Offbeats was a simple little word puzzle.
This page contains spoilers from the 2-Tone Game. If you haven't already played the game, you might want to do so before continuing reading this page.
The basic structure of the "Offbeats" puzzle stayed the same. But the details changed. It used a bunch of "crossword-style" clues to clue some short words. Some of those words changed when they didn't do well in playtesting. Some of the clues changed, too.
The original version of the puzzle was displayed as bitmap graphics. I "knew" that smartphones would have trouble with this puzzle—it stretches out horizontally instead of vertically. I "knew" that I should display this puzzle as a graphic to keep smartphones from trying to "smush" it into a skinny column. I would present it as bitmaps showing the puzzle rotated sideways! Brilliant!
Here's what that original version looked like:
Brilliant, but wrong. Smart phones did OK with text. But they had trouble with bitmap graphics. If the player tried rotating the smartphone to see the puzzle better, the phone "helpfully" rotated the graphic, obscuring things again.
I got too cute with some clues in the original version. I clued "ODD" and "ONE" as "___ one out" and "odd ___ out". That was cute, but it broke the "rules" of crosswords, convincing people that since one clue had used the phrase "odd one out", another couldn't use that same phrase. Similarly, "you ___ on it" and "you sit on it" for SIT and ASS. But playtesters kicked me on the thing I sat on, and got me to use less-cutesy clues.