Show notes
Samuel Johnston, co-founder of Bleppo and co-creator of Word Salad, joins us to share how a daily word game turned into a viral hit with over 50 million views. We talk about designing for TikTok, teaching new users game mechanics, building games that are fun (not addictive), and what it’s like growing a studio by betting on the right kind of sharing.Check out Samuel's Resources:https://bleppo.co.uk/https://wordsalad.onlinehttps://numbersalad.com/https://steks.net/Game MentionsMorrowindRimWorldDiablo IIDay of the TentacleRed AlertNYT StrandsNYT Connections--(00:29) - Meet Samuel Johnston: Founder of Bleppo
(01:14) - Samuel's Favorite Games
(02:07) - Nostalgic Gaming Moments
(04:12) - Creating Non-Addictive Games
(07:48) - The Birth of Bleppo
(10:12) - Developing Word Salad
(11:52) - The Art of Cryptic Crosswords
(14:50) - Setting Puzzles: A Creative Process
(23:04) - Reaching the First Thousand Players
(23:51) - Challenges in Marketing and Monetization
(24:18) - Pivoting to a New Strategy
(24:37) - Leveraging Social Media for Growth
(26:28) - Collaborating with Small Content Creators
(27:01) - Unexpected Success Stories
(35:10) - Refining the Onboarding Process
(44:29) - Future Plans and Reflections--Check out our brainy games:Sumplete - https://sumplete.comSqueezy - https://imsqueezy.com/Kakuro Conquest - https://kakuroconquest.comMathler - https://mathler.comCrosswordle - https://crosswordle.comSudoku Conquest - https://sudokuconquest.comHitori Conquest - https://hitoriconquest.comWordga - https://wordga.com