What are the mechanics of a piggy bank?

Piggy banks and all their derivatives usually have a recognizable piggy bank image, sometimes in the form of safes, locks, or bags. They all have one thing in common: the process of accumulating content. It can be either in-game currency or a resource that limits progress such as energy and its analogs. Usually, the piggy bank is only available for direct purchase, and the player can buy it almost anytime, but there is a capacity limit. The usual price range of $1 to $10 is the average monetization mechanic not in terms of price, but in terms of impact. Piggy banks have an impact on both conversion and the increase of low-paying players’ purchases. They make an average contribution to the project’s numbers.

It is a popular mechanic: 40 of the top 100 games have it in some shape or form. Although, a year ago, only 10 games had a piggy bank. It is most common in gambling genres, then Match3, and Farms.

Assembling the mechanic piece by piece

Visuals

Most often, the image of a pig is used because it is familiar to most players. Perhaps this helps to imbue these sales with certain emotions and helps the player understand the importance of the purchase, so the conversion is higher.

(Coin Master)

(Toon Blast)

Sometimes they use entities that are similar in style to the game. For example, WoT Blitz uses piggy boxes. And they usually mean these:

However, they are not for sale. They are vaults that participate in the Battle Pass functionality in the game. The piggy banks themselves are in a different place. Players receive them in different situations, such as giveaways or as part of New Year celebrations.

The 3 boxes in the screenshot are actually piggy banks. Some options fit well with the style of the game.

There are also the simplest options in the form of a treasure chest, without any specific connection to the game.

We do not have any information on whether the choice of visuals affects the efficiency of the piggy bank sales, but if you have conducted such tests, please let us know. We will be happy to share such information.

Price

Comparison table for the most popular free-to-play games and the cost of piggy banks in these games:

In these games, piggy banks are sold for in-game currency, the price listed is converted.

Even if the top-grossing games mostly choose the $3 price, it does not mean that it’s the optimal choice for them since not everyone is ready to conduct an AB test. Here’s an interesting fact: the more hardcore the game, the higher the offered check for a piggy bank can be. Games in the Team Battlers genre cost $8 or more, and we’re not talking about just The Seven Deadly Sins.