Leveraging celebrities in your apps has become more popular in the last few years. One advantage of having your game endorsed by a Celebrity is that fans of the celebrity will likely download and try the game. In addition, you get an almost automatic featuring by the app stores when you include a celebrity in your game. A 3rd benefit is that even users who are not fans per se are more likely to feel familiar with the game when they see an ad for it. This translates into higher conversion rates and lower CPI for acquiring new users.

Another advantage of using the star power is that your game stands out naturally. Most game companies face a problem since innovating in game-design is dangerous and sticking to proven models guarantees optimal retention and monetization mechanics. The flip side of sticking to familiar game patterns is that it’s hard to differentiate your game. Using a celebrity, however, lets you enjoy proven game designs while still having a way to stand out.

The List – here are the best celebrity games for mobile

While there are a lot of games out there crafted upon celebs, I have decided to pick 10 games of my choice in this post. While I have played most of them, I like the remaining ones for some reason or other. So let’s begin with the count-

Gordon Ramsay Dash

This is new and fresh and it had to do good by all means. Being a Gordon fan myself, I was anticipating this game for some time now. The game brings in a mix of world tours, customizable chefs and an online leaderboard where users can challenge their friends. But the best thing about this game is Gordon’s presence throughout the challenges.

One of the best thing about making a celebrity game is that it demands minimal marketing effort to get noticed. Once, the update is out through social accounts of the celebrity, it draws anticipation.

Gordon has been sharing updates about this game since some time and as expected it started acquiring users from the point it was launched.

Kim Kardashian Hollywood

Kim Kardashian has a huge fan following and the game benefitted from that immensely. However, what Glu got right with this one is the Gameplay. When it comes to Kim, it is the lifestyle and paparazzi that entice her fans. The gameplay unfolds from the POV of a Kim Kardashian fan and this is what makes it great. Having Kim handover power-ups and goodies feels fascinating.

It is one of the greatest money-spinners in the celebrity game genre till date. According to Forbes, the game has brought 100 million since launch. The in-app purchase within the game offers a variety of items that brings in a lot of sales.

Sniper X-

Sniper X revolves around Jason Statham. The game is rated for 18+ users so expect a lot of violence and action. In other words, it is raw stuff straight away. As it is with every celeb game, Glu has built this one around social networks. As a part of Statham’s team, you are supposed to dismantle terrorists and rogue states that conventional forces cannot fight with.

As for action, burst fire assault, blasting drones with a shotgun and multiple snipers, keeps the user hooked to it. With more than 5 million installs, the game is among the popular ones released by Glu till date.

Lil Wayne-Sqvad up

I am including this game in this list because it has its own share of followers who have religiously supported and have even suggested ideas to the developers. One of the best thing about this game is a large number of 5-star ratings it has accumulated as compared to 1 and 2 stars. Lil Wayne enjoys massive popularity in the US and the world. With 50 million followers on FB and 27 million on Twitter, releasing a game on Wayne makes sense.

Sqvad up is an endless runner game where the player can make Wayne ride a surfboard through obstacles. Every once in a while, Wayne switches to a drone instead of the surfboard. The obstacles and powerups are mashed appropriately to give an engaging gameplay.

Pewdiepie: Legend of brofist

Pewdiepie earned 7 million from Youtube in 2015. With 47 million subscribers he is one of the undisputed kings of Youtube. Making a game on Pew automatically makes a lot of business sense. And that’s not all, the gameplay feels a lot like the classic Mario, hence drawing a lot from familiarity and cognition. In other words, everybody would give this game a try.

One of the unique things about Legends of brofist is its availability in Paid version only. Yes, there is no in-app purchase for the game. There are real voices of Pew and other popular YouTubers in games. Gameplay includes unlocking youtube stars and challenge among friends.

Katy Perry POP

Another one from Glu mobile that did not do as good as its other titles. One of the reasons seems to be technical deficiencies. There are a lot of one star on the game and the reasons seem to range from notification errors to issues related to loading of the game.

While Katy is a popular celeb on a global scale with 70 m FB followers, the game did not really benefit from it. Although the app allows you to record songs, make videos etc, it did not grow beyond 100k installs on Google play.

A large part of the game remains similar to Kim Kardashian’s Hollywood in which you can create your own avatar. Also, Katy gives instructions and goodies during the gameplay to score points and go ahead in the gameplay.

Tyga Kingin World Tour

Not really a popular one but it was an attempt that deserves some appreciation for sure. It is fundamentally an endless runner game where you run as T-Raww through the “Rack City”. The king is chillin but as soon as people chase him, he begins to run.

You can collect points and power-ups as you jump over the obstacles. The game comes with a global leaderboard and customizable avatar of Tyga.

Britney Spears

Unlike Gordon’s Dash or KK’s Hollywood, this game from Glu has seen moderate success. It has been successful to gravitate Britney fans to the game and has been able to touch the million mark. Ratings are also good in this game as most of the users rated it with 5 stars.

Gameplay is similar to the one made on Katy Perry in which you can play a singing challenge and rise to the top in charts. This game also allows you to create your own song and album art. Also, the custom avatar, similar to previous Glu titles, is implemented here as well.

Game of War: Fire age

While this game doesn’t include Kate Upton inside the game play it has become associated with the celeb-model through it’s TV advertisement. Game of war is a strategy game that allows users to build their empires and lead massive armies to battles of epic proportions. Players can choose their roles and can play the game as a soldier, a builder or a leader.

The game is built on a multiplayer format where you can interact with other gamers as you go forward and score points. You can also give special titles to your buddies using your power. As far as graphics are concerned, this is really a cool one.

Leo’s Red carpet Rampage

This is a clever one. Red Carpet Rampage came out when Leonardo was nominated for the Oscars last year. Everybody wanted Leonardo to win and the game was built around that trending chatter. Not the best execution, but the game still managed to touch the 500k install mark on Google Play. The gameplay is simple with a 2D infinite map of a red carpet where stars run to grab the oscar trophy.  

So here’s my favorite list of 10 best celebrity games for mobile. If you have your favorite missing from the list, mention it in the comment section below. Have a good day!

OpenXcell Technolabs is a leading app development and app marketing company. Working with industry leaders, we have developed and deployed hundreds of apps primarily for startups.