Big 2 Wild · B2C · Big 2 card game
Build a tiny practice app in 6 weeks to learn launching before the real one
Taught AI-assisted building and app store approval; lessons fed the main game
Workedvalidation
What they did
Before the main game, built a simple card game (Big 2 Wild, a game he played with friends in high school) in about 6 weeks with AI assistants, deliberately small in scope, to learn AI-assisted development, end-to-end building, app store approvals and launching.
What happened
Lessons applied to Harpagia; no revenue reported for the practice app
- Stage
- Pre-launch (Before main product)
“I also wanted to make sure that the scope was small enough for me to complete in a short amount of time, to gain experience of actually shipping something.”
“Building that game taught me a lot about AI-assisted development, building a product end-to-end, handling app store approvals, and what it actually takes to launch a product to the world.”
Related topics
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More from this episode
- Harpagia: Post screenshots of your rough game on Reddit and stress it's free to playRevenue jumped from ~$1K to ~$10K a month almost overnight, despite harsh comments
- Harpagia: Share big game updates on Reddit every few months, within subreddit promo rulesEach post brought a jump in new players; revenue rose from $10K to a ~$18K/month peak
- Harpagia: Price in-game purchases between $4.99 and $9.99Players buy readily in that band; above $9.99 converts worse. No test numbers given
- Harpagia: Make the game free and sell optional extras that speed up progress~6% of downloads pay (games typically 2-5%); over $3 per active user a year
- Harpagia: Launch after 6 months no matter what, and let real players shape the gameFirst $10 sale within days; ~$150 in month one, ~$1,500 total by month two
- Harpagia: Focus on keeping players coming back before worrying about making moneyFounder credits it; no separate numbers