Scaling Radar — September 8

2026-09-08

40 candidates, 13 new alerts, four of them substantive. The main thing of the day is the pullback: two Saturday salvos on iOS did not hold, while the quiet rollouts keep gaining.

The main thing

Brobuddy (24 HIT Riga, iOS, 19 days) — the salvo into 18 countries turned out to be a one-day affair. By the next day what remained was DK #13, NZ #15, HK #19, GB #24; US, DE, FR, CA, AU and nine more dropped out at once. Ratings 220 → 370. I am retracting yesterday's "it's moving": that was a volume test, not a decision. We watch to see whether they come back.

Pixel Gun 2 (Cubic, iOS, 3 days) — 31 → 23 → 10 countries in two days, CH #2 → #8, DE/ES #14. Not HC; the launch peak is coming off as expected, 168 ratings a day.

Wild Water World (iOS, day 7) — the opposite, it is growing: 17 → 21, #1 in HK/JP/TW, #2 in KR/MY/TH, with BE, CH, DK, NZ switched on; GB #19, AU/CA #20. 67 ratings for all time at positions like that — buying, pure and simple.

Colony Flow! (ABI, iOS) — 26 → 30, BR #5, CH #6, AU/US #7, with CL, SA, VN, ZA added. Eighth day of growth in a row; Android holds 26 countries and Grossing in all 47 (#10 VN).

New alerts

Sand Fill: Block Puzzle (Stormborn) — iOS entered at DK #22 on day 22 (122 ratings); Android GB #56 and JP, plus its first line in Grossing — GB #94 on 5k installs. Both platforms, narrow geo, young: an early phase, one to note down.

Splash Buster — the iOS version (HURELAX, Nebula's iOS entity) entered at PK #24 on day 17. Android is at 27 countries, GR #34, 100k installs, but 7 reviews a day — the volume is sluggish.

Bouncy Match: Bubble Word (Finger Rush, iOS, 87 days) — JP #5 from zero, 1,513 ratings. One country, but top-5 in Japan in a day does not come cheap.

Blade War: Three Kingdoms (EVISTA) — Android from zero to TW #3, SG #14, JP #18, Grossing in 9 countries, HK #2. Not HC, an SLG with purchases up to $309 — I note the pace and do not track it further.

Another nine — noise: one country, zero reviews; among them two Vantaris casino wrappers (CA, IT), Overwatch Rush in a MY soft launch and a Vietnamese RPG.

Movement

Food Hunt: Pixel Puzzle (Funfinity, iOS, 116 days) — 7 → 12: SA #13, IL #15, AE #16, with TR, CH, CZ, HK, NO switched on.

Superstore Story 3D (Pusilung) — iOS 7 → 9 (HK, NO, PH), PT #14. Android Grossing: DE #78 and, for the first time, US #100.

Grill Drop Master (Ruixue, iOS, 82 days) — back at PK #25, 1,743 ratings, +24% in three days.

Coin Collector! (Venturesis, iOS) — 9 countries, NO #6, +DE.

Fish Sort Puzzle (Shycheese) — 34 countries, PL #12, 1,090 reviews a day. Grossing is still zero despite purchases up to $99 in its sixth month.

Smash Land! (Flow Games, 24 days) — 18 countries, US #10, IT #11, 1,249 reviews a day; the bracket has not moved off 100k since September 2, and Grossing is zero.

Alliance: Air War — 25 countries, GR #1, 196 reviews a day.

Publishers

Oakever — six titles in the charts at once: Meowdoku (iOS 40 countries #1 CA, Android 39 #1 US, 10M+), Colorever (iOS 24, IL #5), Zen Color (34), Paint by Number (30), Connect Tracks (8, GB #35). The whole portfolio is under buying, and the new titles go straight into expensive geo.

Nebula / HURELAX — Tap Tile! (46 countries, PT #2), GOGO! Blast (28), Splash Buster (27 + iOS). They bring the iOS versions in one at a time via PK.

ABI, Stormborn, Cypher, Pusilung, Venturesis — a title each on both platforms. Sprigame — Prison Escape Journey 13 countries IN #6, Melon Hunter 6, no movement.

_A Monday-morning snapshot. Android Top Free did not refresh in the last 24 hours — for Android, reviews and Grossing only._

Money — September 8. Grossing without Top Free, and Top Free without Grossing

Two titles of the week live in opposite corners, and the radar barely shows either of them.

Knock Knock: Room Defense (Joy Mobile / Joy Nice) — iOS launched on September 4 straight into 25 countries, 30 the next day: #1 in BR and FR, #3 in BE/MX/PT, #4 in CL/CO/DE, US #24. Then 30 → 20 → 18: CL/MX #5, BR #9, FR #15. Ratings on iOS over three days — 86. Android, meanwhile, has one line in Top Free (DE #93), but Grossing went 8 → 12 → 17 countries in three days: TR #20, CO #22, PE #26, MX #33, BR #35; purchases $0.29–299.99, 1,474 ratings. Read it this way: a full-force salvo on iOS into LATAM and Europe from day one, while on Android the game is already collecting money without visible installs — Chinese midcore in a casual wrapper, not HC. The same publisher has Duck Survival and Whoa Adventure in the base, neither of which moved; this one, judging by the budget, is the bet.

Blade War: Three Kingdoms (EVISTA) — the mirror image: on Android it appeared in Grossing two days before Top Free (HK #2, MY #5, SG #7, TH/TW #9), and only yesterday entered Top Free at TW #3, SG #14, JP #18. 100k installs on day four, purchases up to $309. The iOS version has been sitting in HK/TW at #8–9 in three countries since June — the Android launch was built on a funnel already run in on iOS.

First lines in Grossing

Sand Fill (Stormborn) — GB #99 → #94 on 5k installs and two Top Free countries. For a 33-day-old title with purchases up to $99, that is the earliest possible signal that IAP is working. Superstore Story 3D (Pusilung) — DE #89 → #80 → #78 and, for the first time, US #100.

The volume is there, the money isn't

Mystery Dumpling: Unbox ASMR (Brocker Bus, 31 days) — 47 countries, #1 in AR/GB, 5M+, 1,460 reviews a day, purchases at $9.99–14.99 in the catalogue — and not a single line in Grossing in all that time. Pure ads.

Fish Sort Puzzle (Shycheese, 165 days) — 34 countries, PL #12, 1,090 reviews a day, 100k+, purchases up to $99, Grossing zero. Sixth month: they keep buying and the store does not see the money.

Smash Land! (Flow Games, 24 days) — 18 countries, US #10, 1,249 reviews a day, purchases up to $99. The bracket went 10k → 50 → 100 in four days at the end of August and has been flat since September 2; 22k ratings on 100k installs. Grossing — zero.

Alliance: Air War (Art of the State, 7 days) — 25 countries, GR #1, 100k+, purchases up to $99, Grossing zero. For a week-old title that is normal.

Jigsaw Drop (Runyou, 44 countries, 5M+), GOGO! Blast (500k), Zen Color (1M+), Arrows World (1M+, $9.99) — the same category: wide geo, zero in Grossing, purchases either absent or there for show.

For contrast — where it adds up. Colony Flow! (ABI) — Top Free 26 countries and Grossing 47, #10 VN. Royal Smash (Cypher) — Top Free 44, #1 US, Grossing 39, #18 US. Frost Valley (LiteOrange) — 41 and 42, #13 BR. Clash of Critters (Farlight) — 27 and 46, #3 HK. Coin Collector (Venturesis) — Top Free 26, #2 AU, Grossing NL #73, CA #87, AU #89: the buying pays for itself, but only just.