Is there a new dark horse emerging in the $1 billion gaming sector?

In the gaming market, some seemingly unremarkable genres may be more profitable than you might think. For example, according to foreign media reports, in-app purchases for 3D match-three games have now surpassed $1 billion.

This game genre originated overseas and was first introduced by the Turkish studio Loop Games in *Match 3D*. As the name suggests, the core gameplay involves matching and eliminating stacks of 3D objects of the same type.

Later, Boombox Games—a subsidiary of Tencent’s Miniclip—refined and upgraded this game mechanic, launching the more engaging and successful *Triple Match 3D*. To date, this single title has generated over $300 million in cumulative revenue (Source: DianDian Data). Spurred by the success of this game, more prominent developers such as Peak Games entered the market, driving rapid expansion in the 3D match-3 sector.

In China, the 3D match-3 market is also dominated by a leading title: the wildly popular *Catch the Goose*. While faithfully preserving the core fun of the 3D match-3 gameplay, the game quickly gained traction thanks to its highly entertaining original IP character, "Goose." The game’s hashtag on Douyin has surpassed 9 billion views, and it continues to rank consistently at the top of the most-played charts across major gaming platforms such as WeChat and Douyin.

Recently, this genre has welcomed another similar new release: *Liao Ge Cai* from ZhiSe Network. Currently, the game has consistently ranked in the top five on both the popularity and most-played charts for WeChat Mini Games for several days in a row. So, compared to other hit titles in the match-three genre, what sets this game apart?

01

Small innovations make a big difference

Visually, *Pick a Vegetable* isn’t a 3D game, but it uses 2D graphics to create an experience that feels like 3D. The standout feature of 3D match-three games is their incredibly lifelike physics and motion effects. Various 3D objects are haphazardly piled together, and as players rummage through them to pick items up, they trigger natural collisions and movements among the other objects—a design choice that greatly enhances the game’s immersion and sense of presence.

"Catch the Goose" even incorporated a motion-based "tossing the wok" mechanic into the game; players simply had to shake their phones to make the items in the wok sway along with them. This not only enhanced the game’s interactive fun but also became a distinctive hallmark of playing "Catch the Goose." At the height of the game’s popularity, scenes of players vigorously shaking their phones could be seen everywhere.

"Scoop the Vegetables" also retains the physics-based movement mechanics, but rather than simply copying the format of its predecessor, it employs a less common floating effect. The ingredients move naturally with the ripples in the pot, which not only perfectly aligns with the game’s "scooping vegetables" theme but also adds some real-time variety to the levels.

"Grab a Dish"

The game’s core gameplay mechanics have undergone continuous refinement since their inception. In its early stages, *Match 3D* featured only a single elimination zone, so the player’s objective was straightforward: sift through a chaotic pile of clutter to find two matching items, drag them to the elimination zone, clear them, and then search for the next pair.

"Match 3D," Image source: Foreign media outlet dof

Later, *Triple Match 3D* innovatively introduced multiple match slots into the game and simplified the player’s dragging actions to a more effortless tap. From the main screen, players can tap any item to place it into a match slot; as long as three identical items appear in a slot, they can be cleared. Once the match slots are filled, the game ends and the challenge is lost.

"Triple Match 3D," Image source: Foreign media outlet dof

This simple change completely restructured the game’s overall logic, requiring players not only to have sharp eyesight but also to manage spatial planning and organization. This significantly enhanced the game’s puzzle-solving elements and replayability, which is why most subsequent titles—including *Catch the Goose*—largely adopted this design.

"Catching the Big Goose"

However, *Pick a Dish* doesn’t completely replicate this mechanic; instead, it adopts a “match-three” design based on orders. Similar to the company’s hit game *Can’t Keep Me In* from the “Screw It” series, only two match-three boards are available for free in each level. Each board displays the required dishes, and players must select the corresponding dishes to clear the board and the dishes.Dishes that do not meet the requirements are placed in a temporary slot at the bottom of the screen. Once the temporary slot is full, the challenge is deemed a failure.

"You Can't Hold Me Back" and "Grab Some Veggies"

Compared to the simple layout of seven match-three slots in previous games, *Liao Ge Cai*’s combination of two plates and five temporary slots clearly offers more usable space and provides players with a higher margin for error. However, the order-based gameplay also dictates the sequence of matches, which to some extent reduces the game’s freedom.

Another notable change is "time." Ever since the first 3D match-three mobile game was released, "countdowns" have been an integral part of this genre. In games without a match-three grid, countdowns are often the primary mechanism for determining level completion. Most subsequent titles have carried on this design, using prominent time limits to create a direct sense of urgency as players search through chaotic piles of items to find matching pairs.

However, *Pick a Vegetable* has completely removed time limits from its main story levels, eliminating the sense of urgency and pressure, allowing players to enjoy the fun of puzzle-solving in a more relaxed and immersive way.

Furthermore, compared to *Catch the Goose*, *Grab the Veggie* features a much more restrained and gentle approach to level design and difficulty control.In the later levels of *Catch the Goose*, the space in which items are distributed continuously shrinks, causing the puzzle difficulty to skyrocket; in contrast, *Grab Some Veggies* maintains a consistent field of view and distribution range throughout the game. As the game progresses, fewer items remain on the screen, but the play area isn’t compressed, so the difficulty gradually decreases. Consequently, players find the later stages increasingly enjoyable and stress-relieving.

"Catching the Big Goose" and "Picking Some Vegetables"

In a previous post, ZhiSe Network mentioned that in their 3- to 6-minute levels, they frequently employ a "dual checkpoint" difficulty design—that is, setting difficulty checkpoints at the 50% and 80% marks of the level. This approach aims to guide players to voluntarily watch more ads without disrupting their flow, thereby generating greater revenue.

It is highly likely that *Liao Ge Cai* employs this same progression-blocking strategy again. About halfway through the game, players naturally reach a point where they struggle to make further progress. However, given the time they’ve already invested, most players will choose to watch an ad to continue playing. After the ad, the level becomes easier, and once players experience the smooth, satisfying flow of the latter half of the level, they’re more likely to unlock the next one.

Compared to the "sudden difficulty spike" approach, which has a very low level completion rate, the idea of letting players clear a level after watching just one or two ads offers a more relaxing and stress-relieving experience, and is better suited for keeping players engaged over the long term.

While *Catch the Goose* appeals to players who enjoy a challenge, *Pick Some Veggies* caters to the casual, stress-relief needs of a wider audience. This may well be the key reason why this game has managed to stand out even in the wake of *Catch the Goose*’s massive success.

02

How Did IAA Become an Industry Leader?

The game’s rise to popularity came as no surprise to Zhise Network; after all, in the IAA mini-game sector, they have long been synonymous with “hit-making machines.”

As early as 2017, when WeChat Mini Games were just emerging, ZhiSe Network set its sights on this market with enormous potential. That year, as the WeChat Mini Program ecosystem gradually opened up and the game *Jump* went viral beyond its original user base, ZhiSe Network keenly sensed that this could be a massive opportunity. Consequently, the company decisively scaled back its traditional business operations, pooled all its resources to form a new team, and dedicated itself to exploring the Mini Games market.

Their first attempt was far from easy. Founder Zhang Ping later mentioned in an interview that when they launched the game, the team consisted of only a dozen or so members and could barely afford the server costs.Fortunately, this bold gamble paid off. Their first mini-game, "Addition and Subtraction Master," remained firmly in the top three of the Aladdin chart for three consecutive months after launch, with daily active users peaking at over 10 million. This not only marked a successful debut for Zhise’s first foray into a new sector but also reinforced the team’s conviction that the mini-game market holds great potential.

"Addition and Subtraction Master"

In 2019, to further accelerate its business and product expansion, Zhise, while maintaining its commitment to independent R&D, officially launched the "Million-Yuan Support Program." The company invested more resources and actively pursued in-depth collaborations with other teams. Through this mutually beneficial partnership model, Zhise successfully secured distribution rights for nearly 100 game titles, and the user base of its portfolio rapidly surpassed the 200-million mark.By 2021, Zhise Network had successfully ranked among the top 50 internet companies in Hunan Province and had established branch offices in Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Through extensive hands-on experience with high-volume releases, ZhiSe not only steadily enhanced its brand influence but also accumulated a wealth of industry expertise. The company gained a deep understanding of user preferences in the mini-game market, as well as the distribution logic and operational strategies of various traffic platforms, laying the groundwork for its subsequent rapid growth.

ZhiSe Network specializes in identifying trending topics suitable for game development through social media, influencers, and rankings.

In 2021, they capitalized on trends on short-video platforms to launch several hit titles, including *Douyin’s Big Gag* and *Song Guessing Master*, with monthly revenue exceeding 10 million yuan. In 2024, their blockbuster title *Daily Fishing*, co-developed with Liu Zhiqiang—a nationally certified second-class competitive fishing master—surpassed 1 billion views on Douyin’s trending topics alone, with revenue successfully breaking the 100 million yuan mark.

"Fishing Every Day"

Thanks to its mastery of gameplay accessibility, user flow, and monetization strategies, Zhise has achieved near-consistent success in the match-three game genre.

Around 2023, the team was impacted by new anti-addiction regulations and, recognizing the trend toward long-term development in the mini-games market, decisively shifted its focus from hyper-casual games—which primarily targeted younger users—to the puzzle-matching genre, which offers a longer lifecycle.In fact, in their very first year in the puzzle genre, they launched two consecutive hit titles—*Move & Match* and *Super Stress Relief*—each generating over 100 million yuan in revenue. *Super Stress Relief* consistently ranked in the top three on WeChat Mini Games’ popularity chart, emerging as a highly anticipated dark horse in the puzzle mini-game sector that year.

Since then, ZhiSe Network has experienced rapid growth. Hit titles such as *Can’t Hold Me Back*, *Yarn Stress Relief*, and *Let’s Play with Yarn* were released one after another. Thanks to their addictive gameplay and masterful pacing, these games quickly took the gaming world by storm, achieving impressive popularity and revenue. Consistently ranking at the top of charts across major gaming platforms, ZhiSe Network has gradually become synonymous with blockbuster hits.

"Super Stress Relief" and "Can't Hold Me Back"

By 2025, Zhise had published over 1,000 games, with its user base across all platforms exceeding 500 million. Leveraging its mature publishing system, consistent ability to create hit titles, and deep market expertise, Zhise Network successfully claimed the top spot in the IAA category of China’s Top 100 Mini-Game Companies that year, firmly establishing itself among the industry’s leading players and becoming the undisputed leader in the IAA mini-game sector.

From entering the market by capitalizing on its growth momentum, to strategically positioning itself to dominate high-growth sectors, and then launching a string of hit titles each generating over 100 million yuan in revenue, ZhiSe Network has, over the course of its journey, developed a mature, practical, and replicable methodology for creating hit products.

Therefore, the current popularity of *Liao Ge Cai* is by no means a fluke resulting from a bandwagon effect; rather, it represents yet another practical validation of ZhiSe’s proven formula for creating hit games within the popular 3D match-3 genre.This not only highlights ZhiSe’s deep expertise in gameplay insights, product refinement, and traffic management, but also proves that even in a highly competitive market dominated by industry giants, there is still an opportunity to break through and win the recognition of both the market and users—provided one can deliver a unique gaming experience through innovation.