Georgetown, Texas – You never know where life may lead you or how your future will turn out. You work hard always hoping for the best, but even the best intentions from the hardest working people don’t always make for a bright future. Five years ago, if you asked Georgetown residents, Samantha and Darren Sillett, what their future would look like, they would never have imagined publishing top selling games in the Apple App Store with millions of fans worldwide. Moreover, they would have stared at you blankly if you asked them if one of their games could be selected to join an elite group that included titles such as Pac Man and Angry Birds. But that was then and this is now and today, Whirly Word, an addicting letter scramble game, is the Starbucks Digital Pick of the Week.
Created and published by Mighty Mighty Good Games, Whirly Word is an anagram game that includes a dictionary. So if you are sure those letters don’t make a real word, just tap on it and read the definition. Whirly Word has received ‘Apple Love’ being featured in iTunes as Editor’s Pick and What We Are Playing lists. The iPad version was the #10 top paid word game just hours after it was released!
So, how does a company get their game selected by Apple and Starbucks to be Pick of the Week? Samantha and Darren aren’t telling. That’s because they signed a non-disclosure agreement, but they do offer the following advise for the curious. Just be excellent!
Mighty Mighty Good Games has other hits including a word search game and variations of Sudoku. Their Sudoku game is celebrating its five year anniversary this week, boasting its own success of being in the Top 70 Paid Apps for the year 2008, having over thirteen million downloads, and according to comScore’s calculations was on 1 in 7 iPhones in March 2009. Their feature rich games, elegant graphics, and intuitive game play deserve the five star ratings and rave reviews of their fans.
How do they manage to make games that people like so much? “It’s simple. We make games we would play ourselves; games for the average person. We include features and build the game design based on what makes sense to us and what makes the game fun to play. And we build the games to be reliable and dependable. ” Offered Samantha who is responsible for much of the game design and feature ideas as well as the graphics. Darren, who made his first computer program when he was ten years old, does all the programming and runs the company’s business.
Do your local indie game developers only make games? Well, no. Darren has an affinity for fast cars and enjoys driving his sports cars in the hill country. The bluebonnet drives in the spring are always a special treat for him and Samantha. But he has a need for speed that can only be fulfilled by driving on the Circuit of the Americas track any chance he gets. Samantha owns and shows world champion miniature horses as well as a rare breed of dog, the Japanese Shiba Inu. Together they enjoy riding their full-size horses on local trails, cooking, and being techies.
What’s planned for the future? This husband and wife team is finishing a series of Solitaire card games that will be released this summer. Then they will focus on a couple other word and puzzle games to expand their portfolio for 2013. So, if you have an iPhone, get the Starbucks app (if you don’t already have it) and enjoy downloading a free copy of Whirly Word today!
Mighty Mighty Good Games
Whirly Word
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Located in Georgetown, Texas, Mighty Mighty Good Games has been creating games for the Apple App Store since the beginning of the store in July 2008. The company specializes in creating fun and visually appealing casual games for iOS devices. Copyright (C) 2013 Mighty Mighty Good Games. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Starbucks is the registered trademark of Starbucks Corporation. Other trademarks and registered trademarks may be the property of their respective owners.
