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User acquisition

Overview​

User acquisition on Jest is about getting players to register and play your game on the platform.

Registered users are subscribed to their personal Jest messaging thread, which unlocks access to the messaging inbox - the stickiest retention surface available. This is what makes registration critical: without it, Jest’s messaging-based re-engagement features are not available.

Game entry points​

On Jest, players can enter your game through two primary entry points. Understanding how these entry points differ helps you design acquisition flows and optimize for registration and retention.

Explore​

The Explore surface is designed for players who are already browsing or discovering games on Jest. These players are typically evaluating multiple games and deciding what to try next.

For games, Explore is a low-friction acquisition channel that benefits from platform trust and built-in discovery. Optimizing your game’s presentation and first-time experience is especially important for converting these players into registered users.

From the Developer Console, you can configure how your game appears in Explore, including your game icon, hero image, and short description. These elements play a significant role in attracting attention and setting expectations before a player ever enters the game.

Explore surface showing game discovery on Jest

Example of a game featured in Explore

Direct game entry​

Players can also enter your game directly on its game page. This entry point is commonly used by players coming from outside of Jest, such as those arriving via paid user acquisition, social sharing, or viral features.

Direct game entry allows you to bring in players with higher intent and more context. Because these players are often new to Jest, clear onboarding and meaningful registration prompts play a key role in unlocking messaging-based re-engagement.

Registration and login paths​

Before prompting a player to register or log in, games should first check whether the player is already registered. See JestSDK.getPlayer() for technical details.

If a player is not registered, there are three primary ways they can log in or create an account on Jest.

User-initiated registration​

Users can choose to register or log in on their own through the Jest platform footer or the in-game footer. These entry points are always accessible and allow motivated users to sign up at their own pace.

User-initiated registration works well for players who already understand the value of creating an account.

Game-initiated registration prompts​

Games can actively prompt players to register or log in by invoking the platform’s registration flow at strategic points during gameplay. The most effective prompts occur early and coincide with peak emotional moments - times when a player feels a sense of accomplishment, surprise, or high stakes. Ideal opportunities to leverage this emotional investment include:

  • First "Aha!" moments: Directly after a player experiences the core hook or feels the first rush of gameplay success.
  • Peak achievements: Immediately following a hard-won victory or completing a challenging level.
  • High-value reward drops: When a player feels the excitement of unlocking rare items or new features.
  • Meaningful progression: At the moment a player realizes they want to save their progress to avoid losing a "hot streak."

Jest provides two distinct registration options:

  1. Standard Registration Dialog: Uses the default Jest platform interface and styling.
  2. Custom Registration Flow: Can be fully themed to match your game's unique UI and branding.

For implementation and technical details, see Platform login.

Dedicated onboardings​

Dedicated onboardings are a highly effective approach to converting players into registered users on Jest.

You can think of onboardings as short, interactive flows - similar to playable ads - that players engage with before entering the full game. Onboardings introduce the game, create emotional investment, and turn registration into a natural continuation of play.

Onboardings can be used both for paid user acquisition campaigns and for viral or social features that bring new players into your game.

If your game is accepted into the Jest Games Fund, the Jest team will work with you to design and run onboarding flows to drive user acquisition for your game.

Marketing and attribution analytics​

Jest is built on web entry points, which makes attribution for both paid acquisition and viral growth straightforward and reliable.

Standard marketing attribution parameters (UTM parameters) are preserved when users enter your game through Jest links and are passed through to the game.

The following UTM parameters are supported:

  • utm_source
  • utm_medium
  • utm_campaign
  • utm_term
  • utm_content

Because all entry points flow through web URLs, paid user acquisition campaigns benefit from high attribution accuracy. Games can reliably associate registrations and sessions with their originating campaigns without requiring custom SDK integrations or probabilistic matching.

This makes Jest well-suited for performance-driven acquisition channels such as paid social, search, and influencer campaigns.

Viral and social attribution​

For viral or social sharing flows, we recommend using entryPayload to pass structured attribution data into the game.

The entryPayload is preserved when a player enters the game and can be accessed after login via JestSDK.getEntryPayload(). This allows you to:

  • identify the source of an invite or share
  • attribute conversions to specific features or referrers
  • trigger contextual in-game logic based on how the player arrived

Using entryPayload for viral attribution keeps acquisition logic explicit, debuggable, and flexible, while avoiding reliance on URL parsing or fragile client-side state.

Jest also provides referral APIs you can use to implement invite flows (share dialog + conversion tracking). See the referrals SDK module and the example: Unlock a feature after 3 invites.

From CPI to CPS: comparing acquisition funnels​

Mobile app user acquisition provides a familiar reference point for thinking about funnels and acquisition cost. In a typical CPI model, users must navigate an app store and complete an install flow before they can interact with the product.

Messaging-based experiences follow a comparable funnel, but shift when value is delivered: users can engage immediately, while subscription or registration happens later. Comparing CPI and CPS funnels side by side helps clarify where friction appears in each model and how instant interaction in messaging changes the path to acquisition.

Messaging app

Mobile app