Scaling Radar — September 3

2026-09-03

40 candidates. No meaningful new alerts: all five newcomers are one or two countries on zero reviews, noise. But at the portfolio level it's a strong day.

The main story: VOODOO relaunched Galactic Merge Idle

For six months the title sat in three countries around #30. On August 30 — a volley: 3 → 18 → 29 countries, #4 in Taiwan. And on the very same day Top Grossing: 2 → 30 → 33 countries, #79 → #38. That kind of synchrony only happens when a large budget is switched on, and the money came in immediately rather than a week later. The only case on the radar where Grossing is wider than Top Free while the buying is still live.

Who we caught early

Amaze Belle: Escape Puzzle (OSIRIS, 6 days) — 8 → 21 countries in three days, #73 → #34 in Finland, installs 1k → 5k → 10k, 110 reviews/day (+74%). The geo has been flat for two days while volume grows: they're buying deeper into markets already opened. The best young map on the list.

Bracelet DIY: ASMR Charm Maker (HIGAME, 7 days) — 3 → 8 → 21 → 23 countries, #47 → #9 in the Czech Republic. A steady staircase with no pullbacks, but at 10k installs — zero reviews a day. The rating isn't accumulating at all: either very cheap junk traffic, or people aren't opening the game after installing it.

Superstore Story 3D (Pusilung, 60 days) — it spent a month in one to seven countries, then 7 → 22 → 24 and #52 → #11 in Germany, 482 reviews/day. It went straight into expensive European geo, skipping the usual cheap warm-up.

Splash Buster (Nebula, 37 days) — fifth day up: 3 → 9 → 14 → 23 → 26 countries, #94 → #28, installs 50k → 100k.

Volume without geo

A separate group: the geo has been flat for a week while the installs fly.

Smash Land! (Flow Games, 19 days) — 18 countries with no movement, #10 in the US, installs 0 → 10k → 50k → 100k over four days on 1,800 reviews/day.

Cat Match (SoftoVerse, 19 days) — 8 countries, #4 in South Africa, 2,068 reviews/day, 100k installs.

Neither is rolling out and both are hammering deeper. For 19-day-old titles that's a deliberate choice: buy out a few markets entirely first, expand later.

Publishers

Brocker Bus Studio is holding three titles at once: Mystery Dumpling: Unbox ASMR — 47 countries and #1 for a month running, Bracelet Maker: DIY ASMR — 43 countries and #1, Mystery Dumpling: Squishy Box — 37 countries on its eighth day of life. The portfolio isn't sagging at a single point.

Nebula Studio is carrying two: Splash Buster and Zoodoku (21 countries, #7, installs 500k → 1M).

H2T Global — Keyboard Escape has settled at 42 countries and climbed to #2 in Saudi Arabia, Monkey Obby moved from 10k to 50k installs.

_Deltas are over three days, not 24 hours._

Money — September 3

77 titles jumped an install bracket, while Top Grossing barely moved. So today is about the flip side: games whose Grossing is noticeably wider than their Top Free. These are the ones that have all but stopped buying traffic yet keep bringing in money. That's rare for HC, and a list like this is a map of whose economics add up.

Money wider than reach

Colony Flow! (ABI, 82 days) — Top Grossing in all 47 countries, #11, with 17 countries in Top Free. A million installs, purchases up to $99. The same title also climbed on iOS at the same time — 9 countries, #12 in Brazil, 178 reviews/day. The publisher is working both platforms at once rather than testing one.

Just Desserts: Revenge & Merge (Century Games, 3 months) — 47 countries in Grossing against 25 in Top Free, #12. Food Hunt: Pixel Puzzle (Everfun) — 45 against 32. Whisper Castle (Microfun) — 32 against 6.

Buying switched off, money stayed

Jam Bus: Sandfall (Nova Games) — the clearest curve of the week: Top Free 21 → 6 countries, Grossing 0 → 13. Exactly the opposite move, day for day. They cut the buying, and the payers it brought in stayed and are pulling the game up the revenue chart.

Clone Run (Hyperlab, 47 days) — the same thing in miniature: Top Free 7 → 1 country, Grossing 2 → 5.

Pixel Mage: Idle RPG — one country in Top Free and ten in Grossing, #11. Color Block: Jam Puzzle 3D (Flare Star) — 38 countries in Grossing against four in Top Free, a year and a half on the market and running entirely on retention.

Slow fade

Knock Fever (Kite Games) — two weeks at zero in Top Free, while Grossing quietly slides: 19 → 14 countries, #44 → #54. That's what the end of a cycle looks like — the buying ran out and the base is washing away.

American Farming 2 (SquadBuilt) — released August 20, lost Top Free entirely within a week and is holding on with Grossing in ten countries only. Too fast for a two-week-old title.

Install brackets

The top of the list is the same as before and still without money: Mini Soccer 5M → 10M (43 countries, #2), Skincare ASMR 1M → 5M across nine countries, Arrow Pro 3D and Zoodoku both 500k → 1M. All four have zero countries in Grossing.

Among the young ones, brackets went up for Splash Buster, Smash Land!, Prison Break (50k → 100k), Monkey Obby and Piano Cat (10k → 50k), Amaze Belle (5k → 10k).

Separately: Pixel Gun 2 (Pixel Gun 3D) came out on September 2 and took 100k installs plus a Grossing entry on its very first day. The only release of the day whose money showed up right away.