Over the past year, AviaGames (also known as Avia) has deepened its focus on community engagement through in-game campaigns tied to partnerships with nonprofit organizations.
This work was recently featured by Women-Led Games, an industry platform known for its annual showcase highlighting innovation from women-led and majority-women game studios, and women leaders in gaming.
In the feature, Women-Led Games interviewed Vickie Chen, AviaGames Founder and CEO, on the company’s origin story, mobile game marketing challenges, and the impact of Avia’s recent charity-driven campaigns.
Below are the key takeaways, based entirely on the interview content.
The Mission That Started AviaGames
Vickie explained that early in her career, she noticed many games were designed for hardcore players. While she loved games, she didn’t see herself as that type of player. That led to the idea of creating competitive games that are fun, fair, simple, and welcoming.
She described this as her “aha moment,” which led her and her partner to create Avia in 2016, to make skill-based games accessible to everyone.
In the early days, the team worked out of a small garage in Mountain View, California, built their own desks, worked long nights, and lived on coffee.
Vickie also shared that Avia has since grown and now publishes various games in-house. She noted that the team is more than 40% women, including many in leadership roles.
Solitaire Clash: The Flagship Title from AviaGames
When asked to choose a favorite title from Avia’s lineup, Vickie said it was difficult to pick just one. Still, she highlighted Solitaire Clash as a game she is especially proud of, pointing to both its performance and the strength of its player base.
According to Vickie, Solitaire Clash has reached 60 million total downloads and currently sees 450 million monthly tournaments. She also shared that the title has remained at the top of its genre in both the iOS App Store and the Galaxy Store.
Beyond the numbers, Vickie noted that the Solitaire Clash community is highly active, and she credited that community participation as a key reason Avia’s charity campaigns have been successful over the past year.
The Challenge of Marketing Mobile Games
Vickie explained that one of the hardest parts of mobile gaming is that you can’t slow down. She said mobile games require constant live ops, events, and regular updates to keep players engaged.
She contrasted this with PC and console gaming, where games are often structured around major launches or expansions.
She also discussed player behavior, especially in Western markets. She said younger players in the U.S. and Europe still spends much more time on PCs and consoles, so mobiles have to work harder to fit into their daily habits. In her view, mobile games compete not only with other games, but also with how and when people choose to play.
Vickie said this is why mobile marketing and operations need to work closely together: it’s not enough to bring players in once; players need reasons to return repeatedly.
Turning Gameplay Into Real-World Impact
Vickie shared that Avia’s nonprofit work started with a simple idea: turning everyday gameplay into real-world good.
In September 2025, Avia launched Play for Paws in partnership with Nevada SPCA, a no-kill shelter (the campaign took place during Avia’s 9th Anniversary). Vickie explained that the campaign was built around a simple concept: “What if we could turn everyday gameplay into real-world good?” Every match played in Solitaire Clash and Bingo Tour contributed to donations, meaning players didn’t need to complete extra steps to participate — as she put it, “Players didn’t have to do anything special — just play as usual.”
The campaign resulted in over $220,000 donated and 14,000 pounds of dog food. Avia also invited players to volunteer in person at Nevada SPCA, including cleaning kennels, helping with feeding, walking dogs, and learning more about the shelter’s work.
Avia also ran the holiday Wonderland Wishes campaign in partnership with Foster Love, another nonprofit organization Avia partnered with to support foster youth. Over five weeks, players competed in weekly tournaments aimed at providing foster youth with:
- Toys
- Essential items
- Bikes
- Clothing
- Educational supplies
During that period, players raised $136,000 for foster youth. Avia collaborated with creator, producer, and foster advocate Leo González (followers listed in the interview as 1M on Instagram and 3.5M on TikTok) to create promotional videos and held an in-person volunteer event for Foster Love scholars and the Avia community.
Wrapping the campaign “in a shiny bow,” Avia also launched its YouTube documentary series Beyond the Game, highlighting player stories and featuring an episode that surprised a player and her family with Christmas gifts during its holiday charity campaign.
What Avia Shared About Current Partnerships
When asked what’s next, Vickie shared that this year, as part of AviaGames’ 10th anniversary, the company is planning a new round of charity events and community-focused partnerships.
While the company is not ready to announce specific nonprofit organizations yet, she emphasized that “giving back through our games and our community is something we care deeply about.” She added that more details will be shared soon, and encouraged audiences to stay tuned on Avia’s social media and website for the next campaign.
