Did you know that Clash of Clans made a whopping $500 million in 2022 from in-app purchases alone? Are you curious about how their in-game shop balances fairness and profitability? Check out our latest article for all the juicy details. Plus, get your hands on a Clash of Clans shop template and easily implement it into your game with Balancy.
Game Description
Clash of Clans is a popular mobile strategy game developed and published by Supercell. It was first released for iOS devices in August 2012, followed by an Android release in October of the same year. The game has since become a worldwide phenomenon, with millions of active players across the globe.
In the game, players build and upgrade their village, train troops, and battle against other players to earn resources and increase their rank. The game’s success is partly due to its addictive gameplay and regular updates, which keep players engaged and constantly improving their strategies.
Clash of Clans has received numerous awards and has been downloaded over 500 million times from the Google Play Store alone. It has also spawned a massive esports scene, with professional players and teams competing in tournaments for cash prizes.
Gems
Gems are essential to the Clash of Clans experience, allowing players to speed up construction and troop training times, purchase resources, and acquire special items. While gems can be earned in-game through completing achievements and clearing obstacles, most gems must be purchased with real money through the game’s shop.
Clash of Clans offers tiered pricing based on the number of gems purchased to make the purchasing process more appealing. The smallest package, which includes 80 gems, costs $0.99, while the largest package, which includes 14,000 gems, costs $99.99. As the number of gems purchased increases, the price per gem decreases.
Here is a table that outlines the pricing and bonuses for each tier of gem purchase:
| Gems | Price | Bonus Gems | BONUS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80 | $0.99 | 0 | 0 |
| 500 | $4.99 | 100 | 25% |
| 1200 | $9.99 | 400 | 50% |
| 2500 | $19.99 | 900 | 56.25% |
| 6500 | $49.99 | 2500 | 62.5% |
| 14000 | $99.99 | 6000 | 75% |
It’s worth noting that Clash of Clans occasionally offers promotions and discounts, such as bonus gems or reduced prices on select packages. These promotions can be a great way to get more gems for your money, so keep an eye out for them.
Time is money
Time is money, and in the world of mobile games, it’s a currency that can be used to speed up gameplay. Clash of Clans, a popular strategy game, is a prime example of how time acceleration can be used as a monetization model. As players progress through the game, the construction time, troop training, and other activities take longer, leading to impatience and a desire to speed things up.
So how does Clash of Clans determine the cost of accelerating time? At first glance, a linear equation might seem like the obvious solution – pay one gem to save one minute, for example. However, this model quickly becomes unfeasible for high-level players, who would pay exorbitant amounts for time acceleration.
Instead, Clash of Clans uses a system of linear interpolation. The pricing is broken down into chunks of time that make sense to humans – one second costs one gem, one minute costs one gem, one hour costs 20 gems, one day costs 260 gems, and one week costs 1000 gems. Using a linear segment graph, Clash of Clans can set and tweak specific price points without sacrificing fairness for players at different levels.
This pricing model can be represented by the linear equation between two points, where x is time and y is gems. The table below shows the cost of accelerating time for various time intervals in Clash of Clans:
| Time Interval | Duration (seconds) | Cost (gems) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 second | 1 | 1 |
| 1 minute | 60 | 1 |
| 1 hour | 3,600 | 20 |
| 1 day | 86,400 | 260 |
| 1 week | 604,800 | 1000 |
Here is the formula, which is used to calculate the cost in gems (y), based on the time (x):
As you can see from the table, the equation for the cost of accelerating the time between one hour and one day is y = (x-3600)/345 + 20. This equation can calculate the cost of accelerating time for any duration within that range. For example, to find the cost of speeding up 8 hours, substitute x = 28,800 seconds into the equation, and you get y = 93 gems.
In mobile gaming, time is precious commodity players are often willing to pay for. Clash of Clans’ linear interpolation system for time acceleration pricing is a brilliant solution that balances fairness and profitability. It’s a reminder that even in a virtual world, economics still matter.
Resources
Resources play a critical role in the Clash of Clans game, as they are essential for constructing and upgrading your base and training your troops. Gold and Elixir are two primary resources, which can be acquired through various means like mining, stealing from other players during invasions, or simply purchasing from the game shop. However, the cost of these resources varies based on the quantity you wish to acquire.
As you can see in the table below, purchasing gold and elixir can cost as little as 1 gem for 100 units or as much as 3000 gems for 10 million units. The formula used to calculate the cost of these resources in gems is consistent throughout, making it easy for players to understand and plan their resource purchases.
On the other hand, Dark Elixir is a unique resource that is much more valuable than gold or elixir. It is used to train advanced troops and spells and is 100 times more expensive than its counterparts. The cost of Dark Elixir ranges from 1 gem for 1 unit to a whopping 3000 gems for 100,000 units. While Dark Elixir can be challenging to acquire, it can be a game-changer for players who want to take their gameplay to the next level.
| Resource | Quantity | Cost (in gems) |
|---|---|---|
| Gold or Elixir | 100 | 1 |
| Gold or Elixir | 1,000 | 5 |
| Gold or Elixir | 10,000 | 25 |
| Gold or Elixir | 100,000 | 125 |
| Gold or Elixir | 1,000,000 | 600 |
| Gold or Elixir | 10,000,000 | 3000 |
| Dark Elixir | 1 | 1 |
| Dark Elixir | 10 | 5 |
| Dark Elixir | 100 | 25 |
| Dark Elixir | 1,000 | 125 |
| Dark Elixir | 10,000 | 600 |
| Dark Elixir | 100,000 | 3000 |
Whether you choose to mine resources, steal them from other players, or purchase them from the shop, managing your resources is crucial to your success in Clash of Clans. With these costs in mind, you can make informed decisions about which resources to acquire and when enabling you to build the strongest base and train the most powerful troops.
Resources calculator:
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Balancy Template
Are you looking to create a shop system like Clash of Clans in your game? Look no further than Balancy. Our team has thoroughly analyzed and reconstructed the data used by Clash of Clans to create their shop system, and we’ve incorporated that knowledge into our platform. With Balancy, you can see how resources work and what formulas are used to determine their prices.
Although Clash of Clans offers various construction, heroes, and troops that players can purchase, our template focuses solely on resources. However, with Balancy, you can quickly expand your shop system to include any new content you need.
You can find all the instructions in our documentation.