-
-
-
-
-
-
Keep completed games and your ratings together.
Why PlayTonight
It is easy to discover a game in a video, save the link and then forget about it. Even with a growing backlog, choosing what to play can take up the time you wanted to spend playing. PlayTonight brings those two moments together: save a game when you discover it, then find a pick for the time and mood you have tonight.
What it does
Search the game catalogue, add a title manually or save a link through the iPhone Share menu. Keep the original source alongside the game, organise your collection into Backlog, Playing and Completed, and add notes, progress and ratings.
Tonight helps you choose from your backlog or discover something new using your available time, platform and mood. You can also share individual game cards or a collection with friends, choosing which details to include.
Design
PlayTonight uses a dark blue and purple interface, game artwork and an orbiting controller identity. The main flow stays focused on a few decisions: where to choose from, how much time you have and what you feel like playing. A game reveal gives the result a sense of occasion, while the backlog remains a practical place to manage your collection.
How it is built
The app is built natively for iPhone with Swift and SwiftUI. The main app and Share Extension use an App Group to keep the local library available when saving from another app. A catalogue service supplies game search, discovery and artwork through IGDB. Game metadata is powered by IGDB.com; game artwork belongs to its respective owners.
RevenueCat handles subscription offerings, purchases, entitlement access and restores. Free users can save, organise, rate and share games, with three Tonight picks per calendar week. PlayTonight Pro adds unlimited Tonight picks and a shortlist of up to three games, with monthly and annual subscription options.
Challenges and lessons
One challenge was turning shared video links into useful game entries. A video title can contain a channel name, review wording or a long caption, and some platforms do not reliably provide a title. The sharing flow keeps the source link and lets the user correct or enter the game name. That fallback is important: an editable suggestion is more useful than confidently saving the wrong game.
Another challenge was keeping the main app and Share Extension consistent while both can update the same library. The shared storage uses locking and atomic writes to protect saved games.
Building and releasing the app also reinforced how much the small details matter: readable subscription terms, clear game-data attribution, useful empty states and a straightforward path from discovery to a saved game.
What is next
The next steps are to learn from how people use Tonight, improve game matching from shared links and validate optional private iCloud library sync before releasing it. The current submission focuses on the shipped iPhone experience.
Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.