This is not a meditation app. This is one of the smartest subscription businesses on mobile. In this episode, we break down Finch, a self-care app with ~10M DAU, extreme retention, and a web-first monetization system that turns subscriptions into a social, altruistic act. We cover product design, streak mechanics, collectibles, subscription psychology, web revenue via Stripe, community monetization, and why Finch doesn’t even need ads to print money. What we cover • Gamified self-care loops • Subscription psychology done right • Web monetization beyond the App Store • Spend depth without whales • UA and creative strategy at scale Key takeaway The best monetization doesn’t feel like monetization. Get our MERCH NOW: 25gamers.com/shop -------------------------------------- PVX Partners offers non-dilutive funding for game developers. Go to: https://pvxpartners.com/ They can help you access the most effective form of growth capital once you have the metrics to back it. - Scale fast - Keep your shares - Drawdown only as needed - Have PvX take downside risk alongside you + Work with a team entirely made up of ex-gaming operators and investors --------------------------------------- For an ever-growing number of game developers, this means that now is the perfect time to invest in monetizing direct-to-consumer at scale. Our sponsor FastSpring: Has delivered D2C at scale for over 20 years They power top mobile publishers around the world Launch a new webstore, replace an existing D2C vendor, or add a redundant D2C vendor at fastspring.gg. --------------------------------------- This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously. Panelists: Jakub Remiar, Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric Podcast: Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-2um8eguhf-c~H9idcxM271mnPzdWbipg Chapters 00:00 — Why this app broke our brains 01:10 — Finch: game or mental health app? 02:10 — Core loop: Tamagotchi meets daily quests 03:30 — Goals, habits, and farming rewards 05:20 — Streaks, streak repair, and monetization pressure 07:00 — Collectibles, cosmetics, and lightweight live-ops 08:20 — DAU shock: 9 million daily users 09:10 — Retention benchmarks that look fake 10:30 — No ads… and why that matters 12:00 — Subscription as the core business 14:20 — Web presence and community scale 15:40 — The Guardian system explained 17:10 — “Pay your own price” subscriptions 19:00 — Spend depth without whales 20:40 — Why Stripe changes everything 22:00 — Web revenue vs App Store illusion 23:40 — UA channels and creative strategy 25:10 — Wall-of-text, POV, and AI creatives 27:00 — Why this scales infinitely 29:00 — What games can steal from this 31:00 — Is this the future of mobile monetization? 34:00 — Final verdict Matej Lancaric User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant https://lancaric.me Felix Braberg Ad monetization consultant https://www.felixbraberg.com Jakub Remiar Game design consultant https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it! Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple! Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit lancaric.substack.com & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej Lancaric Do you have UA questions nobody can answer? Ask Matej AI - the First UA AI in the gaming industry! https://lancaric.me/matej-ai
