Now, both aspects are being expanded with a new game that also features new ways to play, inspired by some of the biggest online shooters.
In June, the site introduced Stacked Pokera game that takes the rules of poker (i.e. the various hands) and turns them into a solitaire-like experience with the goal of winning a high score in the form of virtual money. It's a great addition to Puzzmo's growing library of word games and other puzzles. It also comes with a community goal for everyone to work toward: earn a billion dollars in in-game money. The idea is that every Puzzmo player contributes a little bit each day over time by playing. Stacked Poker and accumulate dollars. (Games like Fortnite have Experienced similarly with this type of collective objectives.)
As the community pot approaches the finish line, new features will be added for everyone. At launch, there was a physical deck of cards designed by BoJack Horseman Artist Lisa Hanawalt and last week Puzzmo added the option for clubs (groups of friends within the game) to have their own custom, game-specific leaderboards so they can compare scores in Change of type either Really bad chessThe tool is designed to be flexible, so that people can create hyper-specific ways to play with their friends.
This idea of constant support and updates comes from the battle passes found in games like Fortnite and League of LegendsGage is a diehard Apex Legends A gamer (he even hosts in-game meetups) he believes the nature of a battle pass, with goals that encourage daily play, can foster a more dedicated audience. “When you’re playing every day, you start to care about the patch notes,” he explains. “It makes you a quality member of the community rather than someone who just comes in and plays the game. You get involved.”
Of course, there are downsides too. A typical battle pass requires a huge investment from the developer to constantly create new in-game items for players, such as FortniteGage’s never-ending skin production line. Daily quests can also become checklists for players rather than fun experiences. “I’ve found myself playing a battle pass at times and wondering, ‘What am I doing? Why am I playing this game right now? This is a waste of time,’” Gage says. “That’s a feeling I don’t want anyone to have with any game I’m making.”
“When you play every day, you start to worry about patch notes.”
Community objectives such as Accumulation of blowsRpot games, which are designed similarly to Kickstarter stretch goals, solve these problems in a few ways. They don’t require a lot of extra work for developers, since upcoming features were already part of the roadmap. And players don’t experience the same kind of FOMO because even if they miss a day or two, the rest of the community is still working toward those goals. At the same time, the process of reaching such a large figure has given the community a nice boost, according to Gage, citing vibrant discussions on Puzzmo’s Discord. (He notes that the $1 billion figure was chosen simply because it “sounded cool.”)
The hope is that the combination of all those elements – friend groups, community goals, a large and growing library of games – will be what it takes for Puzzmo to take on its entrenched competition. “Everyone we compete with is trying to make a crossword puzzle that has the gravitas of The New York Times “Crossword,” says Gage. “But no one is building a community around their crossword. That’s the appeal of the New York Times Crossword puzzle: there is a community. You can do it and talk to your friends about it.”
