Case study · NO. 04
Stop listing names.
Every group chat has someone typing out their World Cup XI as a comma-separated list. A list isn't a lineup. This makes you put it on a pitch — and export the receipt.
- Started
- Spring 2026
- Status
- Live
- Pool
- 48 nations + 20 EPL clubs
- Output
- A shareable squad card
Commit to a formation
A list of names dodges every hard question. A real lineup has a formation, and a formation has consequences: pick a 4-3-3 and someone you love doesn’t fit. So this forces the argument to commit — eleven starters in real positions, seven subs, on an actual pitch — and the climax isn’t saving, it’s exporting: a squad card you drop into the chat as a manager’s signature on an opinion. Once one person posts theirs, everyone has to answer with a real lineup too.
Small on purpose
It’s the smallest of the games, and that’s the interesting part. Ideas this size used to die in my notes app, because even a pitch with draggable players cost more weekends than the joke was worth. Built the way I build now — me directing, Claude Code drafting — it went from notes-app line to shipped in days. And its pieces earned their keep: the formation geometry and pitch built here now power the Card Collector’s squad tab and the line ratings inside its PvP engine.
Where it goes next
An arena for dream squads, first — the match engine already exists inside the Card Collector’s PvP sim, so the squads just need a doorway. After that, imports: bring in your Card Collector binder or your EPL Manager team, and let the whole family of games stage fake tournaments against each other. Group-chat arguments deserve proper tooling.