Anna Serheieva, OnlyPlay: “We see Tap games as the future”

Shows & conferences - 24 November, 2025

During the latest edition of SiGMA Central Europe 2025, Focus Gaming News spoke with Anna Serheieva, Head of Partnerships at OnlyPlay, about the company’s new Tap games, the strategy behind creating a fresh game category, the response from operators and competitors, and how this format is delivering exceptional conversion and retention.

Serheieva explained that the concept of Tap games emerged with OnlyPlay’s first title in the series, Piggy Tap. “The idea was to create a game which could meet the interests of younger generations… who are looking for something more active than passive spinning and really want to interact with the game,” she said. The goal was to give players the feeling of being “the one who guides the game pace and… gets that control on the game.”

To achieve this, the team drew inspiration from social gaming and a variety of game mechanics, as well as the familiar, highly engaging TikTok experience. “This game works with the approach of TikTok when you swipe a lot… and it’s super fast and you are completely engaged,” Serheieva noted. Tap games are built to be “super simple – to make only one action but to have a lot of different outcomes,” with every tap triggering a visible result on the screen, from wins and fortune wheels to free spins. The format is also multiplayer: players “see other players, [they] see that they win” via visual cues linked to avatars, which intensifies the sense of community and action.

From the outset, OnlyPlay’s ambition went beyond a single innovative title. “It was kind of a strategy from the very beginning not only to bring innovation but to set the new direction, to be a trend‑setter, the one who shapes the future of the market and the direction, the vector of growth and game development,” Serheieva said. With that in mind, the company decided to trademark the Tap games concept and “give the name from the very beginning to the new product of the market” – a label that could eventually apply not only to OnlyPlay’s titles but also to “all the upcoming games from other providers.”

That strategy is now starting to materialise at operator level. Serheieva said that partners are already signalling they “want and… think to launch this game category, to form a separate gaming category in their casinos.” For OnlyPlay, the emergence of a clearly defined Tap section in lobbies was always “the expected outcome” of what she described as a long‑term, strategic move to “set a new niche of game development.”

OnlyPlay is also expanding its Tap portfolio beyond Piggy Tap. Serheieva highlighted Fortune Chef Panda, a cosy, fast‑paced game where a panda chef prepares sushi and the player helps “by tapping… to cook more sushi.” The title is partly inspired by Fruit Ninja, reworked to fit the Tap model: “Super simple – you tap, you also interact with the game… the game is super cosy, it invites you to play, you feel so good and so warm interacting with that panda,” she said. Another key release is Football Cup, a straightforward Tap football game designed for a different audience, including sports betting fans who “are interested in football… and like something simple to interact in between.” Together, these games show how the Tap format “can diversify, can bring new ideas, new scenarios… and create a really wide product line.”

The concept has already started to influence the wider industry. Serheieva said there are now “three or four game providers, and some of them are pretty huge,” that have begun building games “with this Tap games idea,” sometimes even using “something and Tap” in their titles. Rather than seeing this as a threat, she views it as validation. “For us it’s a victory in [a] certain way and is the evidence that our big idea… comes true,” she said. It means that “soon we are going to see this game category with Tap games… and it also means that Tap games have future.”

Crucially, the format is delivering strong commercial metrics. Serheieva recalled that when Piggy Tap launched, it was “a delivery of a new product to the market. Nobody knows that, nobody believes in that,” so OnlyPlay worked closely with operators and also ran its own B2C campaigns in selected regions. The results, she said, were striking: the game’s conversion rate is “around 83 per cent, even for new players to come,” and it has an “extremely high retention rate.” In practice, OnlyPlay has “converted non‑gamers, non‑gamblers into this game, into gambling,” onboarding them into casinos where they then continue to play.

Beyond being an engaging product, Tap games have also become “a traffic conversion tool.” Serheieva explained that OnlyPlay provides a set of tools to operators, affiliates and others directing traffic, enabling them to use Tap titles “not just [as] operator tool[s],” but to optimise acquisition and engagement. This, she admitted, was “an unexpected outcome” at the start of the project – but it reinforces her belief that the Tap category will keep growing: “Yes, we’re really happy that there will be more Tap games soon in the market.”