GRAZE 4.0: Friend Challenges, Weekly Leagues, and Aliens That Evolve

This is the biggest update GRAZE has ever had, and most of it came straight from you.

When I started GRAZE, I was up at 3am holding my newborn son Rocco, building a game I could play with one thumb. He's one now. The game has grown a lot since then, and 4.0 is the update I've been working toward since launch.

Race your friends' exact runs Tap share after a run and send the link. Your friend races the exact run you just flew, and if they already have the game, the link opens straight into the race. Beat their run and you'll know it.

Weekly leagues Your daily bests now add up into a weekly score on Game Center. Finish the week high enough and you move up, from Bronze through Silver, Gold and Platinum to Diamond. Every league pays out stardust. The first week just started, so everyone is at zero.

Aliens that evolve The aliens you win now evolve. Pick a favorite and it earns XP every run you fly together, from Rookie all the way to Legendary, with a full evolution when it levels up. There are 10 kinds now, including a dragon and a fox, and the holiday aliens wear themed gear when they evolve.

Stardust and the shop Every run earns stardust. Spend it on new ball colors and trails: neon, fire and aurora. They only change how you look, never your score.

A brand-new look A few people on Reddit told me the old interface felt generic. They were right. I rebuilt the whole thing with new fonts, sharper panels and a proper neon space-runner style.

The smaller stuff

• Set pieces: runs of five of the same obstacle, worth bonus stardust
• The course changes as your heat builds, all the way to Critical
• A best-run marker so you can see where you need to beat yourself
• Smoother performance, especially in the minefield
• The leaderboard now refreshes on its own while you sit on the home screen
• Layouts checked in all 9 languages on every iPhone size, including folding screens

Thank you to everyone who has played, left a review or sent me a message. I read all of it, and a lot of this update exists because someone told me what they wanted.

Go set a new best. And send me your challenge links. I want to race you.

Keith