What makes IGotNext different from Discord or other gaming communities?

IGotNext is purpose-built for finding Nintendo players right now. Discord is great for communities, but terrible for instantly matching with strangers at your skill level who want to play the same game. IGotNext strips away everything except the core action: see who's online, filter by game and skill, send an invite, get their Nintendo ID, start playing. The whole flow takes under a minute.

How do the real-time invites work technically?

When you send an invite, both players see a 60-second countdown timer. The recipient can accept or decline. We built this using Firebase Cloud Messaging for push notifications (95% delivered within 250 milliseconds) and WebSocket connections for in-app updates. Redis handles the filtering logic so the online player list updates instantly when someone changes their game or goes offline.

Can you add more games beyond Nintendo titles?

Absolutely. We architected the game lobby system to be completely modular. Adding a new game requires zero code changes — just configuration. The filtering, matching, and invite systems work identically across any number of games. This was intentional design for future expansion.

Why React Native instead of separate iOS and Android apps?

Time and budget. Building two native apps would've taken 4-6 weeks minimum and cost nearly double. React Native let us ship both platforms simultaneously in 2 weeks. For an MVP proving market demand, shared codebase was the right call. The performance is excellent for real-time chat and push notifications — users can't tell it's not native.

How do you handle skill level filtering when players might lie?

The skill levels are self-reported, which is fine for v1. Players quickly self-correct — if someone marks themselves "Expert" but plays poorly, they'll adjust their profile or others won't accept their invites. For future versions, integration with Nintendo Online stats could provide verified skill ratings. But honestly, even approximate matching beats no matching.

What was the biggest technical challenge in the 2-week timeline?

The filtered online players list. We needed instant updates when anyone changed their game, skill level, or went offline — across potentially thousands of concurrent users. Traditional database queries would be way too slow. We solved it with Redis (an in-memory database) that holds the current state of all online players, plus WebSocket connections for real-time updates. Took 3 days to get right, but it works beautifully.

Can players see each other's Nintendo IDs before accepting invites?

No, and that's deliberate. IGotNext uses a blind matching system. You see someone's game, skill level, and online status — that's it. Nintendo IDs are only exchanged after both players accept the match. This prevents harassment and keeps the focus on playing, not profiles. It's a feature, not a limitation.

How did you save 40% of the budget?

A few things: React Native instead of native iOS/Android (roughly 50% time savings), tight scope for v1 (no feature creep), and our team's experience building real-time apps (we didn't waste time solving problems we'd already solved). Glitch Creative Labs also made smart decisions — handling design in-house instead of paying us to do it, and being decisive about cuts. No endless revisions or scope changes. The result won the MVP Challenge competition and hit top 3 on Product Hunt when they launched it.

Is the app still live?

That's a question for Glitch Creative Labs. We delivered a production-ready app in April 2020. The technical foundation is solid and scales well. Whether they continued operating it depends on their business strategy and market conditions, which we can't speak to.

IGotNext mobile app showing gaming lobby interface on smartphones

Gaming Social Network for Nintendo Players

Q: How did you build a gaming social app in just 2 weeks?

We prioritized ruthlessly. Working closely with Glitch Creative Labs, we identified the absolute must-have features: player matching, real-time invites, and skill-based filtering. Everything else got cut from v1. Their design team handled all graphics and app store materials in parallel, so we could focus purely on code. The result? A working app in 14 days instead of the typical 2-3 months.

IGotNext connects Nintendo gamers in real-time across multiple titles, matching players by skill level with 60-second invite timers. Built from concept to dual-platform launch in 2 weeks, saving 40% versus traditional development.

Gaming & Social

Mobile App Development

MVP Development

Real-time Systems

About the Client

IGotNext

A creative agency and game development studio founded by entrepreneur Devon Smittkamp. Glitch Creative Labs builds digital experiences at the intersection of gaming, social networking, and mobile technology, specializing in identifying ecosystem gaps and rapidly prototyping solutions.
They handled all visual design, app store graphics, and branding in-house — allowing our development team to focus purely on code. This parallel workflow was key to hitting the 2-week timeline. The result: MVP Challenge winner and Product Hunt top 3 product of the day.

Results

2 weeks

Concept to app store

Top 3

Product Hunt product of the day

40%

Budget savings vs traditional

250ms

Push notification delivery

Goal & Outcome

Goal

Millions of Nintendo Switch owners had no easy way to find other players for casual gaming sessions. Discord works if you already know people, but what if you just bought Mario Kart and want to race someone at your skill level right now? Glitch Creative Labs needed a mobile app to solve this — with real-time player matching, skill-based filtering, and instant invites. The catch? Two weeks from kickoff to app store submission for the MVP Challenge competition. Traditional agencies quoted 2-3 months at nearly double the budget.

Outcome

Built a dual-platform mobile app using React Native that shipped to both app stores in 2 weeks. Brutal prioritization kept v1 simple: browse online players, filter by game and skill, send timed invites, exchange Nintendo IDs. Everything else got cut. For real-time updates, we used Redis with WebSocket connections — the filtered player list updates within milliseconds. Push notifications run on Firebase Cloud Messaging (95% delivered within 250ms).
Result: 40% cost savings versus traditional development, MVP Challenge winner, and Product Hunt top 3 product of the day. Our rapid MVP approach — one React Native codebase instead of two native apps, tight scope, zero feature creep — made the impossible timeline possible.

Devon Smittkamp

CEO

ProductCrafters are the best development team we've ever worked with personally. They've been awesome, every step of the way. I highly recommend them.

5.0

★★★★★

16 reviews

View on Clutch

Need a gaming or social app built fast?

Get a free consultation and fixed-price estimate in 48 hours. No commitment required.

Before

Traditional Process

Discord game channels

Requires finding servers, joining communities, hoping someone's active

Friend codes only

Can only play with people you already know or manually exchange codes

No skill matching

Get matched with players far above or below your level

Platform fragmentation

Gaming communities scattered across Reddit, Twitter, Discord with no central hub

Delayed responses

Post in community, wait hours for replies, players already offline

After

Digital Solution

Game-specific lobbies

See exactly who's playing your game right now, ready to start

Instant matching

Filter by game and skill level, send invite, get Nintendo ID in under a minute

Skill-based filtering

Match with players at your experience level for balanced, fun games

Unified mobile app

One place to find Nintendo players across all supported titles

60-second invites

Countdown timer creates urgency — accept, decline, or move on quickly

Process Flow

Scope Lock

Defined MVP scope through feature prioritization, focusing only on core functionality like game lobbies, skill filters, timed invites, and Nintendo ID exchange.

Technical Architecture

Designed real-time infrastructure using Redis, WebSockets, and push notifications, validating the approach early with proof-of-concept implementations.

Parallel Development

Executed simultaneous backend and frontend development with continuous integration, building core features and real-time functionality efficiently.

Testing & Launch

Conducted QA, performance testing, and app store submissions, delivering a working product to beta users within just over two weeks.

Under the Hood

Mobile & Frontend

Cross-platform mobile and frontend technologies used to build fast, interactive, and real-time user interfaces.

React Native

Redux

Backend & Real-Time Layer

Backend services and real-time communication technologies enabling matchmaking, live updates, and scalable logic.

Node.js

Socket.io

Redis

Database & Infrastructure

Reliable data storage and cloud infrastructure ensuring scalability, performance, and availability.

MongoDB

AWS

FaQ

How did you build a gaming social app in just 2 weeks?

We focused strictly on core features like player matching, real-time invites, and skill-based filtering, cutting everything else from MVP scope. Parallel work with the design team allowed rapid development and delivery within 14 days.

What makes this app different from Discord or similar platforms?

Unlike community platforms, this app is built for instant matchmaking. Users can quickly find players by game and skill level, send invites, and start playing within minutes without unnecessary complexity.

How do real-time invites work technically?

Real-time invites use push notifications combined with WebSocket connections. A countdown timer ensures fast responses, while in-memory data stores enable instant updates to player availability and status.

Can you expand the app to support more games?

Yes, the system is built with a modular architecture, allowing new games to be added through configuration without requiring major code changes.

Why use React Native instead of separate native apps?

React Native enables faster development and lower costs by sharing a single codebase across iOS and Android, while still delivering strong performance for real-time features.

How do you handle inaccurate skill level inputs?

Initial skill levels are self-reported, but users naturally adjust based on interactions. Future enhancements can include verified data integrations for more accurate matchmaking.

What was the biggest technical challenge?

Building a real-time filtered player list required instant updates across many users. This was solved using in-memory data storage and real-time communication channels for fast synchronization.

Do users see each other’s IDs before accepting invites?

No, IDs are shared only after both users accept the match, ensuring privacy and preventing misuse while keeping interactions focused on gameplay.

How was development cost optimized?

Cost savings came from using a cross-platform framework, limiting MVP scope, leveraging existing expertise in real-time systems, and avoiding unnecessary iterations.

Is the app still active?

The app was delivered as a production-ready solution. Ongoing availability depends on business decisions made after launch.

Risk-Free Start

Your Free Trial Sprint

Week 1

Meet your team

Slack channel, assigned developer, daily standups. First code committed to your GitHub.

Week 2

Working prototype delivered

Technical spike or prototype complete. Architecture + budget roadmap for the full build.

You keep everything. Zero cost. Zero commitment.

Oleg Kalyta

Founder & AI Lead

What happens next:

1.You submit—We review within 24 hours
2.15-minute scoping call—We align on trial goals
3.Developer assigned—Within 48 hours
4.Working code in your repo—By end of Week 1