Miniclip

In 2001, Robert Small and Tea Ham Presby were building mobile games in Switzerland on a small budget. Smartphones were new, app stores were new, the entire mobile gaming market had only just begun. 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 with in-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.