[Infographic] Mobile Games App Icon Trends

by Marie-Laure Cruyt
CPO at AppTweak

February 6, 2019 — 3 min read

Out of curiosity, we had a look at the icons of the Top 50 games on the Google Play Store and App Store to see if we could identify major trends among each game category. Here’s a summary of our analysis for the top 10 gaming categories with the most pronounced trends.

If you have a mobile game, or if you are about to launch one, make sure to closely analyze other games’ icons in the same category. The game icon can highly influence your conversion rate, so you want to make sure it is fully optimized. A popular game icon is probably the result of numerous iterations and tests; therefore, there are definitely some good practices to learn from.

Don’t forget to check out our color palette analysis of app icons on the App Store!

Game: Arcade

Android

App icons of Top 50 mobile games in the US Play Store Game - Arcade Category

iOS

App icons of Top 50 mobile games in the US App Store Game - Arcade Category

Main Figures	Geometrical forms
Main Colors	Bright primary colors
Text	None
Style	Cartoon

Game: Board

Android

App icons of Top 50 mobile games in the US Play Store Game - Board Category

iOS

App icons of Top 50 mobile games in the US App Store Game - Board Category

Main Figures	Dices and Dominoes on Android, mixed on iOS (higher presence of puzzles and word games)
Main Colors	Black and White (especially on Android)
Text	The name of the game is often highlighted
Style	Retro

Game: Card

Android

App icons of Top 50 mobile games in the US Play Store Game - Card Category

iOS

App icons of Top 50 mobile games in the US App Store Game - Card Category

Main Figures	Only cards on Android. A mix of cards and slots on iOS
Main Colors	Dominance of green on Android. Half green (card games) and half purple (slots games) on iOS
Text	The Ace symbol is very present
Style	Classic Solitaire

Game: Casino

Android

App icons of Top 50 mobile games in the US Play Store Game - Casino Category

iOS

App icons of Top 50 mobile games in the US App Store Game - Casino Category

Main Figures	Figures are overrun by text
Main Colors	Purple and gold
Text	Nearly all icons have huge shiny text
Style	Bling Bling

Game: Music

Android

App icons of Top 50 mobile games in the US Play Store Game - Music Category

iOS

App icons of Top 50 mobile games in the US App Store Game - Music Category

Main Figures	High presence of piano tile
Main Colors	Purple (or shades of pink and blue)
Text	Low presence
Style	Galaxy

Game: Racing

Android

App icons of Top 50 mobile games in the US Play Store Game - Racing Category

iOS

App icons of Top 50 mobile games in the US App Store Game - Racing Category

Main Figures	Cars, cars & cars!
Main Colors	Majority red cars
Text	Low presence
Style	Realistic vs. Cartoon

Game: Role Playing

Android

App icons of Top 50 mobile games in the US Play Store Game - Role Playing Category

iOS

App icons of Top 50 mobile games in the US App Store Game - Role Playing Category

Main Figures	Characters and people
Main Colors	Two main genres: either light pink or obscure colors
Text	Low presence
Style	Manga vs. Heroic Fantasy

Game: Sports

Android

iOS

App icons of Top 50 mobile games in the US App Store Game - Sports Category

Main Figures	Balls in movement
Main Colors	Ligh green and blue
Text	Low presence
Style	Cartoon vs. Realistic

Game: Strategy

Android

App icons of Top 50 mobile games in the US Play Store Game - Strategy Category

iOS

App icons of Top 50 mobile games in the US App Store Game - Strategy Category

Main Figures	Close up on angry warrior faces
Main Colors	Dark colors
Text	Low presence
Style	Fantasy

Game: Word

Android

App icons of Top 50 mobile games in the US Play Store Game - Word Category

iOS

App icons of Top 50 mobile games in the US App Store Game - Word Category

Main Figures	Words and letters
Main Colors	Diverse
Text	The word “WORD” is everywhere (!)
Style	Scrabble

Fine-Tuning Your Game’s App Store Profile

As a result of this analysis, we found that trends were more pronounced on Google Play than on the App Store. This is mainly due to the fact that, on Google Play, games can only choose one category to list in. On the other hand, games on the App Store can be listed in several categories at once. Nevertheless, several trends in each category emerge, whether in the icon or the keywords used in the games’ metadata. Make sure you take this into account when working on optimizing your mobile game.

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by Marie-Laure Cruyt, CPO at AppTweak

Marie-Laure is CPO at AppTweak, she has always worked in digital companies with a product focused around an app or a SaaS. She’s a real (dark only) chocolate lover.