Jelly Button

Jelly Button was an Israeli mobile game development studio founded in Tel Aviv in July 2011. It developed free-to-play casual games built around social interaction, combining accessible single-player activities with competitive and collaborative multiplayer mechanics. The studio described this approach as “Mingle Play.” Its work focused on original mobile games for iOS and Android, spanning game design, engineering, prototyping and ongoing live operations.

The studio’s breakout title, Pirate Kings, brought its social-casual approach to an international audience and exceeded 80 million downloads worldwide. Its portfolio also included Board Kings, a multiplayer roll-and-build board game launched in 2017, alongside earlier titles such as the physics-puzzle game BRIX and the match-3 game Blast Voyage.

Development and portfolio

Jelly Button’s production capabilities covered client-server development, Unity 3D engineering, mobile game analytics, monetization and economy balancing. Its work extended beyond initial releases to content events and live operations, supporting games through continuing updates and player engagement systems.

During its later years, the studio continued live operations on Board Kings and developed additional casual titles. Merge Stories, a merge-battle game, launched globally in September 2022. Dice Life, a casual narrative-dice game, entered soft launch that year.

Acquisition and closure

Playtika acquired Jelly Button in October 2017 as part of its expansion beyond social casino games into mainstream casual gaming. Jelly Button subsequently operated within the group’s casual games business while continuing development in Tel Aviv.

In December 2022, Playtika permanently closed the studio during a wider restructuring and cost-cutting programme. The closure ended Jelly Button’s development operations and was publicly reported in February 2023. Its standalone website was subsequently decommissioned. The studio’s history therefore reflects both its independent development of social mobile games and its later role in Playtika’s casual gaming expansion.