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

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(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

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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

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