Helpshift’s App Review: Why Monument Valley Is Losing Revenue

Helpshift’s Review Analytics gives a thorough, actionable breakdown of what people say about your product in the app store. You now have the ability to transform honest feedback into a solid product development and marketing strategy. Every week I’ll provide data-driven insights for an app based on its publicly available user ratings.

Monument Valley has a global average review score of 3.6 on iOS. The algorithm does not include ratings without a review, because there’s little to learn from that. What we can learn from are the sentiment heatmaps (over 30 days) and common phrases in reviews.

Our analytics are presented in an easily digestible way. The common phases are clickable and sorted by “Favorable” and “Critical” ideas. Both are important types of feedback needed to improve a product. Let’s see what one of the players was “confused about”:

If I were a developer for Monument Valley, I now know that players are confused by the “ghost girl” character in the story. Even 5-star reviews can give useful critiques, and the smart algorithm knew to add it as “critical” despite the great rating.

You don’t have to sort feedback only by common phrases. The review database is also searchable! I can simply see all reviews that use any phrase I’m curious about. First I researched feedback with the word “hate” in it:

I see that bad reviews about Monument Valley mostly come from the price (it’s one of the few mobile games that isn’t freemium – an advantage in gameplay but a disadvantage in marketing) and how short the campaign is. Though its easier said than done, Monument Valley could improve its ratings by offering a bundle deal with the release of a few more levels.

Next I wanted to know what players loved:

People love the visual style of the game, the soothing music, and the general concept. They would “happily pay” for more content with slightly more gameplay difficulty. This review data shows how Monument Valley could approach their next expansion–a harder section that requires more time to complete but retains the style.

Here’s what Helpshift’s Review Analytics told me about Monument Valley:

• Our heatmap shows that players’ feelings about the game have remained consistent over the past month. There wasn’t a particularly bad week or good week.
• The game is visually awesome with a great soundtrack. Most players – even ones that gave low ratings – describe the app as beautiful. It’s a big keyword.
• Monument Valley is also too short and could use more levels / difficulty. Many say that they can complete the game in 1 – 2 hours, which bothers them specifically because the game costs money.
• Players love the gameplay because it isn’t about “farming” or “grinding” to progress. They get the entire experience upfront.
• The story is confusing in parts, especially toward the end. Much of the confusion has to do with the “ghost girl” character.

Improving your mobile app reliably is all about data-driven feedback. We’re happy to help. To get a free ratings breakdown, contact us at [email protected].