Choosing Mini Games Was Harder Than Making Them

One of the biggest misconceptions about 2036: Another Social Media App is that we simply picked a bunch of popular mini games and put them together.

That couldn't be further from the truth.

From the very beginning, we wanted every challenge to feel like it had a purpose within the world. The AI isn't trying to entertain you. It's trying to evaluate you.

That meant every mini game had to answer a simple question:

"What does this test?"

Instead of asking whether a game was fun, we started asking whether it measured a different human ability.

Some games test reaction speed.

Some test logical reasoning.

Others focus on memory, spatial awareness, timing, creativity, precision, auditory perception, or adaptability.

When we realized two mini games were testing almost the same skill, one of them was redesigned or removed entirely. We wanted every challenge to contribute something unique to the overall experience.

For example, Reaction Time measures raw reflexes, while Whack a Mole pushes players to maintain those reflexes over a much longer period under constant pressure. Simon Says and Color Sequence might look similar at first glance, but one focuses on reproducing ordered patterns while the other emphasizes visual memory as sequences become increasingly complex. Even our two Flappy Guy levels serve different purposes. The second one flips gravity entirely, forcing players to suppress instincts they learned only minutes earlier.

We also experimented with challenge categories beyond traditional puzzle games.

Some modules are intentionally uncomfortable.

The "Agree" challenges ask players to repeatedly accept popups without thinking. Others overload the screen with distractions or hide the correct action among dozens of misleading elements. These aren't there just to frustrate players. They represent the AI observing how humans behave when placed under information overload, time pressure, or uncertainty.

As development continued, our list of ideas grew far beyond what could realistically fit into one game. We prototyped many concepts that never made it into the current build. Some weren't fun enough. Others overlapped with existing mechanics. A few simply didn't fit the story we wanted to tell.

Today the game contains more than twenty unique challenges, with even more planned before release, but we still follow the same rule we established on day one:

Every mini game must earn its place.

If it doesn't test something new, teach the player something different, or strengthen the world of 2036, it doesn't belong in the game.

We hope that by the time players finish their first run, they'll realize they weren't just playing a collection of mini games.

They were completing a carefully designed examination where every challenge existed for a reason.