When my kids were young, we used to play a game while driving. We called it the “license plate game.” You’d try to make words out of license plates.
The rules were simple:
The first letter of the word had to be the first letter on the plate (“A”)
The last letter of the word had to be the last letter on the plate (“E”)
The other letters (“V T”) needed to appear in the word, in that order
The quickest person to blurt out a correct word won. We’re a nice family, so we’d let others in the car also come up with a word; often they’d try and come up with a bigger word to sound smarter. 😂
For AVTE you could go with: Adventure. Advocate. Abbreviate. (There are others too!)
It was a fun way to pass the time.
So I decided to build the game.
Introducing Wordspine.
I built Wordspine in a weekend. I’ve been improving it for a week, adding stats, badges, a native keyboard, cleaning up the UI, adding themes and more.
It’s amazing what you can do with AI code development.💪
I shared the game on LinkedIn, X and with a few friends. People showed up. As of 7:47pm last night, I’ve had 481 people play a game. Some try it and leave right away, but there are already a bunch of regulars that have played for several days consecutively.
I haven’t quite hit Wordle-level usage yet, but I’m working on it!
Why am I doing this?
I love building things. Too many side projects is dangerous, but this game is really simple. I needed something easy to build compared to my work at Highline Beta and Candor (our synthetic user research platform).
The game is fun! If you’re a word game enthusiast, I think you’re going to enjoy it. You might prefer Sprint over Pro (or vice versa), but I genuinely think it’s fun.
I get to experiment with specific things. Wordspine is simple, but there are certain mechanics, like how to improve shareability and virality, that require real thought and high-level execution. Game mechanics aren’t easy, I don’t want the game to be too easy or too hard. UI/UX is so important; people have to understand the game quickly and find immediate joy in playing. These are all interestingly complex issues, despite the game itself being dead simple.
GTM is always tough. I want millions of people playing Wordspine. Word games are very popular, but getting people’s attention is tough. I’m not an expert. But I like to dabble, experiment and learn. Wordspine is the perfect thing to do that with.
There’s no AI. To be clear, AI is writing the code, but there’s no AI in the product. I’m a fan of AI and use it a ton, and Candor is incredibly AI-heavy in the product itself. Wordspine gives me a small little piece of the world that’s for the most part AI-free. 😃
What’s next?
World domination. Maybe an exit to the New York Times. Who knows?!?!
Product-wise I’m tinkering. A few things I’m thinking about:
Adding some type of score to Sprint. Right now it’s only time-based, but a few people have given me feedback that they’d like to get points for longer words and compete on score along with time.
UI improvements. I’d like to tighten up the UI, and add a bit more to it. I want to give the game more personality. It needs to remain super simple, but it can also be distinct (without feeling foreign to word-game fans). (Brand is one of the only remaining moats!)
Increasing competition. You can share your progress in Wordspine with friends and challenge them. The mechanism is starting to work, but I’d like to make it really valuable and fun for people.
Native mobile apps. If the game gets popular enough, I want to build native mobile apps for iOS and Android. I’ve never built either, so I figure…why not?
Not all the feedback has been positive. I posted Wordspine in /r/playmygame and got this comment:
That was before I redid the brand and UI completely. They were right: the design was very basic and felt AI generated. Hopefully that’s not the case now. I have no clue if responding to comments on reddit makes a difference, but I couldn’t help myself. Also, come on reddit, be nicer. :)
GTM-wise, I’m also experimenting.
I used Claude Cowork to help me devise a plan. It generated a very cool interactive artifact that provides me with a to-do list, websites to visit, people to connect with and more. It recommended I spend more time on Bluesky (so I will!)
To-date, I’ve:
Added Wordspine to a bunch of daily word game directories (one of them featured the game, which drove a lot of users!)
Posted on LinkedIn
Challenged a few friends randomly to see what they think
Shared with 20-30 people I know
Refreshed the user stats 100000x. 😏
I also used Claude Cowork to improve SEO/AEO. Discoverability matters. People do search for word games or “Wordle alternatives”. The site now has daily archives and word lists. We’ll see if any traffic comes from SEO/AEO in the future.
Stats are fun. Here are some that I’m tracking:
Where users come from. I’ve got Google Analytics and Search Console running too, but I find this gives me a quick sense of what’s working. A lot of users are flagged as “Unknown” because I implemented source tracking a few days after launching.
Viral loops / sharing. The game has a few sharing mechanics, where you can challenge others after winning a game. The people you challenge can play and brag back, or share with others.
Give Wordspine a try!
You can play Wordspine on desktop or mobile web.
You don’t need an account, play as a guest. Or sign up and track daily stats, earn badges and more.
I’m looking for feedback:
Which version do you prefer: Sprint or Pro?
Is the game too easy, too hard or just right?
What other game mechanics or features would you be interested in?
Is it fun enough to share with friends and family? (If yes, please do!)
How could I market Wordspine more effectively?
What else am I missing?
Thank you!
I feel wanting millions is fine. I would watch who comes back on day three before I ask every channel to chase that number.