjoy this format and are willing to purchase such content.

Nuances in location creation

The strong performance of Hidden Objects 2 is closely tied to the volume and diversity of its locations. The introduction of AI significantly impacted our production pipeline. Previously, creating a single location took 3-4 weeks, depending on complexity and revisions. With AI support, we can now produce a location in 3-4 days, including artist involvement.

The location creation pipeline usually looks like this:

• First, the background is generated using AI.

• Next, based on the chosen style and the game designer’s requirements, around 60 objects are rendered for the location, some of them also using AI.

• These objects are then placed into the scene without shadows or Photoshop adjustments and reviewed with the game designer.

• Once the layout is approved, the artist integrates the objects into the location: adding shadows, highlights, resizing elements, and refining details.

We approach AI-assisted art production responsibly and maintain a high-quality bar. At the moment, AI is used only to generate location backgrounds, and even those are later manually refined or partially redrawn by artists.

After the background is finalised and cleaned of AI artifacts, all objects are manually created and integrated. The final composition and polish remain entirely in human hands.

Final thoughts

Hidden Objects 2 owes much of its success to the Diesel Puppet team’s deep expertise in the genre. The studio has multiple successful puzzle and hidden object titles in its portfolio that continue to generate revenue. Rather than spreading efforts across unrelated genres, the team chose to double down on its strengths, and that decision paid off.

The use of AI technologies allowed the team to significantly accelerate and scale content production without compromising quality.

Although Hidden Objects 2 is just over a year old, it already significantly outperforms its predecessor in terms of DAU. Peak monthly revenue reached around $250,000, and total lifetime revenue surpassed $1 million by mid-October.