One Game, 50 Million Views: How Word Salad Took Off

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Hey, Good Game

Nate Kadlac, Aaron Kardell, Joseph Rueter

76 episodes

1 month ago

Hey, Good Game explores the stories behind your favorite brainy games. Each week, we interview game creators and dig into what it takes to build a successful indie game, how to monetize, and how to get traction.

All content for Hey, Good Game is the property of Nate Kadlac, Aaron Kardell, Joseph Rueter and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

One Game, 50 Million Views: How Word Salad Took Off

Hey, Good Game

50 minutes

7 months ago

One Game, 50 Million Views: How Word Salad Took Off

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.online
https://numbersalad.com/
https://steks.net/

Game Mentions
Morrowind
RimWorld
Diablo II
Day of the Tentacle
Red Alert
NYT Strands
NYT 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
(23:34) - Reaching the First Thousand Players
(24:21) - Challenges in Marketing and Monetization
(24:48) - Pivoting to a New Strategy
(25:07) - Leveraging Social Media for Growth
(26:58) - Collaborating with Small Content Creators
(27:31) - Unexpected Success Stories
(36:12) - Refining the Onboarding Process
(45:31) - Future Plans and Reflections

Check out our brainy games:

Sumplete - https://sumplete.com
Squeezy - https://imsqueezy.com/
Kakuro Conquest - https://kakuroconquest.com
Mathler - https://mathler.com
Crosswordle - https://crosswordle.com
Sudoku Conquest - https://sudokuconquest.com
Hitori Conquest - https://hitoriconquest.com
Wordga - https://wordga.com