Rummy House
Rummy House
An online multiplayer card game
![](https://asset.mmm.page/55/a4e729ebd248aabbdfb2af46ade58f/gm1ya.png)
![](https://asset.mmm.page/b3/c8b7be6dce44eba2864fe9a47c806a/efqkpa.jpg)
Rummy House is based on a friendly game of cards called Rummy.
My friend, Will, and I missed playing Rummy so...we built Rummy House!
![Source: Jagyasini Singh Source: Jagyasini Singh](https://media2.giphy.com/media/44Pf02VUp8oWZT7Q8j/giphy.gif)
![](https://asset.mmm.page/7f/e09f53a9084c4da50f2ee7c39c39fc/1ljqgji.jpg)
![Source: undefined Source: undefined](https://media2.giphy.com/media/nHgkA1poLJ4RuuhYQE/giphy.gif)
![Source: Eric Foster Source: Eric Foster](https://media3.giphy.com/media/UtbbkuxJFxlDs7wBj6/giphy.gif)
Planning process:
![Source: Tania Tania Source: Tania Tania](https://media3.giphy.com/media/mMCKKreDPBOsvjYnMA/giphy.gif)
1) Listed out the main actions and goals involved in the card game.
2) Checked out our competitors and broke down strengths and weaknesses, especially in their UX.
3) Created a flowchart based on Rummy and what I learned in 1) and 2).
![](https://asset.mmm.page/55/201d74fbe8407abac9281552ccd220/leqvlj.png)
Paper prototypes:
While I was laying down the elements of the game, I focused on making the layouts feel natural.
My goal was to capture much of the physical experience into 2D form.
![](https://asset.mmm.page/44/727e415eec4364a3b4bcf140c2f028/1qq0fnt.jpg)
![](https://asset.mmm.page/17/461d7ba8864de084ed00a5648dd927/mg2slg.jpg)
![](https://asset.mmm.page/c4/6d83333d4648109ebbf1e6f485d38b/12e5rmi.jpg)
![](https://asset.mmm.page/e5/beee7b36f34d8a8915b512e20c64f6/w5gxsu.jpg)
Design decisions:
One of the most important design decisions I had to make was the card design š
Although we weren't designing for mobile, I wanted to reduce the unnecessary work of maintaining different versions.
![](https://asset.mmm.page/99/a8b8dc7ab84a1da59284d1dbfb3a11/p3ecv9.jpg)
![](https://asset.mmm.page/31/7acb53aa3d4174baf92bb246e9db5c/3dmxjk.jpg)
![](https://asset.mmm.page/fa/6e9686ea0a4f0cb391d792ee968d48/cydv47.png)
![Source: Her Campus Media Source: Her Campus Media](https://media4.giphy.com/media/pmeVDQwBa8IKeuIBdh/giphy.gif)
![Source: Her Campus Media Source: Her Campus Media](https://media4.giphy.com/media/pmeVDQwBa8IKeuIBdh/giphy.gif)
![Source: Big_Burger Source: Big_Burger](https://media4.giphy.com/media/00njkcLIaKDF4ZGF6o/giphy.gif)
![Source: Big_Burger Source: Big_Burger](https://media4.giphy.com/media/00njkcLIaKDF4ZGF6o/giphy.gif)
Other decisions, such as designing visual labels/cues, were often aesthetic or brand-driven.
For instance, the same suit emblems are used to design the cover images.
MVP Insights:
There were three insights I missed that I realized in our MVP testing:
![](https://asset.mmm.page/e8/f5ac1c5a2145648a9431e1e03338d6/1trd17o.jpg)
![](https://asset.mmm.page/13/b94d1ba81e468a9be6b1b91cd5af6c/14dy05b.png)
1) It was hard to tell who's turn it was when players returned to play.
š Show feedback to inform player's turn and potential play.
2) Users were observed trying to drag and drop cards between piles.
š Allow drag-and-drop.
3) Upon creating a game, it wasn't clear to users what to do next.
š Immediate fix: Prompt users to invite a second player.
Rummy House has been sunsetted...
Every once in a while I look back wishing that I have known about the indie hacking community while building this project.
This was my very first project built from scratch. As a designer, my focus was on designing the product and if I knew what I know now, Rummy House may not be in my project graveyard.
Regardless, I'm grateful for the experience that introduced me to building a digital product from 0.
![Source: Cuidate DAE FAU UCHILE Source: Cuidate DAE FAU UCHILE](https://media0.giphy.com/media/U6e6JUgqF684qSunZ2/giphy.gif)
![Source: Lowi Source: Lowi](https://media1.giphy.com/media/XeMgfW8G1pYMMLtonX/giphy.gif)
Dogfooding can only take you so far
š Test and listen to your users.