Designing AR Games That Hit Billions of Plays
Lessons from building game Lenses — like Sorting Friends and Run Jerry Run — that drove 2.4B+ plays.
Tushar Vig
Creative Technologist · modelsbythor
What makes an AR game spread
Across my catalogue, game Lenses have driven over 2.4 billion plays. Games are the most reliable format for engagement — if you design the loop correctly.
The 3-second rule
A player decides in three seconds whether to keep going. Your core mechanic has to be legible and rewarding immediately.
Build for the friend tag
'Sorting Friends' worked because the payoff is social — it sorts the people you know. The best AR games give players a reason to pull someone else in.
Score, best, repeat
A visible score and a persistent best create the replay loop. 'Run Jerry Run' lived or died on its best-score display.
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