Fada, peuchère, dégun or emboucaner… So many terms borrowed from the Marseilles vocabulary that delight players of Motchus.
This new game “made in Marseille” on the Internet, inspired by “Sutom” – itself inspired by the game show “Motus” is all the rage in the region: more than 15,000 players compete daily to find the word of the day. “We see connection peaks at midnight from players who are waiting for the word of the following day”, smiles Mederic Gasquet-Cyrus.
Launched at the beginning of the year, the game quickly became trendy. Local elected officials are followers, as is a community of entrepreneurs, journalists or artists, who exchange tips on social networks or berate each other over spelling. “There are also expatriates from the region and curious people from all over France”, continues the lecturer at Aix-Marseille University.
The principle is simple: find a word from the vocabulary of the south of France in six tries, while the site guides the player on the right or wrongly placed letters, via colored dots. Médéric Gasquet-Cyrus already has 1,600 terms planned, to play for years to come – until the year pebre, one could say chosen manually. Some are relatively well known, but the game also uses a more subtle vocabulary, such as the recent “emporquéger” (idea of dirtying), from a few days ago, which is difficult to find and which has made a lot of players “fadas”.
“The idea came from friends who were surprised not to be able to use southern words as they wanted in games,” says the linguist, with an accent. Neither one nor two, Médéric Gasquet-Cyrus and his partner in the adventure, Denis Beaubiata mathematics teacher in Marseille, a computer enthusiast, contacted the creator of “Sutom” to use his computer code.
The “Wordle” example, bought by the “New York Times”
The game is constantly trying to improve: it now gives definitions and the possibility of replaying the game from 51 days ago – an allusion to pastis. Its creators are also considering launching an application.
For the two teachers, the adventure is above all a hobby, “with no other ambition than to make people play”, assures the researcher, who has written books on “speaking Marseilles” and also has a column on France Bleu Provence. . “Why not one day imagine a form of monetization, but that’s really not the goal. »
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