Scott Hardie | December 4, 2022
As previously discussed, some fundamental changes in Celebrity Goo Game take effect today. Besides a streamlined new scoring system that focuses solely on solving and creating goos, there's also a new monthly schedule and new rules around tied scores that makes it easier to win. Here's a recap:

• Each calendar month will be a new round of the game. December 2022 will be abbreviated, but rounds will last 28-31 days thereafter.

• Goos will continue to run daily and last for seven days. However, each goo will belong to the month in which it expires, not the month in which it is published. This simplifies scoring. I'll color-code each month to make it easier to keep track.

• You'll earn one point for each goo solved in the month, and one point for each of your own created goos that is published in the month.

• Each month, four goos will be special "bonus goos." The previous month's winners will not earn a point for solving these nor creating them, giving other players an opening to get ahead. The previous winners can still earn other rewards for solving them, like raising lifetime scores, extending a streak, earning solo solutions and swift solutions, and so on.

• Whoever has the most points at the end of each month will win. If multiple players tie for the most points, they'll all win. Prizes will be $20.
These changes may seem modest in scope, but they constitute the biggest shift to the game in years. We've been playing quarterly for over a decade now, so I have a feeling that the more rapid turnover in rounds is going to feel especially significant.

If you like creating goos, a point of clarification: By default, the site won't publish your creation on a day when it would be a "bonus goo" that would not be worth a point to you, since I assume most people will want the free point. If you do want your goo creation to be published on that day (perhaps you consider both kinds of days skippable and you'd rather combine them?), just write a comment to that effect when you submit your creation and I'll arrange it.

I'm still in the process of converting the word "season" to "round" across the site, but I should have that done soon. If you notice any other errors, please let me know so that I can fix them asap. I appreciate it!

Honestly, I haven't been this excited about the goo game in a long time. It was hard to figure out what this old game should play like in 2023, but since I found this way forward, I've become more and more convinced that this is the ideal form of the game right now. It has been "right-sized," to borrow from corporate-speak.

I'm also excited to have you loyal players still checking in daily and keeping up with the game after all of this time! Please keep it up, and keep telling me what you like and dislike so that I can keep improving the game. Thanks! :-)

Scott Hardie | December 6, 2022
Clarification: Since December 2022 will be shorter than most rounds, it will only have three bonus goos instead of the usual four.

Scott Hardie | December 13, 2022
Hooray for today's 6000th goo! Thanks for helping us get to this milestone. :-)

Steve West | December 13, 2022
Sorry to have missed the first thousand but I'll be here for the next six. Thanks.

Scott Hardie | December 30, 2022
I'm sorry for messing something up. The final goo of the season was accidentally made the December 24 Sports goo. It should have been the December 25 Family goo. Because of this, there will be a one-day delay between when the final December goo expires and when the winner is announced. I have fixed this for future months but I'll leave December as it is/was.

Scott Hardie | January 1, 2023
I think that everyone paying attention already saw it yesterday, but congrats anyway to Samir for officially winning the December round! :-) That was a quick one, the shortest round we've had in eighteen years, but it was a fun one.

I'm relieved that all of the end-of-round code seemed to work on schedule last night, automating what used to be manual on my part. It declared Samir the winner correctly, it prompted Samir to verify his email address so that I can send him a prize, it credited Russ and Samir each for playing perfect rounds, and it marked the round as complete. Samir has not yet solved the December 31 Television goo, but if he had, his score for January would have become one point less upon winning the December round, since that TV goo was a bonus goo.

I'm interested to know if anyone has opinions on the new game format, for better or worse. I think it's off to a good start, except for a couple of bugs that needed working out, and I look forward to seeing how the next round plays out.

Scott Hardie | February 23, 2023
It doesn't seem real that Celebrity Goo Game turns 25 today. It was just a silly little web page that I made one day in college; how in the world is it still going a quarter of a century later? I am as grateful as ever to have all of you on this unexpectedly long journey with me, and I look forward to what's still ahead in the game. :-)

Steve West | February 23, 2023
It's been some of the most fun, frustrating, and challenging times I've ever spent. Thank you. It's not just the game. It's in the people I've met (many in person) who've made my life fuller for knowing them.

Lori Lancaster | February 23, 2023
Happy birthday Celebrity Goo! Shoot. 25?! That’s a reaaaaaally long time.

Scott Hardie | February 24, 2023
Thanks for the comments, everybody, both public and private. I feel the same way about all of them. It feels like the last five years of the game have gone by as quickly as the first five months. :-)


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