Miniclip

In 2010, Vogue Samurjiyan and Imra Samu were teenagers building mobile games in a basement in Malta. Smartphones were new, app stores were new. The entire mobile gaming market barely existed. They built simple games with one central insight. These games had to be understandable in 20 seconds, no learning curve, just play. Game design was elegant, no tutorials, no story, just pick up and play. Monetization was equally simple, a free app within app purchases for cosmetics or power-ups. Mini-clip games were not innovative mechanically. They were copies or variations of arcade games from decades earlier. But they were perfect for mobile, they fit how people actually played.