The future of Charity Games

On a personal note

I've been working on the Charity Games platform since October 2023 and haven't been able to make the impact I wanted to. Recently I've been feeling overwhelmed by the complexity of the platform and the lack of progress. When I started this journey my mission was to use the power of games to help people in need. I wanted to:

1. highlight games that were making a positive impact in the world,
2. build a mobile arcade and leverage the power of advertisements to raise money for charity,
3. and I wanted to make an accessible platform so that anyone could contribute to a good cause.

I have not been able to achieve any of these goals in the last two years.

I've learned my limits and have come to acknowledge that as an individual contributor there's only so much I can do. I have been getting lost in the details and in turn lost sight of the bigger picture. I've been trying to do too much and in the end I ended up doing nothing.

I don't want to give up on Charity Games, so instead I'm going to take a step back and cut down on the complexity.

What are we removing?

There's a lot of features on the platform that are not contributing to the core mission of Charity Games. You can expect the following changes in the next few weeks:

Major Features to be removed:

1. Quests: The original intent for quests was to encourage users to return to the platform daily and engage with it. However, this strategy leads to fatigue forcing players to complete meaningless tasks.
2. Tokens & Items: The token system was meant to support a reward structure for users that would allow us to cut on costs. We could create digital prizes that would be cheaper than Steam Keys or Gift Cards. However this system has become hard to balance. Hundreds of players have been exploiting the token system and as a result we've incurred significant losses.
3. Prize Wall: Without an underlying currency there is no need for a prize wall. Instead we'll be focusing more on our partnerships with game developers and charities to bring you more raffles and other unique contests that are fair to all participants.
4. Boss Battles: Another unnecessary source of complexity that was meant to keep users engaged. Instead of giving players a small chance of winning a prize through boss battles and adding junk items to the platform we will be hosting more raffles and contests.
5. Newsletter & Emails: We don't want to spam you. Instead of using emails for engagement we're going to focus on using social media for our communication. All users will be unsubscribed from our newsletter and we will be removing the feature from the platform.
6. Gifting & Friends: We're no longer offering incentives for adding friends. Without a token/item system there's no need for gifting. We want to focus on the core mission of Charity Games and not on the social aspect of the platform.

Minor Features to be removed:

1. User Profiles: We're no longer going to track user activity on the platform. We're going to focus on the core mission of Charity Games and not on the individual user.
2. Game Submissions: We're no longer developing a third party portal for game submissions. Developers who want to get involved are encouraged to share their games with us through our contact form and email support.
3. Content Delivery Network: We're no longer going to host our own content delivery network. Instead we're going to rely on third party services to deliver our content. This will allow us to cut costs and focus on the core mission of Charity Games.
4. Sidebars & Widgets: We're no longer going to use a drawer navigation system on the platform. With less pages to maintain the navigation of the platform will be simplified.
5. Rewards: We're simplifying the reward system. Players won't earn any rewards for being active on the platform or for being at the top of the leaderboards. We're going to make contests fair for all participants.
6. Notifications: We're no longer going to send in-app notifications to users. This feature was meant to keep users engaged but instead it has become a source of annoyance.
7. Integrations: We're no longer going to validate whether or not users complete social tasks. We trust that users who want to support the platform will do so without the need for us to track their every move.

What are we adding?

1. More Games: We're going to be building more microgames that are fun to play and easy to share. We want to make sure you are having fun while supporting a good cause.
2. Offline Mode: Our arcade is going to support offline mode. You will be able to play games without an internet connection and still be able to donate to charity.
3. Opt-In Ads: We're going to let users decide whether or not they want to see ads. Users won't have to rely on ad-blockers if they don't want to see ads.
4. Competitions: Players can compete for the high score on our games for an opportunity to win prizes. This gives skilled players a better chance of winning and makes the platform more engaging.
5. Software Development Kit: We're improving our SDK to make it easier for developers to integrate their games with our platform. The SDK will be open source and available on GitHub.
6. Modernization: We're going to be updating the platform to use modern web technologies. This will make the platform faster and more reliable for all users.

Conclusion

I am really grateful for everyone who has stuck around with us so far. We understand that these changes may be disappointing to some of you but we believe that this is the best way forward for Charity Games.

Thank you for your continued support.

Together, we will make a difference.