🤙Budds Up!

23.09.2025 15:51

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Badges have moved beyond decoration. What once looked like small icons in a profile is now turning into a system of mechanics that affect interaction and gameplay. Buffs were the first example: some badges activate temporary effects, increasing spawn rates, freezing fatigue, or granting coin bonuses. The foundation for functional badges has already been built.

The Best Buddy badge now introduces a new layer. This feature is not about numbers or stats but about access to personal content.

How it works

Granting a badge is the same — with a3 per day limitation.
  • When a user grants Best Buddy to another, the receiver gains access to the giver’s jokes. These jokes can be the default set provided by the system or custom jokes the giver has added. 

Joke box
  • On the profile page, there is a dedicated section — the joke box — where custom jokes can be written, saved, and edited. Everything entered here becomes visible to Best Buddies. 

Asymmetry 
  • Access is one-way. If User A grants Best Buddy to User B, only B sees A’s jokes. For mutual access, User B must also grant the badge back to A. 

Mutual connection
  • When both sides grant each other the badge, the connection is marked as mutual. At that point, each user can see the other’s jokes, creating a two-way interaction. 

Profile integration
  • The profile page shows a complete list of Best Buddy connections, with status indicators: mutual, you granted, or they granted. This makes it easy to see which connections are open and whether there is potential for reciprocity.

Why this matters

Best Buddy demonstrates the direction of development: badges are no longer static images. They have become keys that unlock features and interactions. In this case, the badge gives access to hidden content — personal humor, written and shared by the user. The mechanic creates a subtle game layer. A single badge opens a door in one direction. A returned badge opens it in both. This dynamic encourages choice, reciprocity, and playful experimentation.

What’s next

Best Buddy is only the beginning. More badges will be connected to features, opening unique content, triggering buffs, or unlocking new interactions. The aim is simple: every badge should carry weight and every grant should mean something. Badges started as decoration. They are now evolving into the fabric of gamification, where every icon is tied to a mechanic and every action leads to a change.

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