Partner Spotlight: TeuTeuf Games

Teuteuf Games has built a real home for people who love clever geography and photography challenges. You might know them from Worldle, Travle, or GeoGrid, each one bringing a quick hit of curiosity to players who enjoy exploring the world from a different angle.

The team is led by CEO Mariano Di Murro, whose love for the open web and game creation started early and never really stopped. That mix of curiosity and creativity still shapes the studio today. They move fast, try new ideas, and focus on making games that feel fun to return to every day.

In this spotlight, we chat with Mariano about how Teuteuf Games has grown, what inspires their work, and how they keep building experiences that bring players back for more.

1. Tell us a bit about your journey.

"My journey with Teuteuf Games really began from a simple place: I've always been a passionate gamer from a young age. I have fond memories of playing on my brother's Commodore 64 when I was just 5. Then, at 10 years old, I was the first in my school to get a Pentium PC with Windows 95 and, most importantly, a 56k dial-up modem that I used to tie up my parents' landline with.

From there, I followed the path of studying game development and computer science in college. ActionScript was one of the first scripting languages I learned, and I created many Flash games during those years.

I was always a fan of how open the web was for game distribution. No walled gardens or 3rd parties needed. It was a bit of the 'wild west,' and that really excited me.

That passion led me to start my own company specializing in branded web games as promotional tools, a journey that took me from Ireland to the United States. I had the privilege of making web games for brands like Netflix, Paramount Pictures, Universal Music, several professional sports teams, car manufacturers, and major drinks brands.

After that, I spent some time at Google as a web gaming engineer, where I successfully spearheaded the go-to-market and scaling strategy for a new ad format designed exclusively for web games. It was after this that a colleague put me in touch with Praveen Latchamsetty who has just started up Teuteuf Games. I started consulting with them as they launched their first title, and now two years later, I have the pleasure of leading the team at Teuteuf Games as CEO."

‍2. Looking back, how has your journey with TeuTeuf changed since you first started out?

"The change has been pretty incredible. When I first started with Teuteuf Games, the team was basically two developers and one game. The one game being Worldle, a really brilliant daily geography game created by Antoine Teuf. The focus was very specific and tactical: ensuring their first title had a successful launch. It was all hands-on-deck, focused on that single game—getting it polished, getting it out the door, and finding its first audience.

The biggest evolution since then has been the shift in scale and perspective. I have been fortunate to help scale this team, hiring talented people with skills in game design, project management, growth, and data.

Of course the industry itself and  the landscape is completely different. You mentioned search changes and AI, and they're both massive factors.

Changes in search algorithms, for example, have really pushed us to think beyond just SEO. You can't just be 'discoverable' anymore; you have to be 'desirable.' That's why we are building our core Teuteuf Games brand. We're focused on becoming a trusted destination that players seek out directly, not just one they stumble upon.

As for AI, we're genuinely excited about it, not just as a buzzword but as a creative tool. Internally, it's starting to change how we build, allowing our small team to punch above its weight by rapidly prototyping game concepts or testing new mechanics. 

Externally, we see it as a huge opportunity to personalize the player experience, helping us connect the right player with the right game at the right time.

Staying agile and adapting to these massive shifts is probably the biggest challenge, but it's also the most exciting part of being in the web gaming space today."

‍3. What’s something you enjoy most about running TeuTeuf Games?

"For me, the most rewarding part is empowering the team we've built.

I mentioned how we grew from just two developers into a full studio. What I enjoy most is seeing the incredible, talented people we've hired take ownership of an idea and run with it.

We've worked hard to create a culture where creativity isn't slowed down by heavy-handed management or bureaucracy. 

My favorite moments are when a developer gets excited about a new concept, and because of the agility of web gaming, we can go from that initial 'spark' to a live prototype in front of real players in a matter of days.

 I talked about my love for the 'wild west' feeling of the open web. Honestly, getting to foster that same spirit in a whole team—and seeing them create things I never could have on my own—is the most rewarding part of my job by far."

‍4. Do you have any advice for website owners who are just starting out?

"My one piece of wisdom is aimed directly at web game developers, as that's the space I know best: Build a community, not just a game.

When you're starting out, the web is a massive, noisy place. The challenge of discoverability is real. The temptation is to build something broad, hoping to appeal to everyone. But that's a trap—you'll end up competing with everyone and exciting no one.

The most sustainable path is to find your niche and focus relentlessly on quality for that specific audience.

Maybe you make the absolute best, most polished geography games on the web, or physics-based puzzles, or narrative games for a specific community. It doesn't matter how small that niche seems at first. What matters is that you become the undisputed best at it.

That niche is your foothold. It's how you find your first hundred, then your first thousand, true fans. Those aren't just 'users'; they are your player base.

Listen to them. Talk to them. Build with them. That passionate community will become your greatest asset. They'll give you feedback, champion your game, and be the foundation for everything you build next. A loyal player based community is infinitely more valuable than any temporary traffic spike."

‍5. What’s next for Teuteuf Games?

"We're incredibly excited about what's next. Our plan is focused on two main tracks: scaling what we know works and experimenting with new ideas.

On the scaling side, we're accelerating. We just launched our 16th game, Mapster—a new geography art title we're really proud of, and we'd love for your readers to try it out. That's not all; we're on track to launch two more games before the end of the year.

Alongside new titles, we're investing heavily in the games our community already loves. We have major updates coming to some of our biggest hits, like Worldle, Travle, and Geogrid, to give our loyal players even more of what they enjoy.

But the part I'm personally most excited about is the experimental track. We’re leveraging the agility of our team—and some of the new prototyping tools—to explore new game concepts . We have several passion projects in the works that's a bit of a creative risk, but it's something the whole team believes in. It’s that 'wild west' spirit of web gaming all over again."

‍6. You’ve been working with Publisher Collective for a few years now. What’s kept you on board?

"Our partnership with Publisher Collective has been fantastic, and what's kept us on board is simple: a genuine alignment in our core values.

I talked about how Teuteuf was founded on a 'player-first' mentality. We are obsessed with building a brand that players trust. 

For us, monetization is critical, but it can never come at the expense of the player experience. Finding an ads partner who truly understands and respects that balance is our number one priority, and honestly, it's very rare.

That's what we found in Publisher Collective. The experience has always felt like a true partnership, not just a service.

Communication is a perfect example of this. The account managers are incredibly responsive and easy to reach. But more importantly, they're always proactively working with us. We're not just a number in their system; we're a team collaborating on a shared goal.

Every strategy discussion we have starts from a place of "How do we best monetize without compromising the player's enjoyment?" That shared focus is what makes this partnership work. You've been a key partner in helping us scale our business responsibly, and we're grateful for that."

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