How we designed and launched Word Sus in 90 days
From Figma concept to live multiplayer game: the decisions, constraints, and lucky breaks behind our first major product launch.
The original concept for Word Sus came from a simple frustration: the social deduction games we loved on game nights didn't work well over video calls. Cards Against Humanity and Codenames work in person. They feel awkward remotely. We wanted something designed for the way people actually hang out online.
The core mechanic (use a word, suspect an imposter, vote) took about two days to design. The art was getting it to feel good at any group size. A game that only works with eight people isn't actually useful. We spent most of the first month on that problem.
The 90-day constraint was intentional. We set a hard launch date and worked backwards. It forced decisions. When you have three months instead of twelve, you stop designing hypothetical features and start shipping real ones.
The multiplayer infrastructure was the hardest part technically. Real-time state synchronisation across variable group sizes, handling disconnections gracefully, making sure a laggy connection in one location doesn't ruin the game for everyone else.
We launched in February 2024 to about 200 people we'd personally told about it. Within a week, we had 800 players we'd never heard of. The social sharing mechanic, where players naturally invite their groups, did what we hoped.
The lessons: constraint is creative. Real-time multiplayer is genuinely hard. And a game that's fun will find players.