Intro
Today’s ideas come from a recurring pattern across Reddit threads, Discord servers, and product forums: people who need a specific tool to solve a specific workflow problem, and are currently making do with email chains, spreadsheet guesswork, or nothing at all.
Three of this week’s ideas live in the gaming space — a sector with tens of millions of passionate, vocal users and remarkably thin tooling outside of the major platforms themselves. The other two sit inside workplace and event dynamics where the gap between what people need and what exists is equally obvious.
Each idea is narrow enough to build in a weekend and real enough to test with actual users by next week.
Pick one, ship it.
Yesterday, building an n8n workflow meant opening the docs, dragging nodes, debugging connections, and hoping it would work.
Today it means: describing what you want in plain English and getting a complete, ready-to-deploy workflow in minutes, with a full guide so you actually understand what’s running.
Autom8n just went live.
The gap between “I have an automation idea” and “it’s running in production” just got a lot smaller.
Want a quick snapshot of this week’s top ideas? Grab our one-page teaser and get all 5 concepts at a glance
Table of Contents
1. Check-In Approver
Wedding planners approve guests digitally — no more email chains
Target Customer
Wedding planners and event coordinators who book room blocks but need to control which guests can actually check in.
The Problem
Desirable Outcome
Instantly approve or deny specific guests for pre-booked rooms without email threads or spreadsheet confusion.
Problem Description
No Digital Approval Workflow for Third-Party Bookings
You book 12 rooms for a wedding, but the couple changes the guest list twice
Hotel/host asks “who’s in room 204?” and you’re digging through texts from the bride
Unauthorized plus-ones show up because there’s no approval gate
Email chains with 15+ replies just to confirm 3 names — takes hours
Business Opportunity
Check-In Approver
Hosts send approval requests to event planners via simple dashboard; planners click approve/deny for each guest name in real-time.
Idea Breakdown
Project Type
Web App
Core Feature
Create approval request with guest name list; planner gets unique link to approve/deny each name; host sees live status updates.
Main User Scenario
Host receives wedding block booking from planner
Host creates approval request: enters planner email and list of room assignments
System sends planner a link to approval dashboard
Planner sees list of proposed guests, clicks approve/deny/edit for each
Host refreshes and sees green checkmarks for approved guests, red X for denied
Host downloads approved guest list as CSV for check-in desk
Quick Start Steps
Build Approval UI with AI
tools: Lovable (UI-first generation), React 18, shadcn/ui (button/dialog components), Tailwind CSS, Lucide icons (checkmark/x visual feedback)
skills: Component composition, State management
key decisions/validations: Working approve/deny interface with visual feedback in 2-3 hours using Lovable’s design system; can create approval list, click approve/deny, and see status change instantly
Add Real-Time Sync
tools: Supabase (free tier — <50k users), PostgreSQL (via Supabase), Supabase Realtime (WebSocket), Supabase Auth (magic link only)
skills: Real-time subscriptions, Row-level security
key decisions/validations: Host and planner see same data update live without refresh; using Supabase free tier vs. self-hosting saves 4 hours of WebSocket setup; when planner approves guest, host sees change within 2 seconds without page reload
Deploy & Validate with Event Planners
tools: Vercel (frontend + edge functions), Supabase (hosted free tier), Resend (transactional emails — free tier)
skills: Email template design, Environment secrets
key decisions/validations: Public app that sends approval links via email automatically; 2 planners approve guest lists; hosts confirm saved 30+ minutes vs. email; 90% of approvals happen <24 hours; approval_requests_created >= 2; time_saved_minutes >= 30; approval_completion_rate_24h >= 0.9
3 Reasons to Consider This Idea
Weddings are a $50B industry with terrible software — Event planners are desperate for simple tools; existing platforms like Tripleseat focus on venue booking, not guest approvals.
Clear monetization: charge the planner, not the host — Planners manage 10-50 events/year; $10/event is cheaper than 2 hours of email admin time.
Real-time is the killer feature — Google Sheets fails here because manual refresh and no notification. This feels magical compared to spreadsheets.
Is This Idea For You?
✅ Comfortable with real-time data sync (or willing to learn Supabase Realtime in 2 hours) ✅ Can reach 2-3 wedding planners or corporate event coordinators to test with ✅ Excited by horizontal expansion potential (tours, conferences, retreats) ✅ Okay starting with $0 MRR and proving value before adding payment
Closing Considerations
This is a decision tool, not a communication platform — scope stays tight around approve/deny only. Existing solutions like Cvent or Eventbrite focus on ticketing and don’t handle post-booking guest approval flows; once validated, adding Slack/Teams integration so planners approve without leaving their workspace is a natural next step.
Core Promise: Event planners will approve or change guest assignments in under 5 minutes, replacing 30+ minute email threads.
2. Office ROI Calculator
Show your boss the real cost of forcing you back to the office
Target Customer
Individual knowledge workers facing return-to-office mandates who need concrete financial arguments to negotiate remote work.
The Problem
Desirable Outcome
Generate a personalized, data-backed financial report proving remote work saves your employer money.
Problem Description
Expensive office mandates without justification
Your manager says “come back to the office” but provides no productivity data to support it
You know commuting costs you time and money, but can’t quantify what it costs the company
HR dismisses remote work requests without seeing the employer’s financial downside
Office space per employee costs $12k-18k annually but nobody calculates this against your role
Business Opportunity
Office ROI Calculator
Input your job details, location, and salary and get a one-page PDF showing your employer’s annual cost of your office space vs. remote work savings.
Idea Breakdown
Project Type
Web App
Core Feature
Calculate and visualize employer costs (real estate, utilities, equipment) for in-office vs. remote work on a per-employee basis.
Main User Scenario
User enters their city/metro area (for real estate cost data)
User enters job title and salary range
User specifies current office requirements (desk type, meeting room usage)
System calculates annual employer cost for their office footprint
System generates comparison chart: office costs vs. remote stipend alternatives
User downloads professional PDF report to share with management
Quick Start Steps
Build Calculator UI with AI
tools: Bolt.new (rapid full-stack prototype), React 18 + TypeScript, Tailwind CSS + shadcn/ui, Recharts (cost comparison visualizations), jsPDF (PDF generation)
skills: Prompt engineering for UI generation, Form state management
key decisions/validations: Working calculator with multi-step form and live cost preview in 3 hours; user can complete form and see calculated office costs vs. remote costs
Integrate Real Estate Data
tools: CoStar API alternatives (free tier: LoopNet scraped data or manual CSV), Vercel Edge Functions, Static JSON for 50 major metro areas
skills: API integration or CSV parsing, Data normalization
key decisions/validations: Accurate cost-per-square-foot data for major cities without paid API (saves $200/mo vs. CoStar subscription); calculator shows realistic office costs for user’s metro area
PDF Generation & Branding
tools: jsPDF with custom templates, HTML2Canvas (for chart rendering), Tailwind for print-optimized layout
skills: PDF template design, Print CSS
key decisions/validations: Professional one-page report that looks credible in a manager’s inbox; generated PDF includes company-neutral branding, charts, and cost breakdown
Deploy & Validate
tools: Vercel (frontend + edge functions), No database needed (stateless calculator), Plausible Analytics (privacy-focused, $9/mo optional)
skills: Serverless deployment, Environment variables
key decisions/validations: Public URL that works on mobile, calculates instantly, no signup required; 20 PDFs generated in first week; 5 users report using it in negotiations; pdfs_generated >= 20; negotiation_usage_reports >= 5
3 Reasons to Consider This Idea
Timely frustration point — 2024-2025 has seen major RTO mandates from Amazon, Google, Meta — employees are actively looking for ammunition.
Immediate utility, zero friction — No login, no onboarding — just fill out 5 fields and get your PDF in 30 seconds.
Natural B2B pivot — Once individuals use it, HR teams may want bulk licenses for workspace planning.
Is This Idea For You?
✅ You’ve experienced or witnessed pointless RTO mandates firsthand ✅ Comfortable building forms and doing cost calculations in JavaScript ✅ Interested in employer-employee negotiation dynamics ✅ Can curate or scrape real estate cost data for 20-50 cities
Closing Considerations
This isn’t a full advocacy service — it’s a single-purpose financial tool for individual contributors. The MVP is a calculator; revenue comes later via premium templates, bulk B2B licenses, or affiliate links to coworking spaces. Existing solutions like LinkedIn articles give general statistics, but this personalizes the numbers to a specific role and city.
Core Promise: You’ll have a manager-ready financial breakdown proving your remote work saves the company $15k+ annually in under 5 minutes.
3. Game Port Predictor
See the probability your favorite game will come to your platform next
Target Customer
Console or cloud gaming platform users waiting for specific PC/exclusive games to port to their system.
The Problem
Desirable Outcome
Stop wondering “will this game ever come to my platform?” and get a data-driven probability score instead.
Problem Description
Port Announcement Anxiety
You see an amazing game but it’s exclusive to a platform you don’t own
No way to know if waiting for a port is realistic or if you should just buy new hardware
Following developer Twitter accounts and forums is exhausting and still gives no clear answer
Business Opportunity
Game Port Predictor
Enter any game title and your platform to get a probability score (0-100%) that it will be ported, based on publisher history and exclusivity data.
Idea Breakdown
Project Type
Web App
Core Feature
Calculate port probability using publisher history, exclusivity deal duration, sales performance, and community demand signals.
Main User Scenario
User enters a game title (e.g., “Bloodborne”) and selects their platform (e.g., “PC”)
System checks: publisher port history, current exclusivity status, time since release, sales data
System returns probability score (e.g., “68% likely to port within 12 months”)
User sees reasoning breakdown: “Sony published 3 exclusives to PC in last 2 years, Bloodborne is 8+ years old”
User can subscribe for alerts if probability crosses 80%
Quick Start Steps
Core Calculation Engine
tools: Cursor (AI pair programming), Node.js + Express, Simple scoring algorithm (no ML needed), RAWG API (free game database), Vercel Edge Functions
skills: API integration, Scoring algorithm design, TypeScript
key decisions/validations: Working probability calculator that takes game + platform and returns score with reasoning; can calculate score for 20 test games with consistent logic
UI + Result Display
tools: v0.dev (React component generation), Next.js 14 App Router, shadcn/ui components, Tailwind CSS, Framer Motion (probability meter animation)
skills: Component integration, Form handling
key decisions/validations: Clean search interface with animated probability meter and reasoning cards; non-technical users understand the score and reasoning without explanation
Alert System (Optional)
tools: Resend (email API - 3000 free emails/month), Pocketbase (self-hosted on Railway free tier), Cron-job.org (free scheduled checks)
skills: Email integration, Basic job scheduling
key decisions/validations: Let users subscribe to alerts when probability changes significantly (saves building auth — just email input); 10 users subscribe to alerts for their wishlist games
Deploy & Validate with Gamers
tools: Vercel (Next.js deployment), Railway (Pocketbase for alerts), Share on r/pcgaming, r/NintendoSwitch
skills: Environment variables, Platform deployment
key decisions/validations: 100 game lookups and validate users trust the reasoning; users share their results on Reddit/Discord; game_lookups >= 100; alert_subscriptions >= 20
3 Reasons to Consider This Idea
Decision helper with zero ongoing work — The algorithm runs on static data; no real-time scraping required — manual monthly updates of publisher history is enough.
Monetization through affiliate links — When probability is low, suggest “buy now” links; when high, suggest “wishlist on preferred platform” — a natural affiliate opportunity.
Is This Idea For You?
✅ Enjoy researching gaming industry patterns and publisher behaviors ✅ Comfortable building scoring algorithms without machine learning ✅ Can manually update publisher port history monthly (15-20 publishers cover 80% of requests)
Closing Considerations
This is a probability tool, not a news aggregator — you’re not competing with gaming news sites. No existing tool calculates port probability; users currently rely on forum speculation and YouTuber guesses. Start with simple heuristics like publisher history and exclusivity duration, and don’t add machine learning until the basic version proves useful. A natural expansion is selling port probability reports to indie devs deciding which platforms to target next.
Core Promise: You’ll make smarter platform purchase decisions by knowing which exclusive games will likely come to your system.
4. Playtest Finder
Get your homebrew balanced by real tables in 48 hours, not 6 months
Target Customer
Homebrew creators who’ve designed a class but can’t find DMs willing to playtest it in actual campaigns.
The Problem
Desirable Outcome
Connect with 3-5 active DM volunteers who’ll run your homebrew class in their real campaigns and report balance issues within 2 weeks.
Problem Description
Playtest paralysis
You’ve spent 40 hours designing a homebrew class but have no way to test if it actually works at the table
Your own play group won’t test it because they’re mid-campaign or don’t want to be guinea pigs
Reddit posts asking for playtesters get 3 upvotes and zero serious volunteers
Without real playtest data, you can’t publish with confidence or iterate on broken mechanics
Existing Discord servers for playtesters are disorganized; requests get buried in chat scrollback
Business Opportunity
Playtest Finder
Post your homebrew class, get matched with DMs running active campaigns who need that class archetype, and receive structured feedback after 3-5 sessions.
Idea Breakdown
Project Type
Web App
Core Feature
Two-sided matching board where creators post homebrew classes seeking playtesters and DMs browse/claim classes that fit their campaign needs.
Main User Scenario
Creator fills simple form: class name, level range (1-5, 6-10, etc.), archetype (martial/caster/support), PDF link, what you need tested
System posts to feed visible to DM accounts
DMs browse feed filtered by level range and archetype, claim a class for their campaign
After 3+ sessions, DM submits structured feedback form (combat balance, fun factor, party impact, specific broken features)
Creator receives email digest with all feedback; can mark playtest complete or request more testers
Quick Start Steps
Rapid CRUD with Lovable
tools: Lovable (AI UI generation), React + Vite, Tailwind CSS + DaisyUI (card, form, badge components), Supabase free tier (auth + PostgreSQL)
skills: Natural language UI prompts, Supabase auth integration
key decisions/validations: Generate two-sided board interface (creator and DM views) in 3 hours using Lovable’s natural language — no custom backend code; can create class posting, switch to DM account, claim that posting, and submit feedback form
Matching Logic & Notifications
tools: Supabase PostgreSQL (listings + claims tables), Supabase Row Level Security (ensure DMs only see unclaimed listings), Resend API (transactional emails — 3k/mo free tier), Supabase Edge Functions (optional — for email triggers)
skills: Relational data modeling, Email template writing
key decisions/validations: When DM claims a class, creator gets email notification; when feedback submitted, creator gets digest; use Supabase RLS instead of custom auth logic (saves 4 hours vs. building permission system); claim triggers email to creator within 1 minute; feedback form saves to database and sends summary email
Seed & Deploy
tools: Vercel (frontend), Supabase Cloud free tier (50k monthly active users = $0/mo until validated), Google Form (initial user interviews to refine feedback form questions)
skills: Seeding test data, User interview techniques
key decisions/validations: Launch with 5 seeded homebrew postings from Reddit; recruit 10 DMs from r/DMAcademy to test the claiming flow; 3 DMs claim postings and 1 submits feedback within first week; validate feedback form captures actionable balance data
3 Reasons to Consider This Idea
No existing solution connects creators to playtesters systematically — Reddit threads disappear; Discord is chaotic. A persistent board with structured feedback beats ad-hoc requests.
Two-sided marketplace, but simpler than most — No payments, no complex matching algorithm — just post and claim. Feedback is the only deliverable.
Network effects kick in fast — 10 active DMs create value for 50 creators; you’re not selling homebrew, just facilitating the connection.
Is This Idea For You?
✅ Comfortable building two-sided flows (creator view vs. DM view) ✅ Can design a structured feedback form that extracts useful balance data ✅ Willing to manually recruit first 10 DMs from Reddit/Discord to seed supply side ✅ Excited by community-building (you’ll need to moderate quality as it grows)
Closing Considerations
This is a workflow connector bridging creators who need testing and DMs who want free, curated homebrew for their tables. Existing tools like Homebrewery and GM Binder host PDFs but don’t solve the playtesting discovery problem. Start with just class playtesting; items, spells, and subclasses can expand later once the core loop is working. The key risk is DMs claiming but not following through — mitigate this by requiring DMs to have at least one active campaign listed before claiming (add in v1.1). Monetization path: creators pay $10 to boost their listing to the top of the feed for 7 days.
Core Promise: Your homebrew class will be tested by real DMs in actual campaigns within 2 weeks, with structured feedback you can act on.
5. Platform Blind Spot Finder
Discover which game genres your favorite platform is completely missing
Target Customer
Gaming platform decision-makers and enthusiasts who want to understand platform library gaps.
The Problem
Desirable Outcome
See exactly which game genres and niches are underrepresented on each platform so you can request the right additions.
Problem Description
Invisible Library Gaps
You sense your platform is missing certain types of games but can’t articulate what
No easy way to compare genre coverage across Steam, Epic, Game Pass, PlayStation, etc.
Feature requests are too vague (“add more games”) instead of specific genre gaps (“zero farming sims available”)
Business Opportunity
Platform Blind Spot Finder
Visual heatmap showing which game genres are over/underrepresented on each major platform compared to the industry average.
Idea Breakdown
Project Type
Web App
Core Feature
Generate a genre coverage heatmap for each platform showing percentage representation vs. global game market baseline.
Main User Scenario
User selects a platform (Steam, Epic, Game Pass, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch)
System displays genre heatmap: green (over-indexed), yellow (average), red (underrepresented)
User clicks a red cell (e.g., “Fighting Games on Game Pass: 3% vs. 12% industry average”)
System shows top 5 missing titles in that genre that exist on competitor platforms
User can generate shareable “gap report” to post on platform forums
Quick Start Steps
Data Collection & Processing
tools: RAWG API (free tier — 20k requests/day), SteamSpy API (free), IGDB API (free tier), Node.js script for data aggregation, CSV export for static analysis
skills: API integration, Data normalization, CSV processing
key decisions/validations: Pull genre distribution data for 6 platforms and calculate variance from baseline; genre percentage data for each platform stored in CSV; can identify top 3 gaps per platform
Heatmap Visualization
tools: Lovable (UI generation for data-heavy interface), Next.js 14, Recharts (heatmap component), shadcn/ui (data tables), Tailwind CSS
skills: Data visualization, Component composition
key decisions/validations: Interactive heatmap where color intensity shows over/under-representation; non-gamers can identify platform gaps within 10 seconds of viewing
Static Deployment (No Backend Needed)
tools: Vercel (static hosting), Pre-computed JSON data files, Monthly manual data refresh
skills: Static site generation, Client-side filtering
key decisions/validations: Zero infrastructure cost; entire app runs on static data updated monthly (choosing static over Supabase saves 4 hours of real-time data pipeline setup plus $20/mo); page loads in under 2 seconds; all interactions work offline after first load
Community Launch & Validation
tools: Reddit (r/gaming, r/XboxGamePass, r/Steam), Share “gap reports” as image exports, Google Analytics (traffic tracking)
skills: Community engagement, Data storytelling
key decisions/validations: 500 heatmap views and validate users share findings in platform-specific communities; at least 3 Reddit posts citing the tool’s gap findings; 50+ comments discussing missing genres; heatmap_views >= 500; reddit_citations >= 3
3 Reasons to Consider This Idea
Pure data insight with zero user input — No forms, no accounts — just load the page and see platform gaps immediately; updates monthly via script.
B2B potential from day one — Platform strategists and indie publishers will pay for detailed gap analysis and trend reports.
Is This Idea For You?
✅ Enjoy data visualization and finding patterns in large datasets ✅ Comfortable running monthly data collection scripts ✅ Interested in gaming industry strategy and platform competition
Closing Considerations
This is not a game recommendation engine — it’s a market gap analyzer for platforms and power users. Existing solutions like SteamDB and IsThereAnyDeal show game counts but don’t normalize by genre or compare to industry baselines. Start with 6 platforms and 15 major genres, and expand only if the initial version gains traction. The natural B2B pivot is selling quarterly gap reports to platform acquisition teams and indie publishers targeting underserved niches.
Core Promise: You’ll see exactly which types of games your platform is ignoring, backed by comparative data, in under 30 seconds.
Now go build!
See ya next week,
— Ale & Manuel
PS... If you’re enjoying ShipWithAI, please consider referring this edition to a friend.
And whenever you are ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:
1. AI Side-Project Clarity Scorecard (Discover what’s blocking you from shipping your first side-project)
2. NoIdea (Pick a ready-to-start idea created from real user problems)