Rejecting Life-Changing Offers: The Story Behind Waffle

When I was given the opportunity to interview James Robinson, the solo developer behind the Wordle-inspired browser game Waffle, I was initially unenthusiastic. Following the massive success of Wordle, numerous similar games emerged, including Quordle, Factle, and Heardle, making Waffle just another addition to the list. However, upon learning about Robinson's partnership with Amazon to offer an exclusive daily Waffle game to Prime subscribers, my interest was piqued. After experiencing a delayed train, I decided to try out the game and found myself engrossed, playing nearly 100 games within two hours. I mentioned it to my wife, a fellow Wordle enthusiast, only to discover she had already exhausted the entire Waffle archive. Waffle is a game that requires players to rearrange letters to form six five-letter words, presented in a grid resembling a waffle. Players have 15 turns to complete the game, with the key difference being that high scores are achieved through skill rather than luck. Robinson recounts the game's conception, stating, "I was doing the dishes and thought about how Wordle could be adapted into a game with a different dimension." He experimented with a four-by-four grid but found it too challenging, ultimately settling on a five-by-five grid with gaps to make it more accessible. His wife remarked that the grid looked like a waffle, which inspired the game's name. Robinson, who has always aspired to be a game developer, learned to create games on the Commodore 64 from his father and even developed a simple dodging game on a Psion handheld at school. His programming career led him to web development, but he continued to dream of making games, jotting down ideas in notebooks and making New Year's resolutions to create a game, although he never completed one. Inspired by Wordle creator Josh Wardle, who emphasized the importance of quickly releasing a game rather than perfecting it, Robinson decided to follow suit. Waffle's daily game is largely automated, with Robinson and his wife spending their evenings crafting humorous descriptions for the words in each game. The game has also spawned a weekly "Waffle Deluxe" version, which is more challenging and suited for seasoned players. Robinson attributes the game's success to its organic spread, having shared it on Reddit and Twitter, where it gained traction and eventually caught the attention of Amazon. The game has maintained a consistent player base of around 450,000 daily players, with Robinson revealing that he has turned down life-changing offers to buy the game, opting instead to keep it independent. He explains, "I want to make more games, and if I were to sell Waffle, I wouldn't have the platform to create more. I enjoy it, I'm making money from it, and I've quit my job. It's fun, and this way, I can try to get into the games industry." Despite feeling like an imposter, Robinson is already working on new ideas, focusing on creating small, fun games, and is excited about the prospect of developing a standalone app for Waffle.