A few weeks ago, a new online game called Skateboardle popped up and quickly became a hit among skateboarders. This simple yet engaging trivia game, reminiscent of the popular Wordle, challenges players to guess a skateboarding video based on short clips. Since its release, it’s been hard to go to the skatepark without hearing someone ask if you’ve played Skateboardle today.
The mastermind behind Skateboardle is Sean Villars, a coder and skateboarding enthusiast who also runs SkateVideoSite, one of the most comprehensive online skateboarding video databases. With Skateboardle, Sean has successfully combined his coding skills and passion for skateboarding to create a game that has become an essential part of skate culture.
Are you a Skate Nerd?
When asked if he considers himself a skate nerd, Sean laughs and says he’s somewhere in the middle. He admits to often playing the “Who skated to this?” game when hearing a song at a bar, a common practice among skate groups. However, he also acknowledges that there are skaters with much more in-depth knowledge than his, citing his friend Dylan from No-Comply Skate Shop as an example. Dylan, he explains, can name every trick filmed on Clipper, who did it and from what video. Sean feels he falls somewhere between the average skater and this level of encyclopedic knowledge.
The Story Behind Skateboardle
The idea for Skateboardle came about during a discussion on the Discord server for skatevideosite.com. The group tossed around the idea of a skateboarding version of Wordle. Although the Wordle craze had spawned numerous spinoffs, Sean realized that no one had created a skateboarding version yet, and he thought, “I think I might actually have an idea that maybe nobody else has done yet.” As a programmer who typically builds more mundane software, creating Skateboardle was a chance for him to combine his skills with a subject he loves. He believed that fellow skaters would enjoy the game, emphasizing the importance of understanding the audience when creating something fun.
Building the Game
Sean explains that the basic game logic for Skateboardle took him less than two weeks to code. The most time-consuming aspect is video curation, which involves finding videos, selecting clips, and ensuring the game stays fresh. He uses a program that automatically detects scenes in the videos, allowing him to quickly chop them into clips. However, it still takes him about 30 minutes to an hour to curate the clips for a single round of the game.
Sean Villars, the creator of Skateboardle
The Daily Grind of Game Creation
When it comes to adding new content to Skateboardle, Sean doesn’t have a set schedule. He sometimes prepares clips in batches and other times he creates them on a daily basis. He admits that getting the clips ready is always high on his to-do list, right after taking care of his family. While the process of getting and chopping videos is automated, selecting the clips still requires a human touch. Sean emphasizes that he tries to make the first clip difficult, sometimes using a guest clip or b-roll footage, while ensuring that he also highlights great clips from the videos. He explains that an automated system could potentially pick six random clips, which could result in a less engaging game.
The Reaction to Skateboardle
The reception to Skateboardle has been overwhelmingly positive, with the game gaining popularity after Sean initially posted it on Slap and Reddit. His friends also helped spread the word on Instagram. The game has become a daily ritual for many skaters, who enjoy sharing their results. Sean has even seen funny tweets about the game, discovering the existence of a Skate Twitter community in the process.
Negative Feedback and the Generational Divide
While the feedback has been mostly positive, there have been some comments from players who are not familiar with the older videos. Sean notes that as someone who is 31, he initially selected videos that were classic to him, the ones he grew up watching. However, he is now adding more recent videos to accommodate the younger players. He also hopes that those unfamiliar with the older videos will be inspired to go watch them. He highlights how mind-blowing it is that some people have never seen Baker 3, a video that is already 15 years old.
An action shot from a skateboarding video
Inspiration from Other Wordle-Like Games
Sean admits that he wasn’t a huge Wordle player himself, but he was inspired by the various spinoffs of the game. He mentions playing Heardle, a music-based game, and a geography game as his main inspirations. This passion for creative and challenging games is what led him to create his own skateboarding version.
A Funny Game Idea
When asked about a weird version of this format that hasn’t been created yet, Sean joked about a game based on pictures of fast food from various chains without their logos, challenging players to guess where the food came from. He humorously mentions that some of his friends could easily identify Wendy’s spicy chicken nuggets from afar.
The Data Behind the Game
Sean has access to win percentage data for all the games played, but he’s hesitant to share it publicly. Since players don’t need to create an account, they can simply delete their browser cache and replay, skewing the results. He saw one player mention on Twitter how to do just that. He also wants to avoid incentivizing people to cheat to boost their stats, even though he finds the data quite amusing. For example, the initial two games using Bag of Suck and Baker 3 had a 95% win rate while a Hollywood Promo had a 25% win rate.
A skater performing a trick
Videos That Won’t Be Added
While Sean is open to featuring a wide range of videos, he mentions that for the time being he will avoid solo parts. He also isn’t sure about including videos from the indie era of the late 2000s and early 2010s, specifically mentioning the videos coming out of Arizona at that time. He’s unsure how people would react to these lesser known but still loved videos.
Balancing Life, Work, and Skateboarding
Sean acknowledges that balancing his family, his job, SkateVideoSite, and Skateboardle is challenging, especially with his passion for skateboarding taking a back seat. He tries to skate at least once a week, but most of his free time is consumed by his digital projects. Sean also mentioned he’s currently working on redesigning SkateVideoSite to match the look and feel of Skateboardle. While he enjoys working on both, he admits that he sometimes feels pulled in different directions. He expressed gratitude to his friends Travis Clow, Frankiesomething, Harrison Wright, Markus from Skatevideosite, and his wife for supporting him.
A Passion Project
Sean confirms that he runs both SkateVideoSite and Skateboardle on a volunteer basis, even spending money on the projects. He mentions the idea of adding a donation button to SkateVideoSite, not to make money, but to improve the user experience for players across the world. He cites the server’s location in New York as an example of a limitation, as the game loads slower for players in Southeast Asia. He wants to explore ways of improving the site and doing more but doesn’t want anyone to think they are trying to monetize the project.
Would He Sell?
When asked if he would sell Skateboardle to a major company like the New York Times, Sean laughs and says it depends on the price. He adds a funny scenario of what it would be like if Berra from The Berrics tried to buy it, he would say “Hell no. No thanks, Berra.”
Interview by: Larry Lanza
Illustrations by: Jeff Wheeler
