Spring into Summer

Scott Hardie | May 11, 2014
The spring season of the goo game will end shortly with tomorrow's tournament. I look forward to seeing whether Chris and Matthew and Steve's bonus points lead them to victory, and who emerges triumphant in the end. It's been a good season for the game; I've really enjoyed some of these themes. More like these are on the way.

Changes to the game's format that began last fall are still in development. I have evolved the plans since that time into something more manageable for me and less radical/weird for you players. I'm not pushing to finish this project in the next few weeks in time for the summer season, because frankly, right now I'm enjoying working on things at my own pace again after being very busy recently, but I think the changes will be done in time for the Fall 2014 season. I look forward to making some preview announcements about them soon, with images and hints.

Here's some info about what I scrapped from the original plan, for anyone who is curious. Timed tournaments are a pretty good system, but one fault that they have is that they favor players who are fast (or at least bold). Slow and cautious players have quite a handicap. I thought back to how other systems in the past have rewarded consistency or timing or strategy or other qualities of a player, and I didn't want another new system that would favor just one or two of these. So, I had intended to introduce a different mini-game each week. The game would be scored with points as a kind of universal currency over the course of the season, but every week, you'd earn bonus points a different way, such as by being fast, or being consistent, or being good at predicting how others would guess, and so on, so that every kind of player would get some opportunities to do well. I didn't plan for these mini-contests to be very elaborate, but when I added up the hours that it would take just to program the simplest versions, I realized that it would have kept me too busy for too long. Plus, the thought of re-learning a different system every week, even a simple one, might have been strange and off-putting for some players. We won't go down this road.

From that original plan, I have kept the points and a few other major elements, and I'm turning them into a fun new way to play that will hopefully preserve my intention to give every player a good chance of winning. I'd announce those plans today to start building some excitement, but it seems premature in light of the fact that the summer season hasn't even started yet. :-)

Thanks for continuing to play the game. These are quiet times on the site (any friends or family that you can bring aboard would be appreciated), but as I've said before, I'll keep running the game as long as you folks keep playing it.

Steve West | May 11, 2014
I cannot express fully how much this diversion means to me. I've stretched a few deadlines at work (haven't missed any, yet!) based on searching for that elusive goo. Haven't had a lot of spare time this round but prospects are looking good for future rounds. New scoring sounds exciting but I'll hang around regardless. Thanks for everything.

Scott Hardie | May 17, 2014
Thanks, Steve! This site means a lot to me too. :-)

After I talked above about how speedy players have an advantage in timed tournaments, Russ went and showed how much the slow-and-cautious approach can still pay off, spending hours mulling over and eventually solving two tough goos that stumped most of his fellow players. Way to go, Russ! An extra chance saved is an extra chance earned.

Justin, you're a tremendous player at this game. If anyone has what it takes to overcome Russ's two extra chances to pull off a victory against these odds, it's you.

Good luck, fellas. I'm excited to see how the rest of the tournament unfolds, and which of you two great players wins the game.

This past week's tournament goos turned out tougher than I meant them to, but I have no regrets. :-)

Chris Lemler | May 17, 2014
I enjoyed the hard goo's just couldn't find them but you did a great job on them Scott

Scott Hardie | May 22, 2014
Holy crap! Amazing! I'm doubly impressed: Justin was able to overcome Russ's 3-to-1 advantage in extra chances, and Justin was able to overcome Wednesday's very difficult Music goo, which was as brutally hard as I could make it while still being fair. Justin, my hat is off to you -- you are truly exceptional at this game! Russ, you're very dedicated to hang on this long and keep plugging away, so be proud too. Thanks for a great tournament, gentlemen.

Now, let's see some easier goos for a change. :-)

Chris Lemler | May 22, 2014
Russ you played very well! You'll get'em next time. Good Luck in the next season

Justin Woods | May 23, 2014
Thanks Scott, that was one of the most intense Goo rounds I have played yet! Great work as usual.

Chris Lemler | May 23, 2014
Nobody does it like you Justin.

Scott Hardie | May 26, 2014
On second thought, let's start playing the goo game's new format now, not in the fall. I've made more progress finishing it in the last two weeks than I expected, and it will be ready to play next week. I'm excited! This will be fun! I'll make an announcement in a separate discussion later today, with some previews of what's to come.

And after another brutal tournament, it's just as well that we change the game now. Some players like super-difficult goos, but I don't; they're no fun to make and can't be much fun to play. I will not miss the need to make more for a summer tournament. Good riddance to the timed tournaments, too, for that matter; they're fair and easy to understand, but three years of them feel like enough.

Here are the themes that I had planned for the summer, for the curious.
- The Boys of Summer: Five goos inspired by the names of MLB teams, like one cardinal and one yankee and so on.
- Greek Week: Five Greek celebrities, with Greek letters in the clues.
- Midsummer NIght Dreamers: Five inventors and creative types whose best work was inspired by dreams.
- The Amazing Racists: Donald Sterling inspired this one. Five celebrities who were exposed as racists.
- You're Not My Real Founding Father!: In time for Independence Day, five famous people who share a name with one of America's founding fathers, like George Clinton the musician and John Witherspoon the actor.
- Top Chefs: Five famous chefs.
- By Any Other Name: Five celebrities who changed their names, like Lilakoi Moon and Metta World Peace. You would have to guess both their original name and changed name to be correct.
- Goo Big Top: A circus composed of famous people doing what they're known for, like Kevin Richardson as the lion tamer, Bill Irwin as the clown, and so on.
- Rising Sun Redux: Five more goos of famous people from Japan. This was a promotional tie-in to the new game format.
- Ready for Some Football: Five goos inspired by the names of NFL teams, like one buccaneer and one chief and so on.

Chris Lemler | May 26, 2014
Looking forward to the new format Scott