December was driven by familiar patterns, just executed really well. On the free side, games like Color Block: Combo Blast, Mahjong Wonders, and Royal Kingdom soaked up holiday installs as players gravitated towards low-commitment puzzles. At the same time, the top grossing chart told a different story: Zenless Zone Zero spiked hard off a new banner, Fate/Grand Order saw a late-year lift, and even veterans like Dokkan Battle found fresh life through collabs.

Top trending (free games)

Notable mentions

Color Block: Combo Blast – Block puzzle games remained popular in December. Color Block (by Ivy) rode the ongoing block-puzzle craze that dominated 2025 – recall that Block Blast! led global downloads with around 38 million installs last month. In December, Color Block: Combo Blast and its fellow block puzzler Block Crush! each pulled in over 5 million new players (Block Crush! alone saw about 6.6m downloads). Both titles climbed higher than they were in November, proving that players can’t seem to get enough of drop-and-match block puzzles. The genre’s popularity surged to new heights during the holidays, piggybacking on hits like Block Blast’s success.

Rope Escape Master – This rope-untying puzzler by PoseidonJoy came out of nowhere to rank on the charts. It wasn’t even on our radar in November, but by December it amassed well over 2 million downloads across iOS and Android. Players are clearly enjoying the simple yet satisfying gameplay of untangling knots (even if the ads between levels test their patience). It just shows that a straightforward casual game can climb quickly when it’s fun enough.

Mahjong Wonders™ – Tile-matching is having a moment. Mahjong Wonders (Nebula Studio) skyrocketed in December with over 8 million downloads in 30 days, pushing it past the 10m+ install mark overall. That’s a huge jump from the fall – this game wasn’t near the top of the chart in November, but interest has exploded globally now. Its rise mirrors the broader appetite for classic puzzle and board games on mobile (for example, another mahjong title had ~12.4m installs back in November). Mahjong Wonders is riding that wave big-time, turning a once-niche game into a mass-market hit in just a few months.

Gossip Harbor: Merge & Story – Microfun’s merge game continues to grow steadily each month. It quietly added about 2.3 million new downloads in December – similar to its performance in November – keeping it on the fringe of the top charts. But the real story is player engagement: Gossip Harbor just hit a record-high $72 million in monthly revenue in December, despite not being a downloads chart-topper. In other words, its fanbase may be smaller than those of flashy hyper-casual games, but they’re dedicated (and spending). This is the second month in a row the game’s revenue has grown to new highs, quietly establishing Gossip Harbor as a top-10 earner. Compared to last year, this merge-and-story title has transformed from under-the-radar into a monetization powerhouse – all while still flying a bit under the downloads radar.

Royal Kingdom – Least surprising of all, Dream Games’ latest match-3 adventure enjoyed a holiday boost in December. Globally, Royal Kingdom drew over 5 million installs for the month (around 4.3m on Google Play alone), a solid uptick from November. This Disney-caliber puzzle game (the follow-up to Royal Match) launched a year ago and has been steadily gaining players; December’s surge pushed it into the top download rankings for the first time. It’s not just downloads either – Royal Kingdom is also earning serious cash, grossing about $30m+ per month this fall. The game’s attack-and-defend twist on match-3 is resonating with fans. Dream Games’ strategy of high-quality content is paying off again, and it’s exciting to see their second title finally make a splash. 

Top grossing

Notable mentions

Zenless Zone Zero – HoYoverse’s new urban-fantasy RPG exploded in December, reaching $20 million. A major new character (“Void Hunter”) banner dropped at month’s end, and Zenless jumped 10 ranks to become the #4 highest-grossing mobile game. That’s a huge leap from November, showing how a single update can vault a title up the charts. In short, Zenless’s surge proves players are spending big on new gacha content.

Fate/Grand Order (English) – This veteran gacha remained a top earner and even picked up steam in December after a brief dip. Analytics note that English FGO was “climbing a little” at year-end. In other words, ongoing events and holiday banners helped it rebound. The steady late-year bump shows FGO’s fanbase still pours money into the game around big updates, keeping it high in the revenue charts.

信長之野望 真戦 (Nobunaga: True War) – Alibaba’s mobile strategy game surprised everyone by debuting straight into the Top 10. It launched in late November in the Hong Kong/Macau market, and immediately raked in roughly $2 million in just its first 10 days. By December its revenue topped $5 million, earning it a spot on the chart. This quick success shows how a beloved historical IP can ignite a surge of downloads and spending out of the gate.

Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle – Bandai Namco’s long-running DBZ gacha kept chugging through December thanks to its holiday collab. It ran a big “Super Dragon Ball Heroes” crossover event (Nov 6–29) with tons of new units and challenges. Those month-long events have become yearly tradition, and they kept players logging in and spending into December. In short, even an older title like Dokkan still fires up fan spending when it rides the wave of a major anime collab.