Every developer wants his or her mobile game to attain marketable value, but in a world of free-to-play, how is the value of a gaming experience measured in dollars and cents?

In a perfect world we would not put ads in any of our games,” wrote NimbleBit co-founder David Marsh two years ago, just after releasing the highly successful—and ad-supported—Disco Zoo. “Nobody wants to see ads when playing a game, not the players and not us.”