Retain
Updated: Mar 3, 2026
Copy for LLM
The Retain section covers
Facebook’s platform is uniquely social, and the most successful Instant Games take full advantage of that. Players who connect with friends in your game, compete on leaderboards, share their achievements, and receive timely notifications are significantly more likely to return and play again. This section will help you understand and implement every tool available to you.
What You Will Find Here
Strategy
| Page | Description |
|---|---|
A strategic guide to designing your game around social mechanics. Learn why social features drive retention, how to build viral loops, and how to think about competitive, cooperative, and communicative gameplay. This is the place to start if you want to understand the “why” behind social game design. |
| Page | Description |
|---|---|
Let players discover and connect with friends who also play your game. Learn how to use the connected players API to build friend lists, challenges, and social leaderboards. | |
Add competitive leaderboards to your game so players can compare scores with friends and the global community. Covers global, contextual, and friend-based leaderboards with full SDK details. | |
Create time-limited competitive events that drive bursts of engagement. Learn how to set up, manage, and promote tournaments using the SDK. | |
Display in-game social surfaces that show community activity, helping players feel connected to a broader player base. |
Messaging and Notifications
| Page | Description |
|---|---|
Send rich, interactive messages to players from within your game. Custom updates let you re-engage players with personalized content, challenges, and calls to action. | |
An overview of all the notification channels available to your game, including A2U notifications, Game Updates via Messenger, and the Notification Service. Start here to understand which channel is right for your use case. | |
Send targeted notifications directly to players who have opted in. Learn about the API, targeting, templates, rate limits, and best practices. | |
Set up automated Messenger experiences for your game to send personalized messages, updates, and re-engagement prompts through Messenger. | |
Schedule and manage notifications through Facebook’s Notification Service. Learn about notification types, scheduling, and API details. |
Platform Integration
| Page | Description |
|---|---|
Prompt players to add your game to their device’s home screen for one-tap access. Players who add a shortcut show significantly higher retention rates. | |
Create a Facebook Page and Group for your game to build community, share updates, and provide player support outside of gameplay sessions. | |
Integrate your game with Messenger group conversations to enable social play with group members. |
Where to Start
If you are new to retention strategy on Facebook Instant Games, we recommend reading the pages in this order:
- Building Social Games -- Understand the strategic foundation for why social features matter and how to design for them.
- Play With Friends and Leaderboards -- Implement the core social features that connect players.
- Custom Updates -- Enable in-game sharing and re-engagement messages.
- Notifications Overview -- Set up out-of-game re-engagement through notifications.
- Home Screen Shortcut -- Make it easy for players to return with one tap.
- Tournaments, Pages and Groups, Messenger Groups, and Community Overlays -- Layer on additional engagement features as your game matures.
Key Principles
- Social is not optional. The data is clear: players who have friends playing the same game retain at significantly higher rates. Design your game to encourage social connections from the very beginning.
- Re-engage at the right time. Notifications and updates are powerful, but overusing them will cause players to mute or block your game. Be thoughtful about timing, frequency, and relevance.
- Make sharing feel natural. The best social features do not feel forced. Integrate sharing, challenges, and leaderboards at natural gameplay moments -- after a high score, at the end of a level, or when a friend’s score is beaten.
- Respect player privacy. Always follow Facebook’s platform policies and privacy guidelines. Use player data responsibly and transparently.
Next Steps
- Acquire -- Learn how to attract new players to your game.
- Monetize -- Explore strategies for generating revenue from your engaged player base.
- Building Social Games -- Dive into the strategic guide for social game design.
Social Features