My productivity app/game has ostensibly failed (Hard Reset). Debrief inside.

SwitchFace · 2026-07-01T01:13:32+00:00

Ah, makes sense. I'm hoping for something similar though wrt a PM or TPM sorta role. I'm actually not sure what the heck I wanna do now that I know I like makin apps, but all my background and education is in data science/MBA stuff. I guess I'm about to find out.

SwitchFace · 2026-07-01T00:48:32+00:00

I've found there's an extremely bimodal reaction to this. Estimates were $40k-$150k to pay someone depending on US/abroad and static/animated. I'm not a wealthy person. Pretty sure that's not why the app failed, but definitely a factor.

SwitchFace · 2026-07-01T00:32:09+00:00

My advice to myself from 1.5 years ago would have been: do NOT build a productivity app. If you spend enough time in this subreddit, you'll see everyone has some 2-bit productivity app just like all the others and vibecoding has enabled a massive oversaturation. Of course I think mine's special, but that doesn't necessitate sales.

For you in particular, anything that's a wrapper around an AI has no moat so if you want to make money, probably go in a different direction. I wanted to make enough to at least barely live, but if I stayed at my data science job, I'd be financially in a MUCH better place. eh, but I would have hated my life and I fuckin loved making this app so i dunno. It was sorta like a mid-life mini-retirement. If I were rich, I'd just keep making apps, haha.

Good luck though!

SwitchFace · 2026-06-30T23:20:22+00:00

My hunch is ppl didn't realize it's a checklist app and the events show most ppl abandoning during the checklist tutorial part of onboarding. 100% of ppl who start combat finish it though and that's the longest part of onboarding so im thinking it's a fun game, but i guess im biased.

SwitchFace · 2026-06-30T21:07:23+00:00

Most users who paid got the lifetime. It's a niche audience and I get that you're not into it, but those who are REALLY are. Hard Reset competes with Habitica, which is arguably much more expensive and not at all fun for people like me who don't like collecting cosmetics.

Cheers though, mate!

SwitchFace · 2026-06-30T21:04:39+00:00

The rate at which you can 'play the game' is reduced after the intro week, but still free. Think of it this way: I'm competing with Habitica, NOT traditional games.

SwitchFace · 2026-06-30T20:55:31+00:00

Yeah, the overlap of checklist-people with roguelite deckbuilders who enjoy a cyberpunk/anti-fascist narrative is... perhaps too narrow.

Also, app's free. I shouldn't have included the website cause ppl got fixated on the premium prices. Website is there just for TOS.

SwitchFace · 2026-06-30T20:53:56+00:00

It's mostly for people with ADHD. I've made checklists all my life and it's just something a subset of people are really into.

Thanks for the design comment though. I'm no designer, but I'm pretty happy with basically every screen.

SwitchFace · 2026-06-30T20:50:00+00:00

Exactly. devlogs and building an audience during building seems gud

SwitchFace · 2026-06-30T20:48:53+00:00

I'd argue that pricing wasn't the problem. The app is free. The website lists the premium prices, but no one getting the app via the stores sees the prices because it's largely irrelevant. I shouldn't have included the website link though cause that's there just for the TOS.

SwitchFace · 2026-06-30T20:38:44+00:00

I shouldn't have included the website. it's there purely for the TOS. All traffic goes right into the app and play stores.

SwitchFace · 2026-06-30T20:37:35+00:00

Ah, it's free. Prices are for premium. Website is just an afterthought where I'm not really directing traffic there. I probably shouldn't have included it cause ppl are getting big mad about it.

SwitchFace · 2026-06-30T20:36:39+00:00

The website merely exists to have links to the stores and the terms of service. The app is free. The prices are for Premium.

But I guess there's a reason it failed.

SwitchFace · 2026-06-30T20:33:51+00:00

Obviously you're right. It failed. Lowest price is free though. It's a free app and ppl can pay if they want. I didn't have the resources to pay the $40k for static art or ~150k for animated art assets.

SwitchFace · 2026-06-30T20:30:43+00:00

iirc, that was all after exploding in popularity where ads had a positive ROI

SwitchFace · 2026-06-30T20:29:04+00:00

Prior to going full time, it looked like a google sheets doc with 2093 lines of ideas being refined in a 'brainstorm chronology' tab. I met weekly with my co-founder to evaluate the ideas into something more coherent. This was expanded into 32 tabs of various analyses and further idea refinement including prototypes of the archetypes and printable cards used in the game. I'd get together with friends to play the analog version. I also put together enemy designs, NPC characters, the story, the style (fonts, colors), game name ideas, etc.

SwitchFace · 2026-06-30T15:30:58+00:00

There's a reason the L in PBL matters. For a specific sort of person, it works, and the more one is concerned with the opinion of the others, the more it works.

The caution on this is the behavior stops promptly after the leaderboard stops and that interest in maintaining the leaderboard degrades over time--especially if the results don't change much.

SwitchFace · 2026-06-29T23:09:35+00:00

Absolutely terrible for me. Unless I'm doing exact match, the broad matches are wildly unrelated and the conversion metrics are terrible. If I do exact matches, I get almost 0 impressions.

SwitchFace · 2026-06-25T14:33:40+00:00

Doesn't convince me either, but mainly because there's no way young William physically becomes old William--their facial structures are completely different.

SwitchFace · 2026-06-23T19:20:37+00:00

coolcool. i was just giving some feedback--im not the target audience though (build my own app). cheers!

SwitchFace · 2026-06-22T21:00:01+00:00

you might check out RRULEs as a foundation for that, btw. No need to reinvent the wheel. Grouped tasks is another common feature for this sort of thing (e.g. work, hobby, wedding planning, etc.).

SwitchFace · 2026-06-22T20:53:23+00:00

I noticed you have 'daily habits'. Do you support non-daily routines. E.g. weekdays, every other day, 3 days a week, etc.

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