enemy no.01 · kaijū filerespawned
Dating,dealt likea card game.
Kinda is the dating game I founded. You open packs, play cards and talk in the dark. The face comes last, and you have to earn it.
- date
- 2020–22, back in 2026
- role
- CEO, designer
- platform
- iOS, Android
the idea
Every dating app starts with a face. Kinda starts with a card and a stupid question about pizza.
Swipe Fatigue
“It’s a match.” Then nothing, forever.
boss stats
- <2%of swipes become a matchTinder Experiments II
- 79%call dating apps frustrating and often lonelySwiping fatigue, industry survey
- 73%feel disconnected or discouraged by themmy research
- 61%say starting to talk is the hardest partmy research
who it’s for
Two fears. One fix.
The same fear, pointing in opposite directions.
Hide the photo, lose the fear.
Giulia
22, RomeAfraid of being judged.
“I spend more time picking a photo than talking to anyone.”
Marco
24, RomeAfraid of being ignored.
“On Tinder it’s like my profile doesn’t exist.”
the process
From a hunch to a whole game.
01 · research
Ask first
Surveys and in-person interviews on what people hate about dating apps.
- 300+
- surveys
- 100
- interviews
02 · sketch
Paper before pixels
Every flow on paper first, so the expensive mistakes stayed cheap.
03 · wireframe
Before the face?
The blind match took the most iterations. Everything on it had to earn its place.
1234- A name, not a face You meet a person before you judge a picture.
- Why, in hearts Compatibility is the only score on the card.
- Traits as openers Each chip is something to talk about.
- One move One question, one button. No feed to scroll.
04 · test
Prove the core
A bare blind chat, shipped. People stayed anyway.
the blueprint
Every flow, in wireframe.
No colour left to hide behind.
Onboardingfirst steps
Cards and packsthe deck
Chat and revealtalk, then see
Shopcoins and packs
Profile and safetyyou, kept safe
the game loop
Four moves, no swipe.
Open a pack
(with soft or hard currency)
Play a card
(match, quiz, move, bonus)
Talk in the dark
(the counter goes up)
Reveal the profile
(when the counter allows it)
ux decisions
Small calls, big game.
A counter, no target
The counter climbs, but nobody sees where the reveal kicks in. So you talk.
A reveal takes a slide
Showing your face is a big moment, so it gets a deliberate gesture.
You buy where you are
Top-ups open a sheet and bring you straight back to the pack you were opening.
The first match is forced
Onboarding is a guided match: you learn by playing, not by reading.
the real thing
Then came the UI.
The same flows in final UI, straight from the Figma file.
the cards
Spin it, pick a rarity.
card matrix
Four types, four rarities.
Every card speaks one grammar: what it is, how rare, what it does.
Common♥♡♡♡
Uncommon♥♥♡♡
Rare♥♥♥♡
Platinum♥♥♥♥
the kit
Built from real pieces.
the cast
Faces you can judge.
Before the reveal, everyone is a cartoon. Go on, it’s what the other apps taught you.
0 of 5 judged
off the app
A kaijū needs marketing.
Missing persons Flyers for people lost to the swipe, around Rome.
aftermath
The photo comes last.
Talk first, see later: the MVP proved people would.
- 5,000
- users on the MVP
- 30 min
- in the app, every daylonger than most first dates
- 50/50
- women and men, close to even
- €0.60
- to acquire a user
The counter does the flirting.
The reveal waits on seconds of real chat, so people keep talking instead of swiping.
Cards replaced “hey”.
A quiz or a move gives the first message something to say.