Emoji Adventure
A location based game that turns walks into adventures
When I created Emoji Adventure, the idea was to make getting out for a walk a little more rewarding. Emojis appear around you to discover and collect, giving you another reason to get outside, explore and perhaps walk a little further.
Since releasing it in 2025, one of the more interesting things has been discovering how people actually use it.
One use I hadn't anticipated at all was kids playing Emoji Adventure as passengers on car journeys. Instead of encouraging a walk, the changing location means new emojis appear as they travel, giving them something to look out for and collect along the way.
It's not what I designed the game for, but I quite like that people have found their own way to enjoy it.
I'd be interested to hear from other developers: what's the most unexpected way you've seen someone use something you built? Have you pivoted your own direction based on any such insights?
3 Comments
That’s a genuinely unexpected use case. The fact that the same mechanic works during a car journey is pretty interesting.
Indeed. I had planned to lock down to protect against players cheating, but with this information it made me consider leaving it more open, and up to the player how they enjoy it.
That’s a useful signal — an unexpected use case actually changing the product decision is more interesting than just confirming the original assumption. If you’re open to continuing the conversation, what’s the best email to reach you at?