Synonymy news & patch notes

Cinq-Mars Media games are 20-70% off till January 2! Happy Holidays! If you love word games, also try our newest, CrossAbout! Synonymy was featured in the GDC Experimental Gameplay Workshop:

Have you played our award-winning word challenge, Synonymy? Try the game that launched our non-profit indie development. Our newest word game, CrossAbout, is also available on Steam! Synonymy trailer:

Find a new favorite and save now!

• Synonymy
• Copy Editor
• Lazy Chess
• Trade Bots
• The Devil's Calculator

Including Synonymy, Trade Bots, Copy Editor, Lazy Chess, and The Devil’s Calculator Play demos, find your new favorite, and buy it at a low price! Proceeds benefit the Cinq-Mars Media Nonprofit mission of developing educational games and technology. Our games are always free to students and educators. Cinq-Mars Media is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization based in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Synonymy, Copy Editor, Trade Bots and other CMM games are on sale now! Try a demo and find a new favorite! https://store.steampowered.com/cmm

Get Synonymy at a special price! Cinq-Mars Media games are always free to educators and students who contact us.

All Cinq-Mars Media games 20-40% off during the Steam summer event! Try a demo and find a new favorite!

Cinq-Mars Media games discounted 33-75% in the Steam Spring Sale!

• Copy Editor
• The Devil's Calculator
• Lazy Chess
• Synonymy

While you're browsing, you can also download our new demo, Trade Bots!

Synonymy, Lazy Chess, Copy Editor, and more are 30% off during the Steam Summer Sale! https://store.steampowered.com/franchise/cmm

Find your new favorite Cinq-Mars Media game during the Steam Lunar New Year Sale! Welcome to the Year of the Tiger! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1cu0i-4gb8&t=99s

Hi Everyone! I was finally able to post my GDC speech on Synonymy online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_F70nNyVoo I was too nervous to be very eloquent, but for those interested, it will be a good overview of how I came to make the game, - what inspired the idea and how I dealt with some of the development hurdles. I'd also like to announce my new project, Iconic Passwords - a password utility website and app. 100% Free, No Ads. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zysez34SZDI Thanks for checking them both out and thanks, as always, for playing! My very best, - Chris

Hi Everyone! I was finally able to post my GDC speech on Synonymy online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_F70nNyVoo I was too nervous to be very eloquent, but for those interested, it will be a good overview of how I came to make the game, - what inspired the idea and how I dealt with some of the development hurdles. I'd also like to announce my new project, Iconic Passwords - a password utility website and app. 100% Free, No Ads. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zysez34SZDI Thanks for checking them both out and thanks, as always, for playing! My very best, - Chris

I would like to announce that I have released the second and biggest update of synonymy yet: Synonymy 3.0. Not much looks different, but behind the scenes, the engine has been totally reimagined. When showing the game at E3 and GDC, there were two consistent complaints: 1) The game is too difficult, even on the easiest setting 2) Getting close to your goal word and then having to scour for exact synonyms is far less enjoyable than manipulating meanings of words and exploring homonyms etc... To address these issues, I did the following: Before, the order of synonyms on pages were organized randomly. This made digging for the right word a lot more difficult and labor-intensive. Now there's a sophisticated algorithm that, depending on the difficulty level, organizes these synonyms for you to make the game clearer on lower difficulty settings. When you are two or three "levels" or moves away from your goal, this algorithm is kicked into even higher gear, so the game becomes easier as you get closer. This way, the challenge is more consistent across the entirety of the game. Everyone I've shared the new build with agrees it's a much more fulfilling experience. It was important for me to not dumb down the game or sacrifice anything in my effort to make it more successful and I think this new build accomplishes that. The scoring system has been reworked to reflect this new engine. Many bug fixes and performance improvements have been made, and I hope to have a free demo out shortly. A quick note -- the challenge code system still works as intended but result in different words now, a consequence of rebuilding the database and making it more accurate. That's why this week's challenge had two different paths :) I really can't thank you enough for all your support of the game. It's been such a wonderful experience for me being able to make this and share it with all of you. My very best, - Chris

I would like to announce that I have released the second and biggest update of synonymy yet: Synonymy 3.0. Not much looks different, but behind the scenes, the engine has been totally reimagined. When showing the game at E3 and GDC, there were two consistent complaints: 1) The game is too difficult, even on the easiest setting 2) Getting close to your goal word and then having to scour for exact synonyms is far less enjoyable than manipulating meanings of words and exploring homonyms etc... To address these issues, I did the following: Before, the order of synonyms on pages were organized randomly. This made digging for the right word a lot more difficult and labor-intensive. Now there's a sophisticated algorithm that, depending on the difficulty level, organizes these synonyms for you to make the game clearer on lower difficulty settings. When you are two or three "levels" or moves away from your goal, this algorithm is kicked into even higher gear, so the game becomes easier as you get closer. This way, the challenge is more consistent across the entirety of the game. Everyone I've shared the new build with agrees it's a much more fulfilling experience. It was important for me to not dumb down the game or sacrifice anything in my effort to make it more successful and I think this new build accomplishes that. The scoring system has been reworked to reflect this new engine. Many bug fixes and performance improvements have been made, and I hope to have a free demo out shortly. A quick note -- the challenge code system still works as intended but result in different words now, a consequence of rebuilding the database and making it more accurate. That's why this week's challenge had two different paths :) I really can't thank you enough for all your support of the game. It's been such a wonderful experience for me being able to make this and share it with all of you. My very best, - Chris