How a playable ad is built
Three parts: a tutorial that hooks, a short stretch of gameplay, and an end card.
- 1
The tutorial
A hand, an arrow, one instruction. The first interaction has to be obvious in a second, or the viewer closes the ad.
- 2
The gameplay
One mechanic, made easy. The player wins, or nearly wins. Unity’s guide calls this where engagement is won or lost.
- 3
The end card
The game, the rating, one button to the store. Some playables fail the player on purpose here so they install for the rematch.
Playable ad examples by genre
Real playables from the AppLovin network. Open any card and play it.
PlayableMerge Dragons“Match / merge, published by Gram Games”
PlayableJune’s Journey“Puzzle, published by wooga”
PlayableBingo Blitz“Cards / casino, published by Playtika Santa Monica, LLC”
PlayableFarmville 3“Strategy / simulation / RPG, published by Zynga Inc.”
PlayablePixel Sort“Puzzle, published by MOONEE PUBLISHING LTD”
PlayableWord Roll“Word, published by PlaySimple Games Pte Ltd”
PlayableShadow Legends“Strategy / simulation / RPG, published by Plarium Global Ltd”
PlayableDisney Solitaire“Cards / casino, published by SuperPlay”
Playable ad specs
One HTML file with everything inlined, small enough to load instantly. Google Ads caps it at 5MB.
- File
A single HTML document, every image, script and sound inlined, no calls out to a server.Source: The playables in the AppLovin ads library
- Size (Google Ads)
A .ZIP of up to 5MB and no more than 512 files, up to 20 per ad group.Source: Google Ads Help, HTML5 and playable ads for App campaigns
- Orientation (Google Ads)
Portrait, landscape or both, declared in an ad.orientation meta tag. Responsive to any full-screen size.Source: Google Ads Help, HTML5 and playable ads for App campaigns
- Billing (Google Ads)
Cost per engagement. An install counts within 30 days of the engagement.Source: Google Ads Help, HTML5 and playable ads for App campaigns
- Build time
About 5 days in-house against 10 business days outsourced.Source: Unity, how to design playable ads in-house
Do playable ads work?
For games, yes. GameAnalytics reports 4.8 installs per thousand impressions for playables against 2.9 for video.
Playables also last longer. GameAnalytics puts their average creative lifespan at 15.4 days against 9.2 for a Meta video. Unity cites a match-3 game whose playable got 15% more installs per impression than its video and static ads.
The catch is cost and range. A playable takes days of engineering, and it only works where the game can be shown in one mechanic. Puzzle, merge, casino and word games fit. Narrative RPGs mostly do not.
Most studios run both: video for reach on Meta and TikTok, playables and playable end cards on the in-app networks. See the formats side by side on mobile game ads.
How to make a playable ad
Rebuild one mechanic of the game in lightweight HTML5, not the game itself, and design the 30 seconds around one win.
- 1
Pick the mechanic
The one action a stranger gets in a second: swap, merge, aim, spin. Take it from your best-performing video hook.
- 2
Rebuild it small
A playable is not the game build. It is a few seconds of the mechanic in HTML5, with art and sound inlined to stay under the size cap.
- 3
Script the win
Make the first move impossible to miss, the second satisfying, the third the cliffhanger. Then the end card.
- 4
Test the end card
Same playable, three end cards. The button copy and the rating move installs more than the art.
- 5
Feed it video
Pair each playable with video variations of the same hook so the network has both formats to choose from.
The video side, done for you
Playables carry the in-app networks. The video ads around them still need a new batch every week.
Director by Sprites is a full creative team for your startup, in private beta. Every Monday you get finished, on-brand video ads, reviewed by a human.
Strategy, hooks, scripts, shooting and editing, end to end. You never write a prompt. You pick the winners. Sprites ships the campaigns.
Every video is checked by a person before it reaches your inbox. No endless revisions.
Questions
What are playable ads?
Interactive ads that let the viewer try a game for a few seconds before installing it. They run full screen inside other apps, mostly games, and end on a card that links to the store.
Who uses playable ads?
Mostly mobile game studios: Monopoly GO, Merge Dragons, Bingo Blitz and FarmVille 3 all run them. A few non-game apps use them to demo a feature.
Which ad networks run playable ads?
The in-app networks built on games: AppLovin, Unity, ironSource and Mintegral, plus Google Ads App campaigns and Meta. See real ones in the AppLovin ads library.
What tools make playable ads?
Studios build them in HTML5 game frameworks or with dedicated playable builders, and some networks offer their own. Whatever the tool, the output is one HTML file under the network’s size cap.
Can I see playable ads examples?
Yes. Playable ads examples has every one we hold, and they all play in the browser.
Keep going
Need the video ads around your playables?
Every Monday you get finished, on-brand video ads, reviewed by a human. You never write a prompt. You pick the winners. Sprites ships the campaigns.