Funnels
The first week
A funnel counts how many players reach each step of a journey. It narrows as players drop out. Theo, the studio's data analyst, builds Shard Garden's first-week funnel from last month's new players:
- Installed: 10,000
- Finished the tutorial: 8,200
- Defended a first garden: 7,400
- Joined a co-op garden: 3,100
- Shared a level: 600
Step and overall conversion
Step conversion divides each step by the step before it. Overall conversion divides it by the first step.
- Tutorial to first garden: 7,400 ÷ 8,200 = 90%.
- First garden to co-op: 3,100 ÷ 7,400 = 42%.
- Install to sharing a level: 600 ÷ 10,000 = 6% overall.
The biggest drop is the co-op step, and Shard Garden is a co-op game. That is where Theo looks first.
Do the math
Of 8,200 players who finished the tutorial, 7,400 defended a first garden. What is the step conversion?
- About 90%
- About 74%
- About 10%
Show the answer
About 90%
7,400 ÷ 8,200 is about 0.90. 74% would be the overall conversion from 10,000 installs, and 10% is the share who dropped out at this step.
Open or closed
Google Analytics' funnel explorations come in two kinds:
- Open funnel: players can enter at any step.
- Closed funnel: players must enter at the first step.
Theo's first-week funnel is closed. An old player who joins a co-op garden this week isn't a new player getting through their first week, so they must not count at step 4.
Order and time
Each step can follow the one before it directly, immediately after, or indirectly, with other actions in between. A within limit sets how long a step may take. A funnel can have up to 10 steps.
Theo's rules: steps in order, indirectly, each within 7 days of install. Without a time limit, a player who joins co-op three months later would make week one look better than it is.
Quick check
In a closed funnel, a player can be counted at step 3 without having done step 1.
- True
- False
Show the answer
False
A closed funnel only lets players in at the first step. That is an open funnel, where players can enter at any step.
Split it to find where
One funnel for everyone can hide the problem. Theo splits the co-op step by platform: on the web, 55% of first-garden players join co-op. On phones, about 35%.
So the drop is mostly on phones. The numbers say where. To find out why, Remy plays the phone version next to new players and watches. The invite button is two menus deep on small screens.
Read the numbers
1Web 55%2Android 36%3iOS 34%4Steam 57%
Where should Remy look first?
- The co-op invite on phones
- The Steam version
- The tutorial, for every platform
Show the answer
The co-op invite on phones
Both phone platforms are about 20 points below web and Steam at the same step. Something about co-op on phones is the likely cause.
Beyond the first week
A funnel shows the path through one week. The next question is longer: of the players who started together, how many are still playing a month later?
Bolt says: Next: cohorts and retention curves.
Fact-checked 11 October 2026
- Analytics Help: Funnel exploration support.google.com