u/Rusticdoodles

A few weeks ago I posted about an idea I had — a todo list app that's also a pixel art tycoon game (inspired by games like Game Dev Story), built specifically for entrepreneurs who grew up gaming. The response genuinely surprised me.

100+ comments, loads of great feedback, and one thing that stood out in the comments was the encumbrance mechanic I talked about implementing — where overloading your task list makes your character visibly stressed and earn less XP. A few of you even said it was something you'd actually use, which meant a lot.

So I took the feedback, kept building, and put together a proper landing page for 8Bit Startup.

A few things I implemented based on your feedback specifically:

• The task cap before encumbrance kicks in is set at 3 tasks rather than 1 — the consensus was that 1 was too strict for how founders actually work
• Deep work tasks earn more XP than shallow work, so the app rewards what actually moves the needle
• The office grows through distinct stages as you complete tasks — so progress always feels visible

The waitlist is open at 8bitstartup.com if you want to follow the build — I'll be sharing updates as development progresses. Founding members also get a permanently discounted rate locked in for when the app launches.

One thing I'm considering down the road is a multiplayer element. I feel that being able to visit other founders' offices and to be able to share resources with each other can help as a way to inspire each other alongside enforcing accountability as well. Do you guys think this would actually be motivating or is it too gimmicky?

Eight months of market research, validation, apps submitted to marketplaces. Ideas validated, lessons learned. But still zero to my bank account.

The whole time I'd been trying to solve problems I don't personally have. So I decided to stop and build something for myself instead. Here's what I'm making.

I use todo lists but they never really hit the spot. Two things always bugged me:

• You end up doing busy work all day and feel productive, but nothing that actually moves the needle
• It can be kinda boring sometimes, there isn’t really much of a feedback loop other than the check mark filling out, which doesn’t really do much for my brain haha

Growing up I loved tycoon games, especially Game Dev Story by Kairosoft (if you know it, you're a legend) — a pixel art game where you grow a videogame company from scratch. So I thought, what if completing real business tasks also built something in a game? As you grow your business in real life, you grow your startup in the game too.

This is the core premise: complete tasks → earn XP and level up your founder → earn in-game money → grow your office, hire employees, customise your space.

I was also inspired by The One Thing by Gary Keller — so the app actively encourages you to focus on one high leverage task at a time, because we all know entrepreneurs love trying to do everything simultaneously, which is a great way to get nothing done haha

My favourite mechanic: an encumbrance system (Skyrim players will get this immediately) where overloading your task list makes your character visibly stressed and reduces your XP gain. The app literally punishes you for doing too much at once.

For the encumbrance mechanic, I was thinking of maxing the cap at one task at a time so that you should only ever do one thing at a time. Is that too strict? Should I open it up to maybe having 3 tasks being the max limit before your character gets encumbered? Curious to see what you guys think would work better?

Anyone feel the same? I use todo lists but I find that they never really hit the spot for me, it certainly helps with tracking what you need to get done but I feel like it misses out on 2 things:

• You can get lost in doing menial tasks and busy work that doesn’t really move the needle forward. So you end up feeling like you were productive but you didn’t actually get anything meaningful done
• It can be kinda boring sometimes, there isn’t really much of a feedback loop other than the check mark filling out, which doesn’t really do much for my brain lol

So I've been thinking about something weird — a todo list that's also a tycoon game. Bear with me. Just thought it’s a cool idea and want to see what you guys think. I got nothing to sell. Mods, if you see this and decide it’s not appropriate, you can just delete it lol

I’ve loved playing tycoon games growing up, especially this one called ‘Game Dev Story’ by Kairosoft (if anyone knows that game, you’re a legend). It’s a game with a pixelated art style, where the basic premise is you are the founder of a videogame company, and you basically build and grow your business overtime as you build videogames. I’ve always loved drawing pixel art and making videogames too

So I just thought to myself randomly, “what if there’s something that blends that videogame and doing stuff to make my real life business grow?”. That way, as you build your business in real life and focus on tackling things that move the needle, you also get to grow your business in the game.

The core premise would be as you complete tasks on the right hand side, you level up your character and make them get skills which basically then increase your earning potential in the game, where you can earn more money to grow the office size, hire employees, and customise your office.

I also was inspired by the book ‘The One Thing’ by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan, where the todo list functionality of the app encourages you to complete tasks one at a time, and to only complete the highest leverage tasks, because I know that we as entrepreneurs love to try working on everything all at once which is a great way to get nothing done at the end of the day, hahaha

With that I wanted to implement some sort of “encumbrance” mechanic (if you played games like Skyrim before, you’d know) where if you do too many tasks at once, your character gets visibly stressed and you earn less XP to encourage you to do tasks one at a time and in sequential order.

I kinda just want to build this for myself as I want to try and make working on my business just a bit more fun. Obviously we all know that building a business is not all sunshine and rainbows, but why can’t we have just a little more fun along the way?

I’m curious to see what you guys think of this idea though, let me know your thoughts! Would something like this actually change how you approach your task list, or is it too gimmicky?

Anyone feel the same? I use todo lists but I find that they never really hit the spot for me, it certainly helps with tracking what you need to get done but I feel like it misses out on 2 things:

• You can get lost in doing menial tasks and busy work that doesn’t really move the needle forward. So you end up feeling like you were productive but you didn’t actually get anything meaningful done
• It can be kinda boring sometimes, there isn’t really much of a feedback loop other than the check mark filling out, which doesn’t really do much for my brain lol

So I've been thinking about something weird — a todo list that's also a tycoon game. Bear with me. Just thought it’s a cool idea and want to see what you guys think. I got nothing to sell. Mods, if you see this and decide it’s not appropriate, you can just delete it lol

I’ve loved playing tycoon games growing up, especially this one called ‘Game Dev Story’ by Kairosoft (if anyone knows that game, you’re a legend). It’s a game with a pixelated art style, where the basic premise is you are the founder of a videogame company, and you basically build and grow your business overtime as you build videogames. I’ve always loved drawing pixel art and making videogames too

So I just thought to myself randomly, “what if there’s something that blends that videogame and doing stuff to make my real life business grow?”. That way, as you build your business in real life and focus on tackling things that move the needle, you also get to grow your business in the game.

The core premise would be as you complete tasks on the right hand side, you level up your character and make them get skills which basically then increase your earning potential in the game, where you can earn more money to grow the office size, hire employees, and customise your office.

I also was inspired by the book ‘The One Thing’ by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan, where the todo list functionality of the app encourages you to complete tasks one at a time, and to only complete the highest leverage tasks, because I know that we as entrepreneurs love to try working on everything all at once which is a great way to get nothing done at the end of the day, hahaha

With that I wanted to implement some sort of “encumbrance” mechanic (if you played games like Skyrim before, you’d know) where if you do too many tasks at once, your character gets visibly stressed and you earn less XP to encourage you to do tasks one at a time and in sequential order.

I kinda just want to build this for myself as I want to try and make working on my business just a bit more fun. Obviously we all know that building a business is not all sunshine and rainbows, but why can’t we have just a little more fun along the way?

I’m curious to see what you guys think of this idea though, let me know your thoughts! Would something like this actually change how you approach your task list, or is it too gimmicky?