00:00
"A transaction has been made to your account ending in (xxxx), amount: 700.000 dollar."
[Milestone: Starting to Take Shape]
[Task: Build a game studio with at least three people]
[Reward: +5 Reputation Points, 1 Bronze Chest]
"So you're really not gonna let me keep the money to myself, huh?" William rolled his eyes.
A studio is the first essential step in turning a game into a real business. William had never planned to go solo from the beginning. It's just that the system didn't give him any tasks for so long, and now that the money's in, it suddenly shows up — it left William a little annoyed.
On the bright side, this new task gave him some assurance. He didn't have to worry anymore about not having enough reputation points to download a game engine.
Still, William didn't plan to rush into forming a studio just yet. First, the Earth Games company registration wasn't approved yet. Second, it was almost Chinese New Year — no one's looking for jobs right now.
For now, his plan was still to push forward on the Path of Growth.
Right at midnight, Earth Games' third "educational app" launched as scheduled.
Classical Poetry Crossword Downloads: 32,910
By now, the major app stores had already become familiar with Earth Games' brand. Over the past few days, it was clearly trending, and the approval time had significantly shortened. Even though William didn't pay extra for promotions, the stores still put Classical Poetry Crossword on their front pages on their own.
This one was the easiest to develop — once the database was built, 80% of the work was done. That's also why William could finish it so quickly.
After checking how Classical Poetry Crossword was doing across all platforms, William began thinking about what to do next.
Actually, the system's tasks always seemed to match his own thoughts, showing up at just the right time.
A studio was definitely happening — William didn't want to spend his whole life making tiny games just to earn a bit of traffic money.
From a business point of view, free games are easier to access and can bring in more potential profit. Players won't hesitate like they do when they see a price tag in the dozens or hundreds.
But from a social point of view, free stuff is always taken for granted. Only when there's a clear price do people start to recognize the value — that games aren't something they can just download and play whenever they want. Behind them is the hard work of countless people.
Alright then, time to start the studio!
With his goal set, William left his private space and pulled out a high-end Android phone to run the "welcome gift" he had prepared for Cynthia.
He wasn't sure if Cynthia had seen the two new games released by Earth Games, but she probably hadn't missed them. And those games were now part of his bargaining chips.
The upside of all this? Cynthia would have to bring even more sincerity to the table tomorrow.
The night passed without anything happening.
In the morning, the same old scene played out again.
"We're heading out now! I'll be back around lunchtime." Aunt Lisa stood at the door and called out to William, who was sitting at the table.
William paused with his chopsticks. "I've got something to do at noon, so I won't be back for lunch."
Aunt Lisa, just about to close the door, stopped and asked, "A show?"
If she hadn't mentioned it, William would've almost forgotten the whole reason he came to Riverdale — to join a talent show.
"Not really, there's something else." William didn't want to lie to Aunt Lisa.
Aunt Lisa paused and stared at him for a few seconds, then closed the door. "Alright then, if you need anything, give me a call."
"Okay."
Being alone in a foreign place, it's rare and heartwarming to have someone who genuinely cares.
After cleaning up the dishes, there was still more than an hour before his meeting with Cynthia. It was a good time to head out and buy some clothes.
William was still wearing the same two outfits he had brought with him when he arrived. They were getting pretty worn out. Later, Aunt Lisa couldn't stand seeing him rotate between just those two outfits anymore, so she took him shopping and got him two sweaters, a down jacket, and a pair of thick pants. At the time, she said he could just owe her, but to this day, he still hadn't paid her back.
Even though the previous William had already passed away, the current William couldn't just pretend it never happened.
With the New Year around the corner, he thought he could buy some gifts to bring back as presents for them.
He bought himself a suit. The one he wore at RiverTone Music had left a good impression on him. A black suit gave him a bit of a cool and mischievous vibe. The only downside was probably his height—he was a bit short—but thankfully, his build was good enough to make the suit look sharp.
He had the business outfit ready for the lunch meeting, but he also needed something warm for everyday wear.
At the checkout, William got one suit, two winter outfits, a new dress for Jenny, a 700 dollar beauty salon gift card for Aunt Lisa, and a health supplement set for Uncle Zach to help with liver and kidney health. In total, he spent 1700 yuan.
With the money William had now, he could've bought something even more expensive, but he understood the saying: never take what you haven't earned. He wouldn't mind giving a gift worth a million, but Aunt Lisa's family would never accept it. In their eyes, he was still that kid from the mountains, wearing old clothes, eating plain pickled veggies and steamed buns for every meal. If he suddenly gave them something expensive, it would only make them wonder if he robbed a bank.
Back home, William hid the gifts for Aunt Lisa's family in his room, planning to give them out later that evening.
After that, he sat on the couch, staring into space.
Of course, that was just what it looked like. On the outside, he was on the couch, but in reality, his mind was inside his personal space, focused on the latest game stats.
Piano Tiles
Downloads: 30,021,992
Overall Rating: 4
Media Score: 4.8 (1 source)
Piano Tiles had finally crossed the 30-million download mark. Sadly, it didn't trigger the stage-five milestone reward. Looks like he'd really need 50 million downloads to unlock it.
2048
Downloads: 21,728,210
Overall Rating: 4.6
Media Score: 4 (1 source)
William had a rough idea why 2048 wasn't as popular—it wasn't something you could play in plain sight at work.
Piano Tiles could still be passed off as piano practice, but 2048 was clearly just a game. Unless you claimed you were brushing up on elementary school math, which honestly sounded so dumb that even he couldn't say it with a straight face.
Overall, 2048 didn't appeal to as many people as Piano Tiles, but there was one exception—it was actually doing better on iOS. That also meant Earth Games' reputation was improving on the iOS platform.
Classical Poetry Crossword
Downloads: 10,920,177
Overall Rating: 4.9
Media Score: 5 (1 source)
The media reviews for both games came from an old friend—Software Daily.
Software Daily was a regular media outlet on the iOS platform. Its main job was reviewing new apps daily. Of course, not every app would get reviewed, but the popular ones definitely wouldn't be missed.
Although he's a long-time iOS content creator, his reviews are based on experiences across all platforms.
The low score he gave 2048 came with a blunt reason: the game lacks depth.
By "depth," he meant things like the music not being engaging (compared to Piano Tiles), the gameplay being too simple (again, compared to Piano Tiles), and the so-called "educational content" not really offering much to learn (compared to actual learning apps).
In short: William shot himself in the foot.
As for Classical Poetry Crossword getting a perfect score, the reason was just as direct — Earth Games didn't overpromise, and users got exactly what they saw.
In the review, Software Daily brought up the other two games again, bluntly criticizing the developers for misleading users. Then the tone shifted: Classical Poetry Crossword was praised as the best app on the market for helping users understand and learn the history.
It doesn't force you to memorize things like a teacher in class. It doesn't throw a couple of historical references at you like other apps and expect you to piece together stories to remember poetry.
Classical Poetry Crossword guides you through the process. It starts with simple and familiar poems so users can get used to it. Then it gets harder, but if you switch to easy mode, you can just pick words to fill in the blanks — even if you don't remember the whole line, there's a chance you'll guess right. The whole thing feels light and easygoing.
But one sentence at the end of the review caught William's attention:
"When will the leaderboard come out?"
Even the media's being cheeky now. William hadn't planned on adding a leaderboard. After all, it's just a poetry fill-in-the-blank game — what's there to rank? But clearly, in the eyes of users, leaderboard culture is already a thing. Even if William doesn't want to add it, he kind of has to now. Because the people who care about the leaderboard? They're Earth Games' first real fans.