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The Perfect Draw: Balancing Gameplay for Parallel TCG with Helika’s Analytics Expertise

Parallel is a sci-fi trading card game (TCG) that combines the strategic depth of Magic: The Gathering with blockchain technology, ensuring verifiable card authenticity. As a dynamic TCG, balancing gameplay among different skill levels while introducing and modifying cards was crucial for a competitive and enjoyable player experience.

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Challenge

Parallel faced challenges in identifying imbalanced cards, tracking win rates, and maintaining gameplay balance across skill levels. With a small team and limited access to actionable data, balancing gameplay—especially when buffing, nerfing, or introducing new cards—proved difficult, impacting the overall player experience.

Difficulty Balancing Card Sets:

Frequent card set changes made it difficult to predict the impact of new or updated cards on overall gameplay. Some cards created imbalances in gameplay that were exploited by high-skill players which eventually caused newer players to drop-off.

Lack of Comprehensive Card Insights:


Without tools to analyze individual card performance, Parallel struggled to address issues such as excessively high or low win rates among players of different skill levels.

Unintended Gameplay Shifts Across Skill Levels:

Without granular insights into how changes impacted different Matchmaking Rating (MMR) tiers, Parallel often struggled to ensure that card adjustments benefited the entire player base. Some changes unintentionally favored high-skill players.

Solution

Helika’s approach was rooted in collaboration and actionable insights. By combining the expertise of Helika’s data analysts with weekly calls from dedicated CSMs, Parallel gained unparalleled support in maintaining game balance and player satisfaction.
Card-Specific Analytics:

Helika’s data analysts provided detailed insights into individual card performance. Weekly discussions with Parallel’s team allowed the data analysts to identify key imbalances and present solutions through tailored dashboards. Metrics such as win/lose rates, play rates, and engagement trends were used to guide targeted buffs or nerfs, minimizing unintended consequences.
Dynamic Balancing for New Releases:

By providing Parallel with data on their current cards their team was able to intelligently create new sets understanding how certain mechanics and statistics of current cards work inside their own metagame.
Player-Centric Adjustments:

By analyzing player data segmented by skill level, Parallel ensured adjustments accounted for diverse playstyles, strategies and skill tiers, maintaining fairness across the player base..

What Helika Unlocks

Pinpointed Skill-Based Imbalances:

Helika segmented data across Matchmaking Ranking (MMR) to identify imbalances across skill levels, enabling Parallel’s team to make precise adjustments.
Improved Retention and Engagement:

Helika’s insights guided updates that allowed players to explore diverse strategies without the dominance of a single deck. This enhanced the in-game ecosystem and reactivated previously churned players.
Boosted DAU:

Achieving consistent daily active user growth through data-driven insights and tailored engagement strategies, resulting in an impressive 86% increase in DAU over 4 months.
Enhanced D7 Retention:

Leveraging analytics to enhance player experience, driving a 100% improvement in D7 retention over just 4 months.

Andrew V

Head of Game Design

“You guys are quick, intelligent, effective, and collaborative. These are all things I absolutely love about working with your team specifically. And the intelligence is not to be underrated, not only do you guys have the intellect to be able to do the work, but also everyone knows what a game is, you know what Web3 is, you know what a card game is. I don’t have to explain rarities, I don’t have to explain any of the aspects of what makes the game tick, I just have to explain the question I have about the data and then you guys come back with a dashboard or an answer.”
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