Is ‘Nouns Hunt’ Africa’s Distinctive Answer to ‘Wordle’?

Co-Founder & CEO, Dash Studios, John Ikpeme hopes to become the first African game publisher to rank well and gain popularity in the word game sector of mobile games with ‘Nouns Hunt’, writes Iyke Bede

Word games have become extremely popular in the world of mobile gaming, attracting millions of players who enjoy the mental stimulation they provide. These games often require players to engage their cognitive abilities, including problem-solving skills, vocabulary knowledge, and critical thinking.

Before now, players often bought hard copies of such games and played them in their spare time. For those on-the-go, their best bet was the daily word games that were published in special sections of daily newspapers or magazines. This has long changed with the advent of mobile apps and PC games. 

In 2009, Zynga developed and launched ‘Words With Friends’, it gained popularity quickly and became one of the most successful word games on mobile platforms. Its success also inspired more word games to emerge, with many developers simply cloning the game’s codes and slapping a different label on them. The market became saturated. 

In 2021, an innovative Welsh software engineer Josh Wardle developed and released ‘Wordle’, a guessing word game 

that challenges players to guess a five-letter target word within a limited number of attempts. It became a global smash after its release. In 2022, New York Times promptly bought the free online game for over $1 million. 

Toeing a similar path as Wardle, and Zynga, Co-Founder & CEO, Dash Studios, John Ikpeme hopes to accomplish a similar feat, and possibly become the first African game publisher to rank well and gain popularity in the word game sector of mobile games with ‘Nouns Hunt’. 

According to Ikpeme, ‘Nouns Hunt’ is a unique and enjoyable variation of the popular game ‘Name, Animal, Place & Thing’ or ‘Column game’ that is widely played in Africa and other parts of the world. He emphasizes that this game is the first of its kind in the mobile word game market. Ikpeme also highlights some of the features and benefits of the game, stating that:

“The ‘Nouns Hunt’ experience offers a word game experience that is currently unavailable in the word game market. Players can look forward to daily rewards, contests, and the upcoming ‘Nouns Hunt Story’ competition, which will surely keep them engaged and entertained.”

Evidently, ‘Nouns Hunt’ is poised to become a hit with lovers of word games. The Open Beta version of the game which was released on March 31, 2023, rose to top 12 on word games on the App Store, nine hours after it was released. It currently boasts over 1,000 active users (as of the time of this publication) spread across over 25 countries. 

So far, the team at Dash Studios are harvesting data from users in the beta testing phase to ensure a seamless experiential experience for players. Upon its release last September, they revealed that the game will be augmented with added social interaction features that include bots, audio chat, character assistance and a public room, allowing players to compete with strangers around the world, and make new friends.

“We wanted to create a seamless experience that could allow up to 20 players to connect at a time and enjoy a fast-paced multiplayer word game. For this we needed ease of input in typing the words, and ease of data sharing within the loop. This has led to us developing a couple of prototypes and testing gameplay on different engines before finally arriving.

The current trajectory of the game, in terms of popularity around the world, could be attributed to the use of online servers instead of local servers that are restricted by geography, Ikpeme hinted to this reporter.

The project spanned a total of 11 months, beginning in April 2022 and concluding in March 2023. This timeline encompassed the entire process from conceptualization to the Beta phase. Ikpeme also disclosed the app launch is arriving later than planned. He cites funding, and codebase regression as major constraints.

Surmounting those hurdles, Ikpeme reiterated that the game’s build is designed with a global audience in mind. He expects ‘Nouns Hunt’ to compete in the global market with hopes to open windows of opportunities for local game developers to international investors.

Until its release in a couple of months, ‘Nouns Hunt’ could either be the single game that put African game developers on the map, or at least starts serious conversations around investing in African-owned games. But for now, we wait.