I Just Want to Do a 30-Day Challenge With Friends
May 21, 2026 · observation
A few of us wanted to do a 30-day writing challenge together. Just check off "did you write today?" and see each other's progress. Simple.
I looked at what exists: Habitica (gamified RPG, way too much), Strides (solo only), Notion shared databases (clunky, no one checks), WhatsApp groups (messages get buried). Everything is either solo, over-engineered, or not built for this.
What I Actually Need
- A shared challenge with a start and end date
- Daily tasks that everyone checks off individually
- A way to see who's keeping up and who's falling behind
- Zero friction to join — no app download, no email signup, no onboarding flow
That's it. No gamification, no social feed, no achievements, no premium tier. Just a shared checkbox with visibility.
The Accountability Part
The whole point is that your friends can see your heatmap. If you skip a day, it's visible. Not in a punitive way — just honest. A shared challenge where nobody can see each other's progress isn't a shared challenge, it's parallel solo tracking.
I want GitHub contribution graph energy but for arbitrary habits. Green squares filling up. Gaps that are visible. A streak counter that motivates you to not break it.
Why Not Just Build It
It's a CRUD app with auth and a calendar view. Supabase handles the database and auth. Next.js handles the frontend. Vercel handles hosting. I could probably ship an MVP in a weekend if I keep the scope tight.
The key constraint: keep it minimal. No feature creep. No "what if someone wants X." Build the 30-day challenge tool, not a habit tracking platform.
Going to prototype this.