Hey, folks. In lieu of a story update for Floating Point this week, as I’m on break, I thought I’d highlight a creative project I’m simply adoring — Let’s Quip, an iOS/Android game which has just been released.
The concept’s simple. Two people go into a match, each armed with a random word from a list of 2000 words, and are forced to fight to the death debate that their word is better than the other. Apples vs. Oranges? Which is superior? You’ve got 250 characters to make your case. Afterwards the player base as a whole will vote to determine who won the debate.
Of course, logical debate isn’t the point. Writing jokes is the point. It’s a comedic debating game, and the funnier of the two answers is the one that’s going to kick the most butt in the voting arena. If you make the voter laugh harder, you’ll win dat vote.
Monetizationwise, it’s splendidly fair. The game’s free, and there are NO in app purchases whatsoever. Instead, when you’re given a word, you have the option to watch a basic short video ad. Doing so lets you pick from three different words, allowing more flexibility. Don’t want to argue for “Matisse” or “Victoria Falls?” Watch or blatantly ignore a quick ad and then you could pick between “Bacon,” or “Split-Level Ranch,” or “Unlimited Power.” (Obviously you should pick unlimited power. It’s Unlimited. POWER.)
The end result of all this? A great game for those with sharpened wits rather than sharpened reflexes, and highly, HIGHLY recommended. I’ve been having an absolute blast with it in beta for the past year, and I can’t wait to see the user pool grow now that it’s officially released.
Are there down sides? I gotta be fair, no matter how much of a fanboy I am. The UI could use a little less clunk, but the game is so delicious that I don’t particularly care. I am concerned what will happen when the Internet as a whole gets their hands on this, but there are reporting functions to knock trolls and racists out of the game; as Town of Salem proves you really need to be dedicated to that cause (and ToS kinda isn’t) but I feel Fire Hose is dedicated enough to stay on top of it. They’re good folks and dedicated to keeping their playspace fun for everyone.
Overall I’d say this game is absolutely splendid by design, has a promising future, and is just the ticket for folks looking for a more cerebral gaming experience. Whether you’re just keen to read a bunch of jokes and vote on them each day or write your own jokes, get Let’s Quip for your handheld distraction machine. It will not disappoint.
Tune in next week for the first part of Floating Point chapter 1.4, in which we have harmless fun and a whole lot of feels.