Coin Master

This article is about the 2016 video game. For the master of coins, see Master of the Mint (UK) and Master of the Mint (Canada). For the corporate executive Master of Coin, see CFO of Tesla Motors.

Coin Master is a free-to-play strategy luck and skill-based resource management casual mobile game in the Adventure genre. It allows players to build virtual villages in a variety of themed levels after accumulating virtual coins through a virtual spin game. The game was developed by Tel Aviv, Israel-based company Moon Active. It could be argued whether the game falls into the social casino category or not.^[1]

Coin Master
Developer	Moon Active
Publisher	Moon Active
Platforms	Android iOS iPadOS
Release	2015
Genre	Casual mobile game
Mode	Single-player

Coin Master has been downloaded over 300 million times worldwide.^[2] It was also in the top-grossing mobile games in the UK (since February 2019) and Germany (since June 2019).^[3]

Gameplay

The objective of Coin Master is to win coins using strategy, skill and luck to upgrade items in order to build up villages and progress through the levels.^[4] Coin Master can be found under the 'Adventure Game' category in the app stores.

The main focus of the game is to use strategy luck and skill to build and improve villages, with every village being an individual level. Coin Master is about merging luck with clever strategies. In order to build villages or attack the villages of other players, users must spin a simple simulated slot to win coins. The number of hourly spins are limited to five (but it gets extended as level progress), but additional attempts and items can be purchased through in-app purchases. Some free spins are gifted by Coin Master through links on their social channels and by subscribing to their email newsletter and by completing in-game events. Successful players are distinguished from less successful ones by their ability to manage their resources strategically, allowing them to build more villages and progress through the game quicker.

Coins are acquired by spinning and winning, attacking another player's village, or raiding another player's fortune, completing villages or completing in-game tasks. A maximum of five shields, as well as the pet Rhino, can be used to defend villages. When a player's village is attacked, the game also allows "revenge" so a player can launch a counterattack.^[5][6]

The player needs to upgrade 5-6 items in every village in order to progress to the next level.^[7]

As of June 2024^[update], there are 570 levels in the game. Each village has its own unique theme. Coins are used to upgrade village items and when players upgrade all items in the village, the game will progress to the next level with a new village.^[8]

Card collecting

Another feature in the game is the 'Card Collection'. Cards can be collected and traded to complete card sets, which usually rewards the player with spins and pet experience. Chests with collectible cards inside them can be collected using coins, during raids, rewarded for reaching the next level or bought through in-app purchases. Cards differ in value and there are several rarities. There are unofficial online social groups of fans that are dedicated purely to card trading.^[5]

Pets

There are three pets in the game - Foxy, Tiger and Rhino.^[4] Each pet gives a different limited time effect for the player, Foxy is available for free from village 30, Tiger and Rhino can be acquired when completing regular card sets.

Foxy, Tiger, and Rhino are the three pets^[9] that are designed to help players collect more coins each in their own unique way. Pets can be raised by obtaining treats for them and raising their XP (experience points) by using XP potions. Foxy gives the player extra coins for a raid up to 119% of player's raid value. Tiger gives the player extra coins for attacks. These extra coins can get up to 410% of the attack value. Rhino protects player's village from attacks. This pet protects up to 70% of the attacks on their village. Additionally, pets need to be kept awake with treats. For each treat they stay awake (usable) for 4 hours. They can stay awake for longer periods of time with multiple treats.^[4]

Swapping pets based on the gameplay is an important strategy within the game.^[4]

Gifts

Players can gift each friend one Spin every 48 hours, and they can do the same for one. As long as the Spin bar is empty, they can collect up to 100 Spins every day. Gifting Spins to friends will not decrease the player's own inventory, but to collect 100 spins every day, one needs to have 200 active friends on Facebook.

Teams

Teams is a section in game that allows the players to play and interact with other players, the player can enter a team that can hold up to 50 players, players can send messages and emotes in the chat of the team, ask for spins and cards, and also advance and win prizes if all players are active players who spin the slot and advance in the game, with these actions they contribute to the progress in the team's progress bar and rank. This event is called team chest, there are more events in the team section like team build and team tournament.

Leaderboard

The Leaderboards are lists of the highest ranked players in the players circle of friends, country, and the global Coin Master community.^[10]

Currencies

Coin Master also offers a rich set of more than 20 different types of resources. Currencies are used in the game in different promotions, and events, each currency type is exclusive and can be used only in a specific event/promotion. Gems are one of the in-game currencies which can be earned in events and can be used at The Gems Market.^[11]

Commercial

Coin Master's main revenue comes from in-app purchases and microtransactions. The app made 59.15 million US dollars worldwide in July 2023 data. The application has now generated more than 3.5 billion US dollars in player spending over its lifetime. The US, UK, and Germany are the top spenders, contributing over 85% of its net revenue.^[12]

Specific data on in-app purchase conversion rates or average spending per player is limited.

According to the website OMR, Moon Active earned US$280 million until October 2019.^[13]

Investors

The company has investors from the tech industry, such as Insight Partners.^[14][15][16]

Advertisements

Jennifer Lopez,^[17][18] Khloé Kardashian, Eugenio Derbez, Kris Jenner, and Scott Disick have featured in advertisements for Coin Master.^[19][20][21] Other celebrities who have participated in advertisements for the game are Ben Higgins, Chris Harrison,^[22] Rae Sremmurd,^[23] Terry Crews, Emily Ratajkowski,^[24] Cardi B, Joan Collins, David Schwimmer, Dieter Bohlen, the Spice Girls, Thalía, and Chayanne.

Awards

Coin Master was ranked in the top 20 of the acclaimed Top 50 Developers/Top 50 Mobile Game Makers list from PocketGamer.biz, published October 1, 2019.^[25] The game has also received countless mentions in industry publications regarding its continuous stance of 1st place in the weekly/monthly roundup lists of Top Grossing games on both the App Store and Google Play in 2019.^[26]

Criticism

Coin Master has been criticized for using designs and characters resembling games such as Township in order to supposedly lure players into spending real-life currency on items and mechanics within the game.^[27]

In Germany, the game has particularly been criticized for its apparently harmful mechanics and negative effects on children. The State Media Authority of North Rhine-Westphalia (Landesmedienanstalt Nordrhein-Westfalen) warned about the game and its advertising campaign in August 2019. A group of media outlets reported on the game in the following months, including Saarländischer Rundfunk, OMR^[28] and Der Spiegel.^[29] The federal youth protection initiative Schau Hin! also deals with the mobile game and noted that youth protection advocates see Coin Master as a "gateway drug to gambling".^[30]

The game further came into public attention in Germany after German journalist and comedian Jan Böhmermann criticized the game in his late night show on German public television channel ZDF. Böhmermann voiced his opinion that Coin Master is marketed to children and adolescents despite corresponding denials, citing among other things such as the child-friendly look of the game and advertising from popular influencers like Pietro Lombardi.^[31]

In collaboration with the Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media (KJM), the State Media Authority of North Rhine-Westphalia filed a lawsuit against Moon Active. The focus of the legal proceedings was to determine that the game, in its existing version, could no longer be distributed within Germany. These proceedings were formally concluded on Friday, April 3, 2020. The resolution was facilitated by the substantial cooperation of the app's operator in adhering to German youth protection standards.

The modifications implemented by Moon Active include the introduction of double age verification ^[32] and the restriction of minors from accessing the app. Additionally, the app now features a clear instruction on how to disable in-app purchases.^[33]

This case is notable for being the first instance in which a German media authority took legal action against a developer located outside of Europe.^[33]