Community Embraces New Word Game at Mid-Year Play Day This past Sunday, families at Takoma Park’s Seventh Annual Mid-Year Play Day had the opportunity to experience OtherWordly for the first time. Our educational language game drew curious children and parents to our table throughout the afternoon. Words in Space Several children gathered around our iPads […]
Read moreCustomer discovery that shaped In Other Words
$20,000
NSF I-Corps Supplement to SBIR Phase I (#2304423)
2023 · Lean Startup customer discovery program
250+
interviews
100+
required minimum
1
game initiated
The Team
- Michael Douma — Entrepreneurial Lead, Creative Director
- Michael Young — Technical Lead, AI/ML Strategist
- Hilary Longo — Industry Mentor
What is I-Corps?
NSF I-Corps teaches Lean Startup methodology: test your assumptions through customer interviews before you build. The program requires at least 100 face-to-face interviews. Our I-Corps was a supplement to the SBIR Phase I grant.
The Market
Gaming is a ~$200 billion global industry—larger than film and music combined. Mobile accounts for roughly half. Within mobile, puzzle games generate an estimated $10–15 billion annually. Word games are a substantial segment—likely $2–4 billion, though precise figures are elusive since most revenue comes from advertising rather than app store purchases, and major players (NYT Games, Zynga’s Words With Friends) don’t disclose word-game-specific revenue.
Word games occupy a distinct niche: smaller than mega-categories like RPGs or match-3, but characterized by exceptional user engagement and stable retention. Players return daily.
(Market figures are ballpark estimates consistent with industry indicators, not any single definitive source.)
Our niche within this: word association games—mechanics based on meaning, not letter arrangement. Different from Scrabble or Wordle.
Why NSF Funds a Game Studio
Word games connect to NSF’s educational mission:
- Literacy — Players engage with vocabulary, definitions, and word relationships
- Lateral thinking — Navigating semantic space builds cognitive flexibility
- Machine learning research — Constructing puzzles at scale requires new NLP approaches
- Cultural appropriateness — Auditing content for diverse audiences requires new algorithms
Inclusivity
Word games have historically been made for a narrow audience. We build for everyone—including the 1.5 billion English learners worldwide.
The Discovery Process
We conducted 250+ face-to-face interviews, testing hypotheses about how people think about word games, what they value in daily puzzles, where current offerings fall short, and whether meaning-based challenges appeal more than spelling-based ones.
Key Findings
The interviews revealed persistent gaps in the word game market:
Meaning neglected — Most games focus on spelling. Players wanted games about what words mean, not just how they’re spelled.
Narrow difficulty — Games serve one vocabulary level. Players with different levels felt excluded or bored.
Superficial content — Word games shy away from substantive topics. Players wanted content that respected their intelligence.
Neurotypical assumptions — Current games overlook diverse cognitive needs. Different thinking styles are underserved.
Outcome: In Other Words
Customer discovery shaped In Other Words:
- Meaning over spelling — Players navigate semantic space rather than rearranging letters
- 1M+ solutions per puzzle — Different vocabulary levels find different valid paths
- Cross-generational — A 9-year-old and grandparent solve the same puzzle differently, both validly
- Daily ritual — The format fits the structured routines players described wanting
The game launched with free puzzles Monday and Thursday—a pricing model shaped by interview insights.
Grant Details
| Program | NSF I-Corps (supplement) |
|---|---|
| Amount | $20,000 |
| Year | 2023 |
| Parent Grant | SBIR Phase I #2304423 |
| Interviews | 250+ face-to-face |
| Entrepreneurial Lead | Michael Douma |
| Technical Lead | Michael Young |
| Mentor | Hilary Longo |