P8GO: Pixel Games

Designed and shipped a 0→1 mobile app in four weeks, supporting a successful launch with strong early user adoption and ratings.

As the sole designer working directly with the founding team, I led product design from concept to launch within an accelerated four-week timeline. I balanced speed with quality by prioritizing core gameplay, simplifying onboarding, and incorporating real-time user feedback from beta communities, helping the team ship quickly while validating key product decisions.

Engagement: Design partnership, embedded with the founding team from concept through launch.

Company

Chronicler Labs

Duration

Aug 2024 – Sep 2024

Role

UX/UI Consultant

Team

2 Founders — Engineering
1 Founder — Product
1 UX/UI Consultant

4 Weeks

0→1 Product Shipped

1,000+

Downloads in First Week

4.5★

App Store Rating

Overview

Chronicler Labs, a start-up in the A16Z Speedrun 4 accelerator, launched P8GO: Pixel Games—a retro-inspired mobile app often described as the "TikTok for games." Designed and shipped in four weeks, the app launched in September 2024 and quickly gained traction, earning over 1,000 downloads and a 4.5-star rating within its first week.

My Role

As the sole UX/UI consultant embedded with the founding team, I led the end-to-end design of the app within an accelerated four-week timeline. Collaborating closely with the Founders, I prioritized key design tasks while staying responsive to evolving project needs.

Key Contributions:

Design Execution: Delivered the full app design under tight deadlines, ensuring a seamless, engaging user experience.
Competitive Analysis: Researched market trends and competitors to identify unique opportunities for P8GO.
User Feedback Loop: Monitored Discord and Reddit communities during beta releases and conducted user surveys to gather insights and iterate quickly.

Sample Designs

Main Gameplay Layouts

After gathering requirements from the founders and beta testers, I proposed updated layouts to enhance the gameplay experience. The primary objective was to maximize the gameplay area, while the secondary focus was integrating additional features like "Like" and "Save Game" buttons. Achieving both goals required thoughtful compromises.

To expand the gameplay area, we moved away from the Game Boy-inspired design that captured the retro gaming vibe, opting for a more open, immersive layout. For feature integration, we consolidated all functions into a single organized area, which meant sacrificing the constant display of the game title. Rapid user testing confirmed these changes were the right direction.

Proposed options for main gameplay layouts. Purple highlight was the chosen design.

Navigation Tutorial

Although swipe-based navigation is familiar to most users from apps like TikTok, it's still relatively new in the context of gaming apps. Our goal was to ensure users quickly understood how to navigate P8GO and explore different games without adding friction to the experience.

To keep the tutorial simple and fast, we limited it to a single, interactive step. Users are prompted to swipe up to dismiss the tutorial, seamlessly transitioning to their first game. This approach reinforced the core navigation gesture while maintaining a smooth, engaging onboarding experience.

Proposed options for navigation tutorial. Purple highlight was the chosen design.