In this 2019 GDC talk, Alex Schwartz and Ziba Scott explain how they flooded the app stores with over 1,500 auto-generated slot machine games to find the lowest bar for success. They tour the dark side of the mobile app market.
Why Hacker News points people here: HN commenters recommend it as a hilarious account of mass-produced app store shovelware and cite it in threads on spam and low-quality content.
“They procedurally generated 1,500+ different iterations on top of the same Unity-based slots shovelware using noun/adjective pairs.”HN comment, 2021
Hilarious story of an AI-generated slot machine game empire earning from ads.
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There was a GDC talk telling a a story where two bored indie game devs made an AI that churns out throwaway low-quality slot machine games as a joke, but actually earned much more money they they’ve expected (thousands of dollars per day). They jokingly told that the reason for high CPU numbers was their “anti-retention” model, where people get so bored by their game that they would literally click ads to escape into another game! That talk was hilarious, here’s the link: this video
RecommendsjordanwallworkSep 2020
“Reminds me of this brilliant GDC Talk - 1,500 Slot Machines Walk into a Bar: Adventures in Quantity Over Quality”
GDC talk on mass-producing low-quality slot machine apps.
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Reminds me of this brilliant GDC Talk - 1,500 Slot Machines Walk into a Bar: Adventures in Quantity Over Quality this video
RecommendschaoraceJan 2021
“They procedurally generated 1,500+ different iterations on top of the same Unity-based slots shovelware using noun/adjective pairs.”
Funny GDC talk on procedurally generated slots shovelware and its success.
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If you think that's bad, check out this GDC Talk: this video They procedurally generated 1,500+ different iterations on top of the same Unity-based slots shovelware using noun/adjective pairs. The general success they enjoyed is as sad as it is hilarious . For the record, the most enticing descriptor categories were: "3D", "Luxury", "Casino/Gambling", and "Sexy".
Cites itBbzzbBFeb 2022
A fun talk about low-quality apps in grey-area territory.
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Sorry I was just being snarky with the trash app mentioned, I could've done without it I just had a talk [0, fun one] in the back of my head when writing. There must indeed be hundreds (dozens?) of companies which fall in a grey area that Apple wouldn't be inclined to ban straight up at first offense. 0: this video
Cites itXCSmeMay 2022
“The mobile app stores are also filled with crap[0]”
Example of app store spam and low-quality content.
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If the internet is dead, is there anything left that's "alive"? The mobile app stores are also filled with crap[0] and it seems that the ratio of spam content vs real content is getting close to infinity. [0]: this video - 1,500 Slot Machines Walk into a Bar: Adventures in Quantity Over Quality
Cites itrefactor_masterFeb 2026
“a talk about leaning into the garbage flow”
Talk on leaning into mass-produced garbage content.
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Here’s a talk about leaning into the garbage flow. And that was a decade ago. this video I can’t imagine the number being economically meaningful now.
