Our fourth game was released last night in the iTunes App store. “Tripletters” is a fun new word game that’s essentially a slot machine. It gives you three letters to make words out of. Sometimes your letters are easy and sometimes they are really tough.

Matt Winalski, our creative director, had a lot of neat ideas for the game during its development, though he always maintained the concept of combining betting/slot machine action with word game thoughtfulness. But when we designed the game’s social features – especially Facebook Connect - I had a real “ah-ha” moment regarding how significant the recent social gaming trends are in changing the way games are played.

The ability to connect and share the game experience with friends - and thus the evolution from mere game to engagement service - has quickly become a dominant feature of a multitude of “social” games on the web. In contrast with the sophistication of internet social networks, social experiences on mobile devices are still in their infancy, at least in the U.S. With the pathway already carved out on the web, it is easy to see this trend gaining traction on mobile at the speed of light over the next several years, as it has already done in Asian markets. This is especially likely when you consider the way start-up services like Open Feint or Plus+ are beginning to create vast communities of web-connected mobile users.

Now, back to my “ah-ha” moment. It came when we added a “social” feature in “Tripletters” that allows a player who is stuck to post a message asking for help from friends, as an email or as a Facebook post via Facebook Connect. Opening up the game to your Facebook friends completely changes the experience and value of the game and invites your whole community of friends to play the game with you. There is a lot of power in allowing people to communicate directly between their mobile devices and the web, instantly and in real time. This small feature, among others on the social side of the design curve, brings a preview of a whole new mobile world to come, and it’s pretty amazing.

In pre-release tests, we saw lengthy back-and-forth dialog between players, and we’re hoping to see the same enthusiasm in the released version. I’ll keep you posted!