Last year, *My Garden World* quickly gained widespread popularity upon its launch. By leveraging a uniquely creative “physical rewards” marketing model that resonated strongly with female users, the game drove a significant increase in paid conversions, with cumulative revenue on the iOS platform alone exceeding 200 million yuan (Source: DianDian Data).
With the new year just underway, another game targeting female audiences, *Fashion Department Store*, has surged to the top of the iOS Free Chart and cracked the Top 30 on the Top Grossing Chart. As more and more casual mobile games aimed at women climb the sales charts, the strong spending power demonstrated by female players is becoming a significant force in the mobile gaming market that cannot be ignored.
01
Hardcore numerical management
In terms of gameplay, *Fashion Mall* is a hardcore numerical simulation management game.
In the game, you play as the owner of a department store, and your primary goal is to continuously increase revenue through various management strategies, thereby growing and strengthening your business. In the early stages of the game, there are timed challenges designed to guide players in meeting revenue targets within a set timeframe, helping you quickly get familiar with the core gameplay and progression.
Total in-game revenue is primarily divided into three main categories: store revenue, level development revenue, and revenue from film and television productions.
Store revenue is the most fundamental source of income. As players level up, they can gradually unlock various types of stores, such as fast-food restaurants, fresh-produce markets, and clothing stores. Each time a new store is unlocked, players receive a steady stream of passive income. Upgrading stores further increases revenue, while expanding them unlocks additional business opportunities, raises the level cap, and leads to a significant boost in income. Additionally, assigning companion characters to work at specific stores provides an extra income bonus.
In addition to the basic income generated automatically, each shop features unique gameplay elements that can generate additional revenue. For example, at a fast-food restaurant, players can personally prepare meals by making burgers, egg tarts, french fries, and drinks based on customer orders, thereby earning direct operating income.
In the Fresh Market, players use a "stocking" mechanic: once players have completed the restocking and shelving process, the items sell automatically, further boosting profits on top of the base income.
The clothing store also features a unique makeover game mode: based on the requests of special customers, players first sketch out a general style of clothing, then select the outfit that best meets the requirements from the options provided by the system. Successfully fulfilling the customer’s request earns players extra rewards.
Of course, in the later stages of the game, you can enable auto-mode for all these features, which significantly reduces the workload of managing multiple stores simultaneously and makes operations easier and more efficient.
Level development serves as the main gameplay mechanic for verifying progression effects and consuming resources. Within levels, players use their companions’ abilities to acquire various factories. If a companion’s abilities are insufficient, players can use companion experience to level them up, or spend funds to boost their negotiation skills by encouraging them.
After acquiring a factory, players can invest funds to research and develop each stage of the production line. Completing research for each stage directly increases revenue; once all research for a level is completed, revenue levels will rise significantly. As players progress through the levels, the cost of researching each stage will gradually increase, meaning that to achieve higher returns, players must invest more funds into level research and development.
After unlocking the Film Studio module, players can produce various film and television works by investing funds and using up filming attempts. The final revenue from these works is determined by a combination of factors, including the actors' charisma, the player's level, the genre, and market reception. Completed film and television works can also be linked with other players' works through commercial collaborations to generate additional revenue.
Throughout the game’s progression, the three core character types—partners, performers, and protagonists—form the game’s three main development paths.
Companions are categorized into four specialties: Leisure, Shopping, Beauty, and Entertainment. Assigning them to shops that match their specialties provides those shops with an additional income bonus. You can further enhance a companion’s abilities by spending specific resources to level them up, complete promotions, and improve their stats—this is the primary source of core combat power in the game. Gameplay features such as Factory Acquisitions (Main Story), Private Membership (Tower Climbing), and Business Wars (Faction Battles) serve as direct tests of the effectiveness of your companion’s combat power development.
Within the film studio, you’ll also unlock artist characters, who can form bonds with specific partners. By promoting artists, players can immediately earn one-minute bonuses and income; giving gifts to artists increases their charm. The higher their charm, the greater the shop bonuses and the higher the revenue from the films they star in.When a star’s charm reaches certain thresholds, their status level will increase; the higher the status level, the stronger the bonus effects for their bond partners. Upgrading a star’s skills also provides income bonuses for corresponding shops and further enhances the abilities of their bond partners.
In addition, our protagonist plays a crucial role. Players can gain experience for their protagonist through research and development at the factory and business trips. Once the protagonist’s experience and total revenue meet specific requirements, the protagonist’s level will increase. Leveling up unlocks key features such as new shops and additional employees; the higher the protagonist’s level, the more generous the daily subsidies become, and overall attribute bonuses will also increase accordingly.
Overall, supported by the three major revenue streams—store management, level development, and film and television production—as well as the three character development tracks—partners, artists, and protagonists—players continuously increase revenue through ongoing investment. These higher earnings are then reinvested into management and character development, forming the game’s core numerical cycle.
02
Clever packaging aimed at women
This type of monetization strategy is not uncommon in the market; 37 Interactive Entertainment has previously used this approach to launch multiple hit titles—including *Call Me the Grand Manager* and *Time Grocery Store*—each generating over 100 million yuan in revenue. Compared to previous hit titles, *Fashion Department Store* has taken a different path, precisely targeting the high-potential female player market through a deep integration of exquisite visual design and diverse mini-game mechanics.
Visually, the game features a bright, vibrant color palette and an endearing cartoon art style. Its lighthearted and soothing aesthetic perfectly aligns with female tastes, capturing players’ attention from the very first glance.In terms of theme, it perfectly taps into the currently popular “female underdog’s rise to power” narrative: Players take on the role of a woman whose career has hit a roadblock, who unexpectedly wins an entire department store complex through a scratch-off ticket, thereby embarking on a journey of growth from starting with nothing to becoming a business queen. This premise holds immense appeal for female users.
In terms of gameplay, the game primarily focuses on idle management, effectively reducing the pressure of constant interaction and allowing female players to pick it up easily and enjoy it without any stress.At the same time, the core management framework incorporates a wealth of lighthearted and entertaining mini-games: as mentioned earlier, players can enjoy match-three puzzles, mystery box openings, and other fun casual gameplay elements while running their shops. Additionally, features such as dress-up and home decoration—which are particularly popular among female users—are deeply integrated into the core gameplay, making the management experience richer and more enjoyable.
As the game progresses, players will gradually unlock more exquisite outfits and home decor items, allowing them to freely mix and match styles to create diverse looks and decorate their personal spaces however they like. The process of collecting and customizing these items also provides additional bonuses to shop revenue and companion abilities, seamlessly integrating into the main progression loop.
Even the game’s social features have been meticulously crafted: the guilds commonly found in other games are reimagined here as “Socialite Clubs,” where players can earn experience and contribution points by tending to their greenhouses.Player interaction takes the form of parties: when players acquire a new artist or produce a high-quality work, they unlock the opportunity to host a banquet, or they can use exclusive items to initiate one proactively; players can also spend gifts to attend others’ banquets. After the banquet concludes, both the host and attendees receive generous rewards in the form of dining coins and popularity points.
In addition to the core progression loop, the game features a wide variety of random events that occur within the department store, such as customers losing items, the need to catch shoplifters, and customers asking for help. Players can step away from the main storyline at any time to complete these customer tasks, which allow them to boost customer goodwill and claim extra rewards while enjoying a relaxed and casual experience.
It is clear that the entire game—from gameplay and theme to social features and art—is distinctly and meticulously tailored to a female audience. Every system has been thoroughly feminized, resulting in a polished and highly recognizable design that precisely aligns with female players’ aesthetic and emotional preferences.
According to AppGrowing statistics, during the user acquisition phase, the game has released as many as 20,000 creative ads since its launch; in the first 11 days of February alone, estimated ad spending exceeded 23 million yuan, clearly demonstrating the team’s significant investment.It is also evident from frequently used copy such as “Easy management, rise to become a wealthy woman” and “Start with a single building, easily create a bustling commercial street” that the game consistently targets female players as its core audience, using the most direct and emotionally resonant messaging to continuously reinforce the product’s “female-oriented” label.
Advertising performance for "Fashion Department Store"; Image source: AppGrowing
Built on a classic gameplay formula that has been thoroughly proven in the market, the game precisely targets its core user base and has been deeply customized and optimized to cater to the preferences of female players, allowing it to easily win the affection and recognition of a large player base.Since its launch on January 28, the game climbed to the Top 5 on the iOS Free Chart in less than a day. It has since maintained a steady position in the Top 3 of the Free Chart and the Top 40 of the Top Grossing Chart. With the Golden Spring Festival holiday now upon us, the game’s future performance is highly anticipated.
It is worth noting that the developer behind this game is Shenzhen-based Love Tomato Technology. Founded in 2018, this low-key company specializes in the development and global distribution of MMOs and games targeting female audiences, and has released several well-known titles, including *Ys VI: Ark of Napishtim*, *Tama Jianghu*, and *I Am a Rich Girl*.Among these, *I Am a Rich Girl*, launched in 2021, is an immersive otome simulation and life-simulation mobile game. With a core storyline centered on “time-traveling to become a wealthy heiress, romance, and a rags-to-riches story,” the game has generated cumulative revenue exceeding 100 million yuan since its launch (Source: DianDian Data), making it the company’s flagship title in the female-oriented gaming sector.
Now, *Fashion Department Store* builds on *Love Tomato*’s proven track record in the female-oriented gaming sector. With its precise user targeting, elegant feminine design, and sophisticated monetization strategy, the game topped the charts upon launch and has continued to lead the market. It is poised to become another major revenue-generating title for the company, further solidifying its leading position in the female-oriented mobile gaming market.
原创文章，作者：游茶妹儿，禁止转载：https://youxichaguan.com/en/archives/195595
