In the US, the game has not performed as well at all. Puzzle & Dragons’ revenue trend in Japan is negative (source: GameRefinery SaaS platform). However, the revenue numbers have been gradually dropping in Japan as well, and the game has had to keep adding new things to keep the loyal player base invested. New Puzzle RPGs have not been able to match its success, and the game has maintained its spot in the top 50 quite well.

In Japan, Puzzle & Dragons has performed undeniably well, maintaining good numbers even against newer entries to the market.

Puzzle & Dragons’ performance in different markets In China, the subgenre is the least popular, with only 0.07% of total revenue. In the US, Puzzle RPG is the 15th largest subgenre with 1.77% of total revenue. Top-performing games on the market are Puzzle & Dragons, with over 65% of the subgenre’s revenue, Dragon Ball Dokkan Battle, and Youkai Watch Punipuni. The puzzle RPG subgenre makes 7.44% of the total revenue in the Japanese market (Q4 2021) and is the 4th largest subgenre on the market. Additionally, the subgenre is in a bit of an awkward spot between casual game-like core gameplay but heavy midcore-like meta progression, which could be a “best of both worlds” situation or a repelling combination for both casual and midcore players. The subgenre is much more popular in Japan than in the US or China, which is logical: Games that have found success in Japan tend to have very heavy meta progression, and a lot of the gameplay is built around that, rather than the meta being the supporting element to the core gameplay. Motivations data from the US market comparing Puzzle & Dragons to other Puzzle RPGs (source: GameRefinery SaaS platform). Motivations data for the subgenre showcases that players who like to pick up a Puzzle RPG title tend to prefer collecting and exploration combined with progression and completing milestones over social elements, customization, and resource management. Puzzle RPG is a Midcore subgenre that combines the addictive and satisfying match3 core gameplay to a heavy collecting and development meta. In this post, we also take a brief look at the Puzzle RPG genre in Japan and peek at how the game has fared in the international market. Even after hitting its 10th anniversary on 20th February, the game has kept its original aesthetic almost intact but has seen some improvements throughout the years, which we will go through in this deconstruction. In this blog post, we want to take a closer look at one of such stories, GungHo Online Entertainment’s Puzzle & Dragons (パズル＆ドラゴンズ). Japan, in particular, is known to really hold onto its past success titles: games like Monster Strike, Fate/Grand Order, and Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle frequent the top 200, some even the top 10.

The mobile game market has started to hit its early teens, as title after another reaches its 10th-anniversary mark.

Puzzle and dragons tier list japan