Amuseware

Scott Slocum, Owner & Sole Proprietor
Washington, USA

How a retired engineer's Christmas gift for his wife became a 23-year app business success story

After a 33-year career in engineering, Scott Slocum retired and coded a dominoes game for his wife. That simple gift grew into Amuseware, a collection of classic windows-based and mobile games sustained over the last 5 years by a non-invasive ad model with Google AdMob.

A gift that clicked

Scott Slocum’s love for computers began in the Air Force, where a basic electronics class on DC and AC sparked his curiosity. After earning his computer science degree in 1973, he then spent 33 years working as a hardware and software engineer in automatic test equipment before retiring.

But his true second act began entirely by accident in the winter of 2002. While Scott wasn’t a big gamer himself—only playing solitaire occasionally—his wife loved playing Mexican Train dominoes with their friends.

That holiday season, a sweet idea struck him: "Wouldn't it be fun if I could program a Mexican Train game that she could play on the computer?”

“I'd have to teach the computer opponents how to play and I thought that would be really fun and challenging,” Scott reflects.

He stayed up late tinkering, coded the game, and presented it to her on Christmas Day. She was absolutely thrilled.

"She loved it and said, 'This is really great and you ought to market this thing,'" Scott recalls. Taking her advice to heart, Scott founded Amuseware in 2003.

At first, Amuseware only offered Windows games. But in 2009, his son nudged him to get into the mobile space: "he said, ‘Hey, Dad, you're missing out if you don't program this for iPhone.’"

Since Scott didn't know Apple's programming languages, he bought a Mac, taught himself Swift, and began writing natively. "I just learned by myself, literally little by little," he says.

A gentle ad model

Initially, Scott launched paid apps on both Apple and Android. But as the mobile ecosystem matured, paid sales began to decline because free games were becoming much more popular. He realized players preferred free options and decided to try a free version of his games supported by ads.

To keep his games free and viable, Scott integrated Google AdMob in mid 2021, receiving his first payment in June 2021. It was a perfect fit, providing a straightforward path to include ads.

Today, that steady stream of ad revenue represents approximately 90% of Amuseware’s total business income.

But Scott had one strict rule: the ads had to be completely non-invasive. "I don’t really like ads in the middle of games all that much. I certainly don’t like them to be invasive and in-your-face," he explains.

To this day, he displays exactly one simple banner ad per game, avoiding full-page pop-ups, videos, and forced breaks.

This user-first approach earned Scott a stellar 4.7 average rating across his nine iOS games and five Android games. His hit game, Farkle, has over 111,000 downloads, while Yatzy has reached 73,000.

The secret to his success also lies in what Scott calls his "hooks."

"You need to do something that no one else is doing," he explains.

On a small screen, domino games can easily look like a messy spider web of tiles. Scott's hook was to show only the active dominoes, letting the rest scroll off so the pieces stay large and visible. For Yatzy, where a physical score sheet is far too cramped for a phone screen, he designed a magnified score sheet that scrolls smoothly under a thumb.

"The longer I live, the more I need AdMob to continue to pay me consistently."

Spending all your kisses

Now 79, Scott runs Amuseware solo from his home den, managing everything from graphics to customer support.

"My commute is from the coffee machine into my den where my computers are and I love that," Scott says with a smile.

For a retiree, the passive income from AdMob is a financial lifesaver. "The longer I live, the more I need AdMob to continue to pay me consistently," Scott notes, as it helps him navigate inflation and maintain his independent lifestyle.

Even at 79, Scott hasn't stopped learning. He recently experimented with AI image generators for his and his wife's 3D printing hobby, and is exploring how AI can help debug his code in the future.

His advice for indie developers starting today is to find a unique hook and test exhaustively. "Rigorously test the application on all platform variations," he warns. "Don't put it out there if you haven't tested it... because it'll bite you for sure.”

As he keeps his apps running smoothly, Scott reflects on a favorite piece of life wisdom he learned from his mother, which she crocheted on a sign for her wall: "Spend all of your kisses".

"You can't take them with you," Scott explains warmly. "So spend it all. All your kisses, your hugs, your love. Spend it all while you’re here."