Angela Swain, a flight attendant and journalist, and Mariam Mollaghaffari, an architect, share their journey of creating Silly Little Games. They discuss transforming a nostalgic love for puzzles into innovative Rebus-style games. The duo candidly recount their struggles with bad developers and design challenges while emphasizing the importance of handcrafted creativity in a digital age. Expect insights into monetization strategies and the thrills of indie game development, complete with community engagement tales and a sneak peek at future games!
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Nostalgic Games Sparked The Idea
Angela and Mariam bonded over in-person games like bingo and backgammon that shaped their playful instincts.
Those nostalgic, social game memories directly inspired their desire to build accessible, friendly puzzles for others to enjoy.
question_answer ANECDOTE
From Tennis Chat To Figma Prototype
The idea began while playing tennis and recalling beer-bottle cap Rebus puzzles from their Portland days.
Mariam learned Figma overnight and Angela started creating puzzles the next day, turning a joke into a project quickly.
insights INSIGHT
Human Craftsmanship Beats Easy Automation
Handcrafted puzzles create a distinctive product that's hard for automatic systems to replicate.
Angela and Mariam deliberately prioritize humor, visual polish, and human editing to keep the game unique.
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Angela Swain and Mariam Mollaghaffari join Aaron Kardell on Hey, Good Game to share how two longtime friends turned a nostalgic obsession with wordplay into Silly Little Games—a vibrant, human-crafted daily puzzle experience.
Angela (a flight attendant with a journalism background) and Mariam (an architect with design chops) break down the collaborative, scrappy spirit behind their Rebus-style puzzle game Silly Little Codes. From hand-drawing hundreds of clever puzzles in Figma to battling bad developers and solving design challenges (including a keyboard that nearly derailed their launch), the duo talks candidly about their indie journey—complete with frog-fueled editing fights and dream expansions into physical card games.
The episode explores how Angela and Mariam are navigating indie game development without coding skills, what they've learned from BlueSky and social media outreach, and why they’ve stayed committed to handcrafted design in an AI-saturated market. They also tease upcoming games under the Silly Little Games umbrella and share honest insights about self-funding, monetization plans, and growing a community of puzzle lovers.
🧩 Games & Favorites Mentioned
Silly Little Codes (Angela & Mariam's daily puzzle game)
Backgammon (Mariam’s nostalgic favorite, tied to her Iranian heritage)
Bingo and Spoons (Angela’s family-friendly picks)
Architecture as Tetris (Mariam compares architectural design to the game)
Hey, Good Game