The Roles We Play

The Nex Way · Post #5

“What problems do games solve?”

I remember this question vividly. It came up when we were pivoting from a basketball training app to building active play experiences. It was an honest question, and a hard one. Answering it forced us to decide what role we wanted to play in families’ lives.

For most of my career, I built tools. For 15 years, we made productivity apps. For the next four, we built a basketball training app. For the last five, we have been making games. Switching from tools to content felt both exciting and unsettling. Games, after all, are supposed to entertain. Tools are supposed to help. We were not sure where we fit.

As we explored, one thing became clear quickly. The games that resonated with our users were not typical mobile games, nor typical console games.

If you want to kill time in transit or during short breaks, we are not relevant.
If you want to escape into a meticulously crafted fictional universe, we are not competitive.

Trying to solve the same problems that well-established games already solve would have been futile. A mobile game veteran once told us, “Mobile games don’t work like that.”

He was right. But we were not trying to make those games.

Learning from Families Who Loved Us First

Every new product has early customers who feel something before others do. We were lucky to find them.

Instead of forcing ourselves into existing categories, we followed these families and asked a different question:

What problems are we hired to solve?

That shift changed everything. It led us to what I now think of as our problem-team fit, and eventually our product-market fit.

Yes, we make games.
Yes, they are fun.
And yes, they are useful.

At Nex, we make the kind of games that tool builders would make. They balance joy and usefulness. They are designed with intention.

If you read reviews anywhere Nex Playground is sold, you will notice a consistent pattern. People do not just talk about fun. They talk about the roles Nex plays in their lives.

Outdoor’s Sidekick

When outdoors is too cold, too hot, too wet, or too dark, Nex Playground steps in.

All of our games get players moving. Families use them to burn off energy. To move their bodies. To stay active when going outside is not an option.

We are not trying to replace outdoor play. We are happy to be its sidekick, sharing the load when the outdoors is taking a break.

A Family Well-Being Hub

Much of modern entertainment is experienced alone. Nex Playground helps bring families together.

More than half of our games support two or more players. Some support up to four. No controllers required. The design invites people to play together, and it lights up both the mood and the room.

We hear this again and again from families. Parties. Game nights. Playdates. Living rooms filled with laughter, rivalry, and teamwork.

Siblings. Parents and kids. Grandparents and grandkids. Families. Friends. Everyone can play.

And when kids are off to school or have gone to bed, we offer an expanding catalog of fitness experiences for parents. When the gym becomes harder to access after kids, Nex helps fill that gap.

A Better Companion

There are moments when parents need time to prepare dinner or get other work done. Our customers tell us that Nex Playground often becomes a much better “babysitter” than an iPad.

We understand why.

We are safe, private, and secure.
Inappropriate content does not find its way in.
The experience is active, not sedentary.
And the activities are intentional.

Many parents already invest heavily in after-school activities: sports, music, arts, and academics. We design games along those same lines.

We think about the roles teachers, coaches, and counselors play in our kids’ lives, and how play can help kids build interests, confidence, and real-world skills. We design challenges to catalyze growth. We think about flow, and how kids practice getting into the zone.

Our goal is to build a platform that helps kids feel proud of themselves, and helps parents feel proud of their kids.

The Lens We Build Through

Nex reached scale because we understand the problems we solve and the roles we play.

We are not here just to entertain. We are here to create the kinds of positive moments families crave. Movement. Connection. Growth. Joy.

That clarity guides what we build, and just as importantly, what we choose not to build.

Our subscription model gives us that freedom. We do not sell ads, so we are not optimizing for attention. We do not rely on in-app purchases, so our focus stays on the experience itself. All we have to do is keep solving real problems and playing our roles well, so families choose to hire us again and again.

Customer-aligned. Simple. Honest.

This is how Nex sets itself apart.

Yes, we make games.
And they are tools, too.

Through this lens, we continue to innovate. To surprise. And to delight.

That’s the role we play.