If you play and share app games like Words With Friends or Angry Birds, odds are you have heard of the newest trending app Draw Something. The app has taken the basic idea of Pictionary and brought it to mobile phones and tablets everywhere. Users draw the picture of a clue, and their friends try to guess the clue while watching the drawing being made in real time. It’s a simple idea, and it’s been done in board games before. What makes Draw Something so special is that combines the fun of the board game with the convenience of playing it in your own schedule, and without having to get everyone in one place to play.
This simple idea has made Draw Something a hit. In just five weeks it has now surpassed Angry Birds in Monthly active users. It has been downloaded over 20 million times, garnering more users than 3 year old foursquare and nearly as many as 1.5 year old Instagram. It’s making 6-figures a day, generating more revenue in it’s 5 week debut than OMGPOP made all of last year.
Draw something owes much of its success to tweets from celebrities like Jersey Shore’s Pauli D and Vinny, who have invited followers to play with them. News of celebrities enjoying social gaming often boosts the popularity of the games they are playing. Some argue Words With Friends enjoyed this same kind of success.
In an interview with Business Insider, OMGPOP CEO Dan Porter has said that his team has been going crazy trying to keep up with this monumental growth. “It’s the number one app in 79 countries — I can’t even name 79 countries!” says Porter.
These charts from AppData show Draw Something’s meteoric rise in MAU’s in the last week or so, knocking off Rovio’s Angry Birds as the game with the highest number of Monthly Active Users.
