I added a permanent "daily wins" tally to my game and it changed how people play

I build GRAZE: Edge Rush, a small one thumb arcade game, solo. It has a daily mode where everyone on earth plays the exact same course, and the leaderboard resets every midnight.

The daily board was fun, but it was also disposable. You could top it, feel great for a day, and then it wiped and none of it was remembered. So I added a Daily Wins counter. Finish a day ranked number 1 and your win total ticks up and sticks around forever.

The interesting part was making it permanent. I did not want to run a backend, so I put the win total on its own Game Center leaderboard. That means your wins live server side against your Apple ID, survive updates and reinstalls, and double as a public board everyone can climb. One feature, no server, and now the wins are both permanent and competitive.

What surprised me is the behavior change. People stopped chasing a one time high score and started chasing a streak. A single number people can lose turned casual players into daily regulars.

Curious what other makers think: have you found that a persistent, visible stat (streaks, wins, ranks) changes retention more than the core loop itself? What is the smallest feature that moved your numbers the most?

Happy to share how the Game Center setup works if anyone wants the details. The game is GRAZE: Edge Rush on iOS if you want to see it in action.