The "Screw Puzzle" has been around for less than two and a half years, and has become the golden category of mixed day puzzle solving with its low threshold, strong feedback, complete decision-making cycle, and expandable depth gameplay.

According to foreign media DOF reports, the IAP revenue of "screw twisting" is second only to Sort Puzzle, and even surpasses Block Puzzle. Such achievements are remarkable for a relatively new category.

01

The 'screw up' track is very crowded, and 'Screwdom' is leading by a gap

Domestic manufacturers launch new games and bravely take the second place

A brief review of the important milestones in the development of "screw tightening", the initial stage was the release of "Wood Nuts&Bolts Puzzle" by ABI Games in Vietnam in November 2023. In this game, players need to transfer the screws on the wooden chips to the empty holes until all the chips are eliminated to clear the level. In the first half of 2024, the data reached its peak, with the highest monthly flow reaching 1.584 million US dollars (about 10.82 million yuan). In August of the same year, the data began to decline, and currently the monthly flow is less than 20000 US dollars (about 75000 yuan).

Following that, at the end of 2023, Rollic released "Screw Jam", which was the true starting point of the Screw Puzzle track. It innovatively combined screw removal and elimination gameplay, introduced occlusion layering, limited Dock slots, color matching mechanism of colored boxes, added special screws such as star and cross shapes, and meta game elements such as city construction.

After its launch, the game quickly rose to fame. From April to December in 2024, its monthly revenue never dropped below 2.3 million US dollars (approximately 16 million RMB), with the highest reaching 5.22 million US dollars (approximately 35.64 million RMB). That year, the game's annual revenue reached 32.8 million US dollars (approximately 224 million RMB), but the data has significantly declined since 2025, with the current monthly revenue below 100000 US dollars.

Although the products in both stages have performed well, their monthly revenue has never exceeded 8 million US dollars (over 50 million RMB),

Until January 2025, this situation was completely rewritten, and Vietnamese manufacturer Ikame Games launched 'Screwdom', completely igniting the 'screw twisting' track. Compared to previous works in the same category, the biggest difference of this game is its full 3D modeling and 360 degree rotation operation, with spatial reasoning as the core. The gameplay adopts a logic of "steep level difficulty → stuck → paid/advertised → continue playing", forming a monetization loop. It uses screws to unlock buildings and skins, extending the experience period. In addition, it also provides detailed sound effects and animation feedback.

Innovation and improvement bring about a "leap" in data. In the third month of launch, the monthly turnover exceeded 2 million US dollars (about 15 million yuan or more), and in June of 2025, it exceeded 9 million US dollars. Although there have been fluctuations in monthly turnover since then, there has been no obvious and sustained downward trend. Over the past 25 years, the game's revenue has reached 77 million US dollars (approximately 525 million yuan), with a revenue of approximately 6.63 million US dollars (approximately 45.74 million yuan) in the past month.

Since then, Screwdom has become the absolute king of the "screw the screw" track, monopolizing most of the IAP revenue. Although similar games have emerged in the future, they are difficult to catch up with. In addition, users have been washed and washed again, resulting in the absence of eye-catching new products for a long time.

However, recently Dian Dian went global and discovered a screw twisting game called "Happy Screw Trip 3D" from Beijing Tianlong Interactive Entertainment, which has a strong flavor and dress up ASMR as its entry point and is flourishing in overseas markets,

At present, the game is ranked in the top 100 free to play iOS games in 34 countries and regions, and in the top 100 best-selling iOS games in 44 regional markets. In addition, its monthly revenue has remained stable at over 2 million US dollars (approximately 14 million yuan) in the past three months, and there is no obvious downward trend in the gradual slowdown of advertising. It has become the runner up product in the "screw the screw" track under Screwdom.

So what adjustments have been made to the gameplay of the game? How is the testing pace? How has the corresponding market data changed? What kind of accumulation does the manufacturer behind it have? In the following text, Dian Dian Hai will be disassembled and analyzed in detail.

02

Happy Screw Trip 3D has been in beta for 10 months

This year, it has officially exploded in volume, with a stable monthly revenue of over 2 million US dollars

Happy Screw Trip 3D was first launched on Google Play in mid to late May 2025. At that time, small-scale tests were mainly launched in limited regional markets in some European and American countries, the Philippines, Türkiye and other countries. The daily download was basically less than 2000 dollars, and the daily flow was basically less than 100 dollars.

In early July of the same year, with the launch of the APP Store, the corresponding market data also slightly increased. In July, its download volume increased by 4000% month on month to 451000, with a monthly turnover of about 57000 US dollars. It is worth mentioning that from the screenshot of the game being launched on the dual platform store, it can be perceived that on the Google side, it mainly highlights the "heavy flavor ASMR" to maximize traffic, while on the Apple side, it is relatively restrained and mainly displays gameplay.

In August and September, the growth of games was relatively steady, and it is estimated that after the direction was determined in the early stage and there were no problems, the game entered an iterative stage of gradual expansion (the game's dual end launch officially began in mid to late September). The monthly downloads for these two months were 710000 and 865000 respectively, with monthly revenue of 153000 US dollars (about 1.04 million yuan) and 516000 US dollars (about 3.53 million yuan).

October was the first important turning point for the game, with a qualitative leap in market data. Monthly downloads exceeded one million for the first time, reaching 1.74 million, and monthly revenue also exceeded one million US dollars for the first time, reaching 1.19 million US dollars (approximately 8.2 million yuan). In the following two months, although there was some fluctuation in monthly downloads, the monthly revenue remained fluctuating around 1.25 million US dollars (approximately 8.5 million to 9.5 million RMB).

In January 2016, the game began to experience a comprehensive explosion in volume, and the data also reached a second turning point. The monthly downloads reached a peak of 4.43 million, and the monthly revenue exceeded 2 million US dollars for the first time, reaching a peak of 2.52 million US dollars (approximately 17.2 million yuan).

At that time, although the game followed the path of "curiosity aesthetics" and "simulated therapy" in terms of purchasing materials on both platforms, following the logic of creating mild discomfort first and then providing positive feedback through cleaning to give players a sense of satisfaction in releasing stress, there were still subtle differences. According to extensive reports, the materials on the iOS platform are mainly simulated surgeries, lesion cleaning, and tooth restoration, while on the Google platform, they are character interactions, beauty tools, and 3D model displays.

After January, due to the gradual reduction in advertising volume (with creative ideas not exceeding 400 after the dual platform deduplication in the past 30 days), monthly downloads also changed year-on-year (with 990000 downloads in March), but the corresponding monthly revenue only slightly decreased and remained above 2 million US dollars (over 13 million RMB) with little change.

As of now, "Happy Screw Trip 3D" has been on the shelves for 10 months of testing, with a cumulative download volume of about 15.5 million. Among them, Brazil, the United States, and Mexico rank in the top 3 with a proportion of 11.89%, 11.26%, and 5.83%, respectively. The official seems to attach more importance to the Latin American market. From a platform perspective, Google Play has a significant advantage with a proportion of 63.33%;

The total estimated revenue is $11.8 million (approximately RMB 80.6 million), with the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany ranking in the top three with 44.14%, 7.62%, and 6.06% respectively. In terms of platforms, the App Store performs slightly better with 58.12%.

The long-term iterative tuning assisted in dynamically changing advertising volume, helping Happy Screw Trip 3D quickly adapt to users and achieve good results. However, in addition to this, the freshness of the experience and good gameplay quality are also indispensable conditions for its success.

03

Heavy flavored dress up ASMR drainage

Experience and commercialization of highly replicated Screwdom

Next, let's shift our focus to the gameplay aspect. "Happy Screw Trip 3D" uses screw twisting as the underlying framework and integrates the secondary gameplay of dress up ASMR as the commercial packaging.

The main gameplay is on the "screw" side, and the game experience is similar to "Screwdom". Each level provides a 3D object, and players need to observe the screws on the object 360 degrees, unscrew them, and place them in the corresponding color slot. The core decompression points such as "finding screws, tightening screws, and classifying placement" and the spatial design of "shaking parts when stuck" are also restored.

Happy Screw Trip 3D is more realistic in terms of sensory effects, for example, there is a crisp metal friction sound when each screw is unscrewed, a heavy impact sound when entering the storage box, and a light clanging sound when successfully eliminated. Coupled with the vibration of the phone, it simulates the resistance feeling when the screw is turned and the release feeling after it finally "falls off", the parabolic trajectory drawn after the screw is unscrewed, and the dynamic effect of the box being neatly arranged, etc. But in terms of spatial rotation, the disassembly smoothness of certain special angles or states is not as good as in Screwdom (some levels progress to the second half, and it is impossible to switch perspectives through physical rotation to discover remaining logic).

In addition, in terms of user screening and efficient commercialization, the game also follows the same route as Screwdom, which is "EGO mechanism+small high-frequency+large impulse payment".

Specifically, in terms of level difficulty design, "Happy Screw Trip 3D" suddenly increases its difficulty in level 5 (which is also the first node after unlocking the dress up ASMR sub gameplay), and players need to watch advertisements or purchase props to continue the game. Secondly, in the later stages of the game, the game will create a relaxed and refreshing start for players, but when the progress reaches halfway, the hidden screws inside will suddenly increase the difficulty of the game, and this sense of gap between the front and back will force players to pay.

The dress up ASMR is set as a Mini Game. At the beginning of the game, girls will be introduced to scare away guys on dates due to their appearance and skin problems, and players need to help them transform them. Afterwards, if players want to continue to transform girls and enjoy the "heavy flavor" ASMR, they need to spend coins or reach a certain level to unlock it. This part is not deeply related to the main gameplay as a whole, and mainly completes the role of attracting purchase materials.

Throughout the previous text, 'Happy Screw Trip 3D' utilized heavy flavored dress up ASMR to attract players. Once players enter the game, they are attracted to retain them with good gameplay quality. During the process, strict level design and monetization logic are used to screen users, thereby maximizing ARPU.

In addition, due to its significant presence in emerging markets such as Latin America, this model can quickly help it find matching users in non head markets. Of course, this design has both advantages and disadvantages, such as negative reviews from players about forced spending and controversies over false advertising.

04

Tianlong Interactive Entertainment has its own leisure track genes

There has been an accumulation of heavy flavored ASMR and "screw tightening" for a long time

Finally, let's briefly talk about the extremely low-key manufacturer behind "Happy Screw Trip 3D" - Beijing Tianlong Interactive Entertainment.

According to Game News, Tianlong Interactive Entertainment was founded in 2018. Its founder, Wang Fude, was a senior vice president at Zenjoy. In 2016, Zenjoy spun off its ME2ZEN (Mingtu Zhen, formerly known as LeChan Technology/Lucky Zen, now renamed Gaishi Interactive Entertainment, mainly involved in slot products) and began operating it independently. In 2017, Wang Fude became the chairman of ME2ZEN. In February 2018, Wang Fude founded the current Tianlong Interactive Entertainment on his own, and officially withdrew from ME2ZEN in September of the same year.

In the early days of its establishment, Tianlong Interactive Entertainment mainly attempted the Casino category and the large leisure track (elimination, merger, simulated operation, etc.). The former did not produce any outstanding products, while the latter made some breakthroughs in the direction of simulated operation, such as the 2019 release of "Cooking Frenzy", "Crazy Chef", "Crazy Diner", etc., but the results were far from impressive or supported the development of its company.

In order to quickly find "pillar type" products, the company has been trying some popular tracks since 2021, such as launching the SLG game "Clash of Merge" and the mixed game "Hunter Master" that competes with "Legend of the Bow and Arrow". However, these products are all officially promoted.

The turning point of things happened in the first half of 2023. Happy Hospital, a hospital simulation management game under Tianlong Interactive Entertainment, was launched at the end of 2022. After adding ASMR sub gameplay in early 2023, its data began to grow significantly. From March of the same year to the end of the year, its monthly revenue did not fall below 2 million US dollars. In 2023, its annual revenue directly earned 33.03 million US dollars (about 230 million yuan). Starting from 2025, the monthly revenue of the game gradually began to fall below one million US dollars.

The success of 'Happy Hospital' has enabled Tianlong Interactive Entertainment to find ASMR as a lever in both operations and product development. Afterwards, the company began to introduce label changes or incorporate this element into both new and old products. The former includes products such as "Adventure Island Merge" with simulated management and two in one collaboration, and "Happy Bloom Blast" with flower arrangement and decoration. The latter includes "Merge 2+ASMR" with "Adventure Island Merge" and "Crazy Hospital" with simulated management and ASMR ®️》 From the end of 2022 to the beginning of 2024, the monthly revenue exceeded 1.3 million US dollars, which is another important product under Tianlong Interactive Entertainment. The company also offers products such as ASMR+Elimination "Project Match", Construction+Point Elimination+ASMR "Makeover".

In addition, as Tianlong has always been committed to the big leisure track, he has also accumulated a lot of experience in "screwing screws". Starting from the first half of 2024, Tianlong has integrated "screw tightening" with heavy flavored ASMR, and subsequently released "Screw Frenzy: ASMR Home" (released in July 2024), "Screwscapes: ASMR" (released in July 2024) 《Screw Match ®: ASMR Blast "(released in August 2024)," Screw Project: ASMR Home "(released in November 2024)," Word Jam 3D: Unscrew "(released in December 2025) and other products.

Among them, 'Screwscapes: ASMR' has the best performance, with peak monthly revenue reaching millions of dollars, while 'Screw Frenzy: ASMR Home' and 'Screw Match' ®: ASMR Blast has also shown some potential, with monthly peak flows exceeding $300000, but unfortunately, the momentum has not been sustained. At present, there is an upward trend in Screw Project: ASMR Home, which is worth paying attention to.

In addition to heavy flavored ASMR, Tianlong also launched the "Screw Home ASMR" in July 2024, which combines "screw tightening+decoration and construction". Starting from the second half of 2024, Tianlong has a special preference for "screw tightening+beauty elements" and has launched products such as "Screw Hero", "Happy Screw ASMR", and "Happy Screw Beauty", but the data is worrying.

Overall, since its establishment, Tianlong Interactive Entertainment has been deeply involved in the leisure industry and has been very attentive to market trends. Through continuous experimentation, it has ventured into the direction of heavy flavored dress up ASMR with a high success rate. In addition, it has also made many attempts in "screwing the screws". Therefore, its ability to release the popular new work "Happy Screw Trip 3D" is not a stroke of luck, but rather the result of a keen market perception and long-term category accumulation.