Case Study - Where spreadsheets fear to tread and dreams run wild

Overview

Not every project has to be a CRM migration or an enterprise dashboard. Sometimes, a client walks in with a spark in their eye and says: I want to build something fun.

Saturday Morning is a real-time multiplayer horse racing game where strategic breeding, careful training, and split-second race decisions combine to create champions. It's not just a game—it's a living, breathing ecosystem of genetics, strategy, and heart-pounding competition.

The core innovation? Two buttons. That's it. WHIP to accelerate (draining energy), HALT to recover. Simple controls, infinite strategy. The depth comes from understanding your horse's unique biology—their muscle fiber composition, heart size, temperament, and hidden traits you discover through racing and training.

The Three Pillars

BREED — Combine genetics to create the ultimate racing bloodline. Rare traits unlock legendary potential. A horse with a massive heart and elite gameness? That's a dynasty starter. Stack the right genes across generations and watch your stable become legendary.

TRAIN — Develop your horses with strategic training sessions. Speed work for sprinters, endurance for stayers—but push too hard and you'll overtrain them into injury. The skill is reading your horse's responses and knowing when to push versus preserve.

RACE — Real-time races against other players. Manage energy, read your opponents, time your moves. A front-runner might blitz the field early—or burn out in the final furlong. A closer might stalk the pace and swoop late. Every race tells a story.

The Technical Challenge

This project demanded everything we had:

• Real-time multiplayer racing with sub-100ms latency
• Complex genetic algorithm for trait inheritance across generations
• Distinctive visual engine with cel-shaded, board-game aesthetics
• Dynamic systems for track conditions and weather
• Fair monetization where skill genuinely beats spending

It's the kind of work that stretches every muscle we have—and reminds us how much fun that stretching can be.

Why We Said Yes

We spend a lot of time building serious things. ERPs, dashboards, B2B platforms—important work, but work that doesn't exactly set the soul on fire.

Saturday Morning reminded us why we got into this industry. We got to obsess over muscle fiber genetics, debate the perfect cel-shaded cartoon aesthetic, and architect real-time WebSocket race synchronization—all in the same sprint. We built something that makes people smile.

The boring projects get our best work. The fun ones? They get our hearts too.

Got a wild idea? A passion project? Something "too fun" for other agencies? We're the team that says "let's build it."