Particle Effects in Playable Ads: 29 Presets, Physics & Conversion Impact

Particle effects in a playable are feedback. When the viewer taps a button, finishes a break or triggers a mechanic, a burst fires and says 'that worked'. Games use the same trick to make tapping feel good, and in an ad it is what makes the viewer want more of it.

The 29 Particle Presets

The Particle FX panel groups its 29 presets by what they are for, and every one of them is on every plan. Each fills in the emitter, shape, color and physics settings, which you can then change freely, or start from Custom.

• Classic: Confetti, Sparkle, Snow, Fire, Rain, Coins, Stars and Bubbles. The everyday set: confetti and coins for a win, sparkle and stars for a reveal, snow, rain, fire and bubbles to set a scene.
• Game action: Explosion, Fireworks, Level Up, Electric and Impact. Hit, charge and reward beats: bursts that land on a tap, a combo or a level clear.
• Environment: Smoke, Embers, Leaves, Waterfall and Aurora. Slow ambient layers that add depth behind the action without stealing attention: use sparingly.
• Interaction: Cursor Trail, Tap Burst and Hover FX. Effects that follow the finger or fire where the user taps: feedback for the gesture itself.
• Cosmic: Vortex, Galaxy, Portal and Pixie Dust. Swirling, magical effects for fantasy and sci-fi creatives.
• Celebration: Hearts, Gold Rain, Win FX and Countdown. End-card moments: hearts, a shower of gold, a win burst, a countdown pop.

Physics Parameters That Matter

Beyond the preset, six physics parameters control how the effect feels. Emission rate controls density: a burst at 200 particles/second for 0.2 seconds looks very different from 20 particles/second over 2 seconds (same total, very different energy). Gravity pulls particles downward; negative gravity makes them float upward (good for magic and sparkle). Wind adds horizontal drift. Particle lifetime is how long each particle exists before fading: shorter lifetimes feel snappier, longer ones are softer. Particle size and size variance control whether the effect reads as a single coherent mass or an organic cloud.

When and Where to Trigger

The three most effective trigger points in a playable ad: (1) immediately on creative load as an entrance effect (draws attention, signals the creative is interactive), (2) on Break interaction completion in a video playable (rewards the user for participating), (3) as a continuous ambient loop in a corner or background (adds depth without distracting from the main message). The worst placement is a looping particle effect behind the CTA button. It creates motion in the primary tap zone and makes the button feel unstable.

Pair a particle burst with a Kinetic Text animation for a 1-2 sequence: the headline animates in, then the particle effect fires at completion. The timing should feel like the headline triggered the effect, not like two independent animations running simultaneously.

Choosing an Effect for the Moment

A simple way to choose is to name the beat first and the effect second. A tap needs a short, local response at the finger: a Tap Burst or a small Impact, gone in well under a second. A win needs something larger that fills more of the screen and lasts long enough to be noticed, such as Confetti, Coins or Gold Rain. A reveal needs a sparkle that pulls the eye towards what has just appeared. And a scene that should feel alive while the viewer decides needs a slow ambient layer at low density, placed where it does not overlap the interaction.

If one effect has to serve two of those jobs, it will do neither well. Two small emitters with distinct roles usually beat one large emitter turned up.

A Worked Example: Tuning a Win Burst

Say a puzzle playable ends with a solved board and you want confetti over it before the CTA appears. Start from the Confetti preset and play the scene. If the burst feels thin, raise the emission rate for a shorter duration rather than lengthening it: density reads as excitement, length reads as waiting. If particles drift off-screen before anyone sees them, lower their speed or add a little gravity so they arc back through the frame. If the burst hides the CTA, move the emitter above the button rather than behind it, or start the CTA's entrance as the burst begins to fade.

Then check the colours against the background. Random-colour confetti over a busy, multicoloured game scene disappears into it; restricting the palette to two or three colours that contrast with the scene makes the same burst read instantly.

Performance on Mobile

The Particle FX system in Playable Ads Maker is tuned for phones. Particles are simple shapes (circles, squares, stars), or a small image of your own, rather than sprite sheets, which keeps the effects light in the exported file. On mid-range Android (2 GB RAM, Snapdragon 665-class CPU), you can sustain 100–150 simultaneous particles at 60fps without meaningful frame drop. Above 200 simultaneous particles, expect some stuttering on older devices. Burst presets such as Tap Burst and Impact stay well under this threshold; continuous effects like rain and fire should be capped at 60–80 particles/second for broad device compatibility.

Color Modes

The Particle FX system has 4 color modes: Solid (all particles one color), Gradient (each particle moves from a start color to an end color over its lifetime), Random (each particle is assigned a color from a defined palette: the standard 'confetti' look), and Multi-Stop (several color stops along each particle's life). Match the color mode to the emotion: solid reads as precise and branded; gradient and multi-stop read as magical; random reads as celebratory and energetic.

Common Mistakes

• Firing a large burst on every tap in a fast mechanic. Feedback that arrives constantly stops being feedback; keep per-tap effects small and save the big ones for meaningful moments.
• Leaving an ambient effect running behind the end card. It competes with the offer at the exact moment the viewer is deciding.
• Testing only on a fast desktop. Check the busiest moment of the scene on a mid-range phone, where dropped frames are visible.
• Making every effect the brand colour. A celebration in the same colour as the background and the button blends into both; give reward effects a colour that appears nowhere else on screen.
• Using particles to cover a weak payoff. If the resolution does not feel like an achievement without effects, more particles will not fix it: the difficulty and win-rate guide covers making the win itself land.