Pedro Aira is the co-founder and CEO of Agonalea Games, a mobile game studio based in Buenos Aires. With a strong background in product and game design, Pedro was previously part of the Sensor Tower team before raising Agonalea’s $2M seed round. The studio has launched two original titles and contributed to over 20 games — including mobile adaptations of major IPs like Snoopy and Addams Family. Today, Pedro is focused on creating standout hybrid-casual experiences like Punko.io, blending creative vision, data-driven design, and long-term player value.
You’ve just secured $2M in seed funding for developing your latest original title, Punko.io. What are your top priorities over the next 12 months?
Yeah, good question! First of all, it’s not my top priority — it’s the team’s. Our main focus is to maximize our ROAS so we can scale effectively. In the past three weeks, we’ve hired valuable team members who were previously working as contractors and integrated them in full-time roles. We also kicked off our User Acquisition department and are still hiring an Ad Monetization Specialist. In short, we need to increase our ARPPU to be ready to scale up our UA budget, and make sure we have the right team in place to do it.
What made Mika Games the right partner, and how do they support your long-term vision for the studio?
We’re sort of misfits… punks, if you will. The mobile gaming market has a bunch of gatekeepers, not just Apple and Google, but also publishers that often get in the way. On top of that, market saturation and intermediaries make it really hard for indie developers to break through. Mika is the right partner for us because they get it. They share our vision of bypassing the middlemen. They’re giving us the opportunity to play in the big leagues as underdogs.
Tell us about Punko.io. What drew you to the tower defense genre, and how are you reimagining it for today’s audience?
Plants vs. Zombies 3 was a disaster. Personally, I think EA over-indexed on business metrics. As a PvZ fanatic, I was disappointed… and I saw a whole community that felt the same. They treated the PvZ IP like it was a puzzle game. But tower defense is different. It’s strategy, it’s action. We saw that as a huge opportunity and started building over 20 prototypes of what a modern PvZ game could look like. We added drafting, portrait orientation, and an RPG-style monetization and progression system, all of which are real innovations.
You’ve described Punko.io as both “rebellious” and “strategic.” How do those qualities come through in gameplay and tone?
Fun fact: we chose a punk character because it was inspired by the PvZ community’s critiques and rebellious energy after PvZ3. And “Strategic” is in the title because I don’t want it to be a puzzle game. There’s nothing puzzly about it. It’s strategy-first. You plan your approach, assess your options, and execute a game plan.
What’s your strategy for building deeper engagement and retention in Punko.io, especially in a market crowded with fast, disposable hyper-casual games?
Hyper-casual is basically dead… except for a few power-hitters like Block Blast. Most hyper-casual devs and publishers are pivoting to hybrid. The current market makes the hyper-casual model almost impossible to scale profitably. Honestly, I still don’t know how Block Blast does it. Long-term engagement comes from mid-core mechanics — items, skill trees, character development. But to build that, you really need to understand how those systems work. That’s why I think mid-core devs have a better shot at going hybrid than hyper-casual ones.
What role do data and player feedback play in shaping your design and development decisions?
Data is king. Player feedback is love. Data shapes the roadmap. Feedback is fuel for feature ideation, but you’ve got to think hard to translate player comments into actionable insights, in my opinion.
Are you thinking about scaling Agonalea and moving toward a global launch? Are there new hires or expansions on the horizon?
We want to reach 500K monthly active users inside Punko by the end of the year. That’s our North Star. To get there, the big challenges are Ad Monetization and UA… and yes, we’re actively building those parts of the team right now.
What advice would you give to other indie studios transitioning from licensed game development to building out their own original IPs in today’s market?
Learn. Absorb. Understand how IP holders think. Here’s the thing: IPs follow rules. Snoopy from the ’50s is completely different from Snoopy in the ’80s — the drawings, the shape, even the worldview. Each version has its own set of rules. I think an IP is basically a lens on the world, a set of values and aesthetics. And the key to long-term success is aligning that lens with your audience, and then respecting it in every piece of content. So yeah, my advice is: study why they’re doing what they’re doing.
