The article is an MG Spotlight piece and will focus on the creation of Utterfun. Game night just got personal
Join us in our session with with Justin creator of Utter Fun.
Justin Matthews is an graduate business student at Washington University in St. Louis. Prior to business school, he worked in product management at two start ups. He took his interest in helping companies build to do something of his own with Utter.
Hey friends let’s bring game night into this century. Utter is a social media trivia game that takes the reckless, profound, and viral things from Twitter and puts it into the action. You can play at a small gathering or over zoom with your friends and family.
Before we get into why you created Utter Fun, what’s your origin story? How did you get into the gaming/ tech industry?
It all came from trying to get that feeling from family game nights. One thing that was big on those game nights was drama, suspense and good old fashion competitiveness. Games evolved and became more digital – like the game Heads-up became very popular. Playing those games – that’s what led me to want to create something that replicated that feeling of family time mixed with competitiveness and having a really good time. That’s why Utter fun to me is so important it reminds me of that nostalgia.
In terms of how I got into the tech / gaming industry – at a young age my parents put me into a lot of engineer camps and after school clubs. It was very empowering. I studied engineering in college. I learnt what product management was. I got the technical knowledge on how to build and how to work with developers. I like the idea of building something. So when it came to trying to develop an app that would re-create those family nights I drew upon my love for social media especially those viral moments, all those wild things that people say on twitter and pull into a format that you could play with your family.
Justin Matthews is an graduate business student at Washington University in St. Louis. Prior to business school, he worked in product management at two start ups. He took his interest in helping companies build to do something of his own with Utter.
How would you describe Utter Fun to someone:
I would describe Utterfun as we pull all the best things on Twitter – all the viral moments – the outrageous moments and ‘gamify’ it. It is really personal because it’s all those tweets that you’ve ever tweeted and you’re playing with your friends and your family. You are revisiting those memories. I believe every tweet is a story – because there is always a reason why you tweeted something and you can maybe explain or your friends can grill you on why you would have said something all the other – it’s also another way to bond.
Why do you think a game like Utter is necessary
I think it’s necessary because I want to make social media a group experience. I want to take away some of the depression that is linked with it. I want to increase the amount of play. Social media can be a great place we learn stories that we otherwise wouldn’t – we get a snapshot into peoples lives. We can change the narrative on what social media can be about. I want Utterfun to be a positive experience for a huge audience when it comes to their social media interactions.
Social media can be a great place we learn stories that we otherwise wouldn’t...
What difficulties did you face:
This is a passion project so finding time for this was difficult. Making sure I carve out time for this game. After a day of work it was really hard finding the time and the motivation to really build this app.
When it comes to the technical difficulties there were quite a few.
*Laughs*
The loading ties of the game was very difficult – just really figuring out what we don’t need in the game. Making sure we pull the best tweets. So getting the best tweets has been a challenge. So which one we wanted to filter out and what tweets are the best.
Utterfun is out now on PC
The future of Utter Game:
When it comes to the future of Utterfun. We want to continue to expand the different categories we have. Right now we have Sports section and Celebrities but we are also expanding to maybe a superhero section. We are also thinking of pulling in Instagram accounts – and ‘gamify’ it so you can’t easily guess if that’s your friend picture on Instagram. The same premise as the Tweets just with images this time.
Utterfun is out now on the Utterfun website.
Utterfun is out now on the Utterfun website.
I am Annabel or creativelyanzy as I’m known online! I am the founder of Melanin Gamers: a gaming community that promotes diversity and inclusivity in the video games industry, with a special focus on content creators; whiles also providing a safe space for people of colour to come together and game
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