At BITKRAFT, we invest in bold visions that reshape how people play. With Circle Games, we see a rare combination of timing, talent, and tactical execution, positioning them to become the next breakout name in mobile casual gaming.

Circle Games is a new studio out of Turkey seeking to redefine what casual gaming can be. Their debut title, Sort Express!, is a fast-paced puzzle game designed for the female audience that dominates the genre. But this isn’t just another puzzle clone, it’s a reinvention.

With dynamic progression, satisfying rewards, top-tier visuals, and refined difficulty pacing, Sort Express! blends snackable gameplay with deep, replayable design. The game feels familiar yet fresh, built to compete in a crowded space by standing apart from it.

The team is working to build a smarter, faster, more marketing-savvy way to break out in a time tested genre, and we believe they have the experience to get it done.

Over the past decade, Turkey has quietly become one of the world’s most prolific hubs for mobile game development. With standout successes like Peak Games, Gram Games (both acquired by Zynga), and Dream Games (creator of Royal Match), the region has produced billion-dollar outcomes with entrepreneurial scrappiness. Today, a deep bench of seasoned veterans meets a passionate talent ecosystem, where recruiting from the best colleges and migration into gaming is highly active. A differentiated mix of technical expertise, design sensibility, and UA innovation has created an ecosystem where lean teams can build, test, and scale with speed. We believe Turkey’s next wave of gaming leaders is already forming, and Circle Games is at the forefront.

Great games start with great teams, and Circle’s is exceptional.

Led by Göktürk Balıkcı (ex-Head of New Games at Gram Games, acquired by Zynga) and Mustafa Özdemir (former Gameplay Lead at Good Job Games), this is a crew with serious pedigree. They’ve launched 20+ titles, soft-launched three games, and built hundreds of ad prototypes. Their shared history goes all the way back to school, and their professional track record spans Turkey’s top mobile studios—including Playable Factory, where they developed deep expertise in user acquisition and rapid prototyping.

“This is one of the most execution-focused teams we’ve seen in mobile gaming,” said Jasper Brand, Partner at BITKRAFT Ventures. “They move fast, understand their audience deeply, and have a rare instinct for building games people want to play. Circle’s ability to combine standout design with UA-native thinking gives them a real edge.”

Casual mobile gaming remains one of the most lucrative and competitive categories in the industry. The puzzle genre alone generates over $7 billion annually in IAP spend. And even as the market matures, innovative titles continue to break through.

Circle Games is seizing the moment with three key differentiators:

• Gameplay That Pops: Highly polished, with satisfying haptics, obstacle-driven levels, and addictive pacing.
  
  
• UA Superpowers: This team brings a deep UA toolkit since starting their careers in playable ads before they became prolific. Their marketing intuition is a real moat.
  
  
• Fast Iteration, Faster Learning: They build, test, and work to optimize with the speed and clarity of a studio that’s been here before.

“We’re building Circle to be one of the world’s leading casual gaming studios — starting with Sort Express!, but not ending there,” said Mustafa Özdemir, CPO and co-founder of Circle Games. “We want to create games that millions of people play every day because, beyond fun, they feel rewarding and alive.”

“We’ve worked together for over a decade, and this is the company we’ve always dreamed of building,” added Göktürk Balıkcı, CEO and co-founder. “Having BITKRAFT behind us means we can move with confidence and scale with intention. They truly understand how great games, and great studios, get built.”

We’re proud to have led Circle Games’ $7.25 million seed round. We’re joined by a16z, APY, e2vc, Play Ventures each recognizing the same thing we do: this is a team that knows how to ship, scale, and win.

With a lean operating model, most of the capital will go toward marketing and iteration. We believe Circle is positioned to move aggressively as they prepare for a global launch this year.

Puzzle games have long dominated the mobile charts, but the genre has seen more incremental evolution than true reinvention. Circle Games is challenging that status quo. With Sort Express!, they’re bringing fresh thinking to a category that still has massive headroom for growth, especially among underserved audiences seeking novelty, polish, and smart progression design.

This is a studio that understands how to build for both players and performance. Their approach blends the creative craft of premium game design with the scientific rigor of distinctive user acquisition. That dual mindset of playability meets scalability is what will define the next generation of mobile leaders.

Just as Turkey became a global powerhouse for mobile gaming in the 2010s, Circle is helping shape what the 2020s will look like: high-velocity iteration, data-informed creativity, and player-first polish. 

We’re excited to be part of that journey.

Let the sorting begin.

None of the above should be taken as investment advice or an advertisement for investment services. Inherent in any investment is the risk of loss. For more info, visit bitkraft.vc/legal.