It did well on launch (>50k users played it in the first days) and has kept a group of ~300 loyal users that play the game every day, even though I didn't do anything to improve it for a long time[1]. These users spend an average of 6 minutes on the site and return every day or so.

The site has limited traffic today, but the users who visit are very engaged with the game, so I've started thinking about possible ways to get more people to play it. A week ago, I released an update that focused on fixing some existing bugs, a slight UI redesign, and, more importantly, tried to get people to share the game by adding a leaderboard[2]. Let me explain this last part.

Assuming that the game was engaging, my guess was that people shared games for three reasons:

1. Because the game dynamics require it (multiplayer-only games)

2. In-game or financial incentives (e.g., Play-to-earn, referrals programs, etc.)

3. Status (e.g., I feel good because I solved guessed today's Wordle quickly)

Given that doing 1 adds too much complexity, and I don't have the money for 2, I thought 3 could be a good option. I had two ideas. Either allow people to set up tournaments with friends where they could compete and compare results. Or a global leader board, where people could compete with everyone who played.

I chose the latter option and released these changes last week. It hasn't made much of a difference, making me wonder if my theory about why people share games is correct.

As a newcomer to game design, I hoped more experienced game developers/designers could provide insights about:

1. What makes users want to share games?

2. For daily puzzle games, have you seen any interesting approaches that make people more likely to share them?

Also, I have limited web dev experience. Please excuse me if my UI makes your eyes bleed :P

[0] https://fastflood.dylancastillo.co/

[1] https://twitter.com/_dylancastillo/status/151065561660752282...

[2] https://twitter.com/_dylancastillo/status/155013531452128461...