about us

We are the game industry’s leading mobile design, development and consulting group.

Who we’ve helped.

Who We Have WORKED WITH

Since 2008, we’ve designed, modelled, and developed the world’s freemium games.

Adrian Crook & Associates (AC&A) is a consultancy that specializes in product management, design, development and monetization of freemium mobile games. We work with some of the largest and most respected publishers, developers, and platforms in the industry to create world-class, profitable games across all genres.

AC&A’s proven client engagement system allows us to leverage our expertise to model high ROI freemium economies, deliver robust product management services, and perform live ops optimization for our valued international clients.

300+ Clients
Over 16+ Years In Operation

While many consultancies come and go, AC&A has led from the start.

All Genres,
All Game Dev Phases

The AC&A team has shipped successful mobile games in every genre. We engage at any step of the product life cycle, from concept, to soft launch, to live ops and more.

Team Of Veteran Product Managers, Monetization Specialists

Leverage the expertise of not just one, but our entire team of senior game product managers and designers with our innovative, team-based approach.

Deliverables Tailored To
Each Client

No template approach here: we stay at the top by authoring our deliverables to meet a client’s unique needs.

Defining the industry.

As the game industry’s first freemium consultancy, AC&A has always set the standard for others to follow. In 2008, Adrian – already a respected thought leader in freemium and a AAA game producer for over a decade – delivered one of the first game monetization presentations ever at Game Developers’ Conference.

When Facebook games were the only “free-to-play” product available and the iOS App Store had yet to be released, AC&A was already designing some of the earliest monetization and gameplay archetypes for our clients.

When mobile quickly overtook Facebook, AC&A’s client work became mobile-focused, cementing AC&A’s position as the leading freemium mobile development consultancy at the inception of mainstream freemium adoption.

Fast forward to 2024 – 16 years and over 300 clients later – and today AC&A is still the foremost product management consultancy in the freemium games sector.

Check out our client testimonials and our work for more.

Defining the industry.

As the game industry’s first freemium consultancy, AC&A has always set the standard for others to follow. In 2008, Adrian – already a respected thought leader in freemium and a AAA game producer for over a decade – delivered one of the first game monetization presentations ever at Game Developers’ Conference.

When Facebook games were the only “free-to-play” product available and the iOS App Store had yet to be released, AC&A was already designing some of the earliest monetization and gameplay archetypes for our clients.

When mobile quickly overtook Facebook, AC&A’s client work became mobile-focused, cementing AC&A’s position as the leading freemium consultancy at the inception of mainstream freemium adoption.

Fast forward to 2021 – 13 years and over 200 clients later – and today AC&A is still the foremost product management consultancy in the freemium games sector.

Check out our client testimonials and our work for more.

Making Games Make Money

AC&A’s industry-leading product management services help developers create profitable freemium games.

Product Management +
Design

We identify the features your game requires to drive revenue and fun factor, then write the PRDs (Product Requirements Documents) you need to exceed your benchmark KPIs.

Game Economy
Modeling

From modeling a brand new game economy to reverse engineering a live economy, our models optimize for revenue and fun factor.

Live Ops
Optimization

Are you measuring what matters? Need help interpreting the data? We find the signal amongst the noise, providing actionable insights to improve your live game.

see more details on our services

Known to deliver work that is second to none.

We are proud to have worked with over 300 clients, including many of the leading mobile & social game companies. See what some of our clients say about their experience.

He is a master collaborator, and will embed directly with the team. He’s also the right guy to put in front of top industry execs to pitch, brainstorm, or suss out a project’s milestone plan, product goals, or design strategy. Adrian is my go-to guy whenever I get in a pinch and need someone to come in and drive an emergency project — regardless of scope or subject matter.

Michael Waite

Executive Producer

AC&A did a wonderful job and were highly collaborative with LEGO. Their associate very quickly became part of our team. He was exceptional in his ability to communicate the needs and risks of the project and he shared the valuable insights from his colleagues at AC&A when appropriate. We greatly appreciate the collaboration with AC&A!

James Lema

Creative Director Lego Life

AC&A were instrumental in bringing Hempire to reality. We brought the passion; they brought the expertise, and two years later with Hempire we have the highest-rated weed-growing game anywhere. It has massive potential and we are incredibly proud of it!

Dennis Molloy

President

Working with AC&A allowed us to clarify key issues with our game design while we were still early enough in the development process to make changes. Because of the specific recommendations we received from Jordan, our game is both more fun for players and able to monetize those players more effectively.

Richard Barnwell

CEO

I can’t say enough good things about working with Adrian. He is a talented and creative game designer with an amazing attitude, and he consistently delivered great results on-time. He’s the first person I’ll call if I need an experienced game designer to support our team or our project. Adrian is a true professional and a pleasure to work with.

Garry Gettys

Executive Producer

AC&A did a wonderful job and were highly collaborative with LEGO. Their associate very quickly became part of our team. He was exceptional in his ability to communicate the needs and risks of the project and he shared the valuable insights from his colleagues at AC&A when appropriate. We greatly appreciate the collaboration with AC&A!

Richard Barnwell

Creative & Development Director

I can’t imagine where we’d be without Adrian Crook. We’ve found his clarity and candor to be refreshing and invaluable no matter what phase of the project he’s involved in. He is also incredibly connected and has a deep list of all star talent to call upon should the need arise.

Kerry Choe

Project Manager

I hired Adrian as a consultant working on a game team. He brought a lot of expert knowledge about social gaming and best practices, which contributed a lot to the success of the project. He was also very proactive and went above and beyond the normal consultant agreement by making himself accountable for results.

Jimmy Gendron

Executive Producer

I’ve relied on Adrian’s expertise as a businessman and developer not only on projects we’re collaborating on, but as I’ve been charting the course of my future as a creator, game developer, and entrepreneur. I admire what Adrian has accomplished so far, and frankly, I think he’s just getting warmed up. Keep an eye on this guy.

Raphael Van Lierop

Founder & Creative Director

I hired Adrian as a consultant working on a game team. He brought a lot of expert knowledge about social gaming and best practices, which contributed a lot to the success of the project. He was also very proactive and went above and beyond the normal consultant agreement by making himself accountable for results.

Kerry Whalen

SR. PRODUCER

I had the opportunity to work with Adrian for over a year on the Panasonic Jungle project. I was always impressed with how willing he was to roll up his sleeves and get things done. He did everything from business development, market research, product management, and producing.

Chris Lavin

SR. MARKETING MANAGER

I’ve known Adrian since 2008, when he was one of a select group of people ahead of the curve in terms of understanding how mobile, social and free-to-play — at the time, considered “emerging trends” for games — would impact the games space. I’m excited to see this experience still serves his work. I’ve learned a lot from him, and he’s friendly, supportive and a pleasure to work with.

Leigh Alexander

Interactive Entertainment Journalist

It was wonderful to have Adrian in to mentor our mobile game teams at Execution Labs. He willingly shared his hard earned wisdom in social design and monetization mechanics with the teams. Tons of great tips and tricks to implement!

Leigh Jason Della Rocca

CO-FOUNDER & INDIE EVANGELIST

I can say with confidence that their perspective will absolutely have an impact on our future direction. Jordan even spent a week with us on campus in Vancouver to completely immerse himself into our initiatives and to work directly with our development group. This time together was invaluable in getting everyone on the same page. To wrap everything up we received a very comprehensive white paper summarizing findings, providing an assessment of our current position against the completive set, and suggesting areas of emphasis for our product teams. This paper was circulated widely across all levels of our studio and was well-received.

Deepa Arora

Director of Emerging Markets

I loved working with Adrian. Partnering creatively is rarely easy, especially without an existing relationship, but Adrian made it a great experience. He challenged us when appropriate, contributed great ideas and stimulated a level of design I think not possible for us to achieve on our own.

Ryan Cleven

Executive Producer

I’ve had the pleasure of working with Adrian on several occasions, over the last few years. Each and every interaction has been extremely positive, with not only great results, but also reliably enjoyable processes for everyone involved. Adrian’s world-class expertise nicely complements his tireless enthusiasm, to truly energize and inspire the group, while also maintaining the necessary focus. This unique blend of creative vision and practical know-how makes him an extremely valuable addition to any team.

Frank Sanni

Head of Planning

Working with Adrian’s consulting group was great. They consulted with us for 3 months starting with a full-blown design audit with priorities on retention and monetization. The info that spun out of the audit set our objectives for the next six weeks. At which time we drilled down into specific areas (monetization, retention, compulsion loops, industry comparisons, and social virality) that gave us actionable tasks and a dev roadmap for six months.

Scott White

Studio Vice President