“Compared to other tools I used before, which felt more app-focused, AppMagic feels tailored specifically for the gaming market.”
— Herlinda Garcia, M&A Manager at TapNation
TapNation is a Paris-based publisher specializing in hypercasual and hybridcasual mobile games. Since 2019, the company has released over 50 titles, partnered with more than 100 studios worldwide, and surpassed 1.4 billion downloads.
TapNation’s Publisher Page at AppMagic
After experimenting with multiple market intelligence platforms, TapNation transitioned to AppMagic in 2023 to streamline internal workflows across teams. We spoke with Herlinda Garcia (M&A Manager) and Tuğçe Kurulday (Creative Strategist) to learn how the platform supports their daily work — from scouting new opportunities to tracking creative trends.
Herlinda Garcia (left) and Tuğçe Kurulday (right)
In this case study, we’ll explore how the platform helps them speed up key processes across M&A and Creative operations:
- Fast, intuitive interface — easy to pick up even for non-analysts and new team members
- Advanced Search powers up to 50 % of TapNation’s M&A lead generation ;
- Expert-built taxonomy made for mobile games delivers sharper segmentation and faster, more accurate scouting than generalist tools
- Built-in contact info speeds up outreach with direct access to decision-makers — no extra tools needed
- Ad Intel UI makes it easy to analyze and download dozens of ad creatives at a time
AppMagic Generates 50% of TapNation’s M&A leads with smart taxonomy, precise search and contact extraction
In M&A scouting, identifying the right acquisition target means thorough market research. One of the key tools TapNation relies on is AppMagic’s expert-built taxonomy — one of the most accurate and practical classification systems for mobile games. It allows Herlinda Garcia and her team to quickly zero in on the right type of product, filtering by genres, subgenres, visual styles, or even themes with precision.
To make the most of this taxonomy, TapNation often turns to Advanced Search — a versatile tool that allows teams to combine dozens of filters to quickly surface games that match highly specific criteria.
For example, by combining just a few filters—like studio location, subgenre, and theme—Herlinda’s team can instantly surface games similar to Monster Squad Rush, one of TapNation’s top performers. This makes it dramatically easier to discover studios with the right gameplay focus, audience, and monetization potential.
“Sometimes I want to explore what’s working in a specific subgenre, like block puzzles or hyper-casual, so I rely heavily on AppMagic’s taxonomy and filter system. I love being able to slice the data exactly how I want. I use filters to narrow by downloads, release periods, and genre-specific tags.”
—Tuğçe Kurulday, Creative Strategist at TapNation
Once the list of potential leads is assembled, it’s time to reach out—and that’s where AppMagic’s Contacts tool comes in.
Instead of generic emails like info@, Herlinda and her team get access to direct contacts— real emails of the people actually working at the company. This significantly cuts down time spent on outreach and makes the whole process smoother and more focused
🎯 AppMagic now powers up to 50% of TapNation’s M&A leads — thanks to precise filtering, niche-level taxonomy, and direct contacts that turn research into results. 🎯
Intel Ad + Keyword Search = Smarter Analytics Done Fast
“With AppMagic, I can get done in 10 minutes what used to take 30 on other platforms. It’s easily 3 to 5 times faster — especially when dealing with large batches of data.”
—Tuğçe Kurulday, Creative Strategist at TapNation
Spotting trends and evaluating creative directions is a core part of Tuğçe Kurulday’s work as Creative Strategist at TapNation. Some days, she’s focused on analyzing ad strategies of specific games; other times, she compares top performers within a genre to help shape new game concepts. Beyond creatives, she relies on AppMagic for broader product insights — regularly monitoring Top Charts and Top Trending to track what’s gaining traction across the market.
In one such case, while researching the market, Tuğçe noticed a growing presence of Skibidi Toilets across social media. The meme—a singing head popping out of a toilet bowl—had gone viral, beloved by kids, incomprehensible to their parents.
To validate whether it was a viable trend, she used Keyword Search to quickly surface dozens of games using Skibidi in their titles and ASO. From there, she could analyze performance metrics and creative strategies to assess if the trend had enough traction to be worth acting on.
Skibidi Games in Advanced Search
Today, simply entering the word Skibidi in Advanced Search, we can find out that:
— The first Skibidi app appeared back in 2021
— 182 out of 198 Skibidi-themed games were launched in 2023
— Only one game out of 198 games is still operating!
The trend is clearly outdated, but at the time, identifying it early made a real difference for TapNation. It’s a great example of how Keyword Search helps to spot even the weirdest trends—something both the M&A and Creative Teams rely on daily to stay ahead of the curve!
Another feature Tuğçe values highly is the UX/UI of the platform—especially in the Ad Intelligence tool, which she uses daily to discover and analyze ad creatives. In many cases, Ad Intel is just the starting point: the real insights come later, when creatives are shared across teams or analyzed with AI-powered tools .
That’s where AppMagic’s user-friendly export system makes a big difference. Unlike many competitor platforms that require downloading each creative manually, AppMagic allows users to bulk-download dozens of ads in a single ZIP archive . This saves time, streamlines collaboration, and makes it easier to apply AI-driven analysis across large sets of assets.
🎯 AppMagic helps TapNation move fast without losing quality in research— from spotting emerging trends to validating them with real data . With tools like Keyword Search and bulk ad downloads , creative analysis becomes quicker, clearer, and much more efficient.
TapNation + AppMagic: Key Takeways
“What really stood out to me was how intuitive AppMagic is—I didn’t need any tutorials to get started, and the interface feels clean, lightweight, and clearly built for mobile games.”
— Herlinda Garcia, M&A Manager at TapNation
Unlike other platforms that offer fragmented functionality, AppMagic combines market analysis, creative insights, and direct outreach in one place — all purpose-built for the mobile games industry. Its clean, intuitive UX saves time across teams, making it the daily driver for both M&A and Creative departments at TapNation.
On the M&A side : up to 80% of lead generation now runs through AppMagic . Herlinda can scout with precision, filtering by gameplay mechanics, studio geography, and market potential—then instantly access direct contacts for outreach.
On the Creative side , Tuğçe uses AppMagic to spot trends early , validate ideas , and save hours of work . Whether it’s exploring niche trends via Keyword Search or downloading dozens of ad creatives in seconds, AppMagic turns research into actionable insights.
In a fast-moving industry, TapNation’s edge comes from making smarter decisions faster, and AppMagic helps make that possible every day.