Game Magnet

Game Magnet: capture games, never lose them.
Home: what you're playing now, plus Spotlight games promoted by their developers.
Discover: new releases, the most anticipated games and what's coming soon.
Share one video and Game Magnet finds every game in it, ready to save.
Your library: Saved, Playing, Wishlist and Completed shelves.
Finish a game, rate it, and it's remembered on your Completed shelf.
Capture: drop in a TikTok, YouTube or Instagram link and the magnet finds the games.

Inspiration

I find most of my games the same way everyone does now: in short videos on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. And I lose most of them just as fast. I screenshot the clip, try to remember the name, and a few days later it's gone. Backlog apps didn't help, because they expect you to type a name you've already forgotten. I wanted an app that starts at the moment of discovery.

What it does

One share, games found: share a video to Game Magnet and it finds every game shown or mentioned, with covers, platforms and release dates. You can keep scrolling while it works and get a notification when it's done.
A backlog you actually finish: Saved, Playing, Wishlist, Completed and Dropped shelves.
Finish it, rate it: moving a game to Completed asks how it was, so every game you beat is remembered.
Share your list: send any shelf to friends as a ranked list, best games first.
Never miss a release: wishlist a game and get a reminder before it comes out.
Discover: new releases, most anticipated, trending and top rated, plus search.
No account needed to try it: guest mode with a short feature tour.

How it makes money

Game Magnet is free for players. Game developers pay to promote their game in Spotlight, a featured carousel in the app: 7 days for $10.99, 14 days for $20.99 or 30 days for $40.99. Purchases run through RevenueCat, and a RevenueCat webhook starts the campaign on the server.

How I built it

Flutter for iOS and Android from one codebase, Firebase for accounts, data and server functions, and RevenueCat for purchases.

Challenges I ran into

Finding games reliably in videos that only show them for a second or two, and matching them to the right game instead of a similarly named one.
Keeping capture fast and affordable, including very long videos.
Making the share-to-app flow smooth on both iOS and Android.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

Share, found, saved in seconds. The first time a "top 10" video turned into 10 saved games with one share, it felt like the app I'd wanted for years.

What I learned

If saving a game takes more than one tap, people don't do it. The moment right after discovery is the whole product.
Capture can take a while, so letting users keep scrolling and pinging them when it's done felt far better than a loading screen, even though it's no faster.
A confidently wrong game match loses trust faster than "no games found", so being strict about matches was worth it.

What's next for Game Magnet

Price-drop alerts for wishlisted games.
Friends and following: see what your friends are playing and finishing, and compare ratings. This builds on list sharing.
Recommendations based on your ratings, and Spotlight stats for developers.
A community of like-minded gamers with similar taste.