Inspiration

Game night keeps dying when setup is heavy or half the table needs an account. I wanted a short storytelling party loop anyone can join from a phone or browser: one hint, a table of decoys, and a hunt for the original.

What it does

Hintrigue is a storytelling party game. One storyteller gives a hint about a card only they can see. Everyone else plays a decoy that could fit. Then the table votes for the original — you score when some find you, not all.

Cards are surreal and deliberately ambiguous, so a good hint is never obvious. Host from one phone; friends join with a room code, QR, or deep link (including zero-install web). No account required to play.

How we built it

Expo across iOS, Android, and web; Supabase for the live room; RevenueCat for launch monetization (Pro unlocks rooms past the free seat cap at the host friction moment — not as a guest gate). Stock decks ship free; seats above six is where Pro shows up.

Challenges we ran into

Keeping the guest path free while still having a real IAP story for Shipaton. Syncing a live room across native + web. Shipping store-ready assets (screenshots, demo with paywall on camera) under a hard deadline.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Shipped a real consumer party game, not a weekend demo: live on Google Play with RevenueCat wired end-to-end. Hosts, guests, and web join share one room. The product voice stays consistent across app, site, and store — same loop judges will play.

What's next

Custom decks from your own life. Friends generate cards from a prompt and photos they already took — e.g. a ski day: after the mountain you're exhausted, you just want to stay together, so you turn the day's shots into a private deck and play Hintrigue with your trip as the art. Stock decks stay free; generation is the path for personal, one-table nights.