After winding down Kickr earlier this year, the team behind the platform has resurfaced with a new site that looks familiar on the surface but operates very differently underneath.
Kickr Games Play Ltd. recently launched GetGud.win, a platform built around a familiar dual-currency system featuring Coins and Gems. Unlike traditional sweepstakes casinos, however, the site isn’t build around casino-style gaming. Instead, it centers on skill games.
Broadly speaking, skill gaming refers to contests where outcomes are driven by player ability rather than luck. Examples include chess, trivia, puzzles, card strategy games, and esports. But the category has expanded in recent years to include score-based competitions where players compete against one another for rankings, prizes, or pooled rewards.
How skill games work at GetGud
According to the platform’s terms, users enter skill-based contests, tournaments, and head-to-head competitions where outcomes are determined primarily by player performance. That distinction separates GetGud from the typical sweepstakes casino model. Most sweepstakes sites offer games such as slots, keno, or table games, where outcomes are generated through random number systems and player skill plays little to no role in determining results.
The current game catalog at GetGud is relatively small, but they’re all skill games. Titles include Basketball Hustle, 21 Hustle, Penalty Plinko, and Pinfall Mania, and a game called Skill Slots.
Skill Slots resembles a slot machine visually, but gameplay is centered on optimization rather than luck. Players are given a limited number of “Nudges” that allow them to reposition symbols and build higher-scoring paylines. The objective is to maximize points before running out of moves. GetGud’s own strategy guidance encourages players to target premium symbols, particularly 7s, and focus on constructing four-symbol paylines, which generate significantly more points than smaller combinations. Success depends on planning and resource management rather than simply spinning and hoping for a favorable outcome.
So, again, skill over luck.
What happened to Kickr?
In March, Kickr, which was a traditional dual-currency sweepstakes casino with casino-style games, informed its players it would be shutting down on March 31. It was a highly notable decision, as Kickr had been around since 2023, when Laurence Escalante, the founder and former CEO of VGW, launched it as a standalone project out of his private family office.
“We’re reaching out to share an important update: Kickr will be closing down at the end of March 2026,” the announcement email read. “We’ve made the difficult decision to close down Kickr due to shifting market conditions and our parent company’s strategic decision to focus on new verticals and brands.”
Now we know at least one of those new verticals — online skill games — and brands — GetGud.
While Kickr itself was operated by Kickr Games Pty Ltd., the “parent company” referenced in the closure announcement is actually Pixel Pioneers, an Australia-based gaming company.
Why skill gaming could appeal to sweeps operators
Skill gaming provides an interesting middle ground between traditional online gaming and sweepstakes casinos. While regulations differ by jurisdiction, skill games generally face fewer restrictions than sweeps casinos and far fewer restrictions than online casinos in the United States. GetGud, for example, is currently unavailable in only a handful of states: Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, and South Carolina.
There is also considerable overlap between the audiences. Both are drawn to entertainment, competition, familiar game mechanics, short play sessions, and the possibility of winning money. And many skill-gaming companies package their products in formats that resemble casino games, including slots, blackjack, bingo, solitaire, and wheel-based games.
That creates an interesting opportunity for casino-style games. If a slots or table-game format is redesigned so players compete against each other instead of against the house, operators can potentially position the experience as a skill-based contest — with a sweeps model or even real money.
Sparket, for instance, offers competitive real-money skill games inspired by familiar casino formats, including blackjack, solitaire, Skill Slots, and Think-O, a Plinko-style alternative. These games feature player-versus-player competition and additional strategic mechanics designed to increase the role of skill.
The skill game model is already operating in the U.S. market today, and it has been for a long time. While the gameplay experience differs from what most sweepstakes casino users are used to, the core concepts are the same. Players still see casino-style visuals, they’re still playing for prize opportunities, and they still enjoy the same quick gaming sessions — just with a greater emphasis on performance and decision-making.
From a business standpoint, there appears to be little preventing sweepstakes operators from keeping their dual-currency setup but switching from casino-style games to skill games. The laws being passed to outlaw dual-currency gaming only apply to casino-style games or games that mimic gambling. Not skill games. GetGud is hoping this workaround — and their early entry as one of the first, if not the first, sweeps skill game sites — pays off in the long run.
