5 ms·

I'm a designer-turned-developer and created a nice-looking solitaire card game website: https://online-solitaire.com/ https://online-solitaire.com/. It's making

I'm a designer-turned-developer and created a nice-looking solitaire card game website: https://online-solitaire.com/ https://online-solitaire.com/. It's making me around $1500 a month. My approach was to find a nice of apps that where already popular and then see if I could make it better.

JPLeRouzic 6y ago
It's a beautiful game, but I wonder what part of the game is monetized? Thanks!
- holgersindbaek 6y ago
  Thanks a lot :-). Hit me up at contact@online-solitaire.com if you have any suggestions or feedback for the site. After 5 games or so, ads will start to appear. Just normal sidebar ads. I've made it so people won't be blasted with ads the very first time they enter the site, so they'll get the "optimal" experience to start with.
alexmingoia 6y ago
How is it earning money? I don't see any ads or premium versions for sale.
- holgersindbaek 6y ago
  Sorry for the confusion. They appear after about 5 games. It's just normal sidebar ads.
mettamage 6y ago
Any tips on becoming a developer turned designer? I'd be interested in that.
- holgersindbaek 6y ago
  That's a tough one. One suggestion would be "don't". Most companies want either one or the other. I'm not a brilliant developer or a brilliant designer, which makes it hard for me to find my role in bigger companies. On the other hand I can make things like https://online-solitaire.com/ https://online-solitaire.com/ and https://habitualapp.io/ https://habitualapp.io/ as a one-man operation.
  - giantg2 6y ago
    Me too. I wish I had a solid role.
  - mraza007 6y ago
    Honestly i love that Since as a one man operation you are owning the entire process compared to working for a company where things are done by other people too both have its pros and cons
- holgersindbaek 6y ago
  Just realized that my first answer might not be the most helpful :-P. If you're still interested in becoming better at design, it's all about learning-by-doing. Much like development. I spend a lot of time on https://dribbble.com/ https://dribbble.com/ when I initially started designing and that's often where I go to find inspiration these days as well. Besides that, I'd suggest to doing as many design-related projects as possible. They don't have to be big. They just need to force you to go through the process of going from thought to an actual design. A lot of people practice design by re-designing already existing apps. The tool of the trade nowadays, when it comes to websites and apps at least, is https://www.sketch.com/ https://www.sketch.com/, which I can highly recommend. Hope that helped a bit more.
  - mettamage 6y ago
    Ah, this helps quite a bit. I sometimes take a stab at UI/icon/character design with Sketch. What helped me a lot was https://bezier.method.ac/ https://bezier.method.ac/ and redrawing characters from Headspace. I've also used Figma here and there. So your tips are quite helpful since I've never tried to start from a blank canvas. Also, dribble.com is a really cool tip. Thanks! :D
archenemy 6y ago
cool! I opened it just to check it out and ended playing my first solitaire game in (probably) a decade.
- holgersindbaek 6y ago
  Haha... I hope you enjoyed it. Hit me up at contact@online-solitaire.com if you have any suggestions or feedback for the site :-).
thirtythree 6y ago
I looked at the site and there doesn't seem to be ads. How much does it cost to host?
- holgersindbaek 6y ago
  Sorry for the confusion. Forgot to mention they only appear after a while. After you've played 5 games (if I remember correctly) they'll start to appear. I think I spend about $60 a month hosting it. My biggest expense right now is Moz which is $100/month.
saluki 6y ago
nice work, well done, fun to play, is your revenue all just from your sidebar ads?
- holgersindbaek 6y ago
  Yup... if you have any ideas for other potential revenue streams, let me know :-).
  - 6510 6y ago
    Sell custom decks of cards.
    - holgersindbaek 6y ago
      Interesting idea :-). Have you seen something similar done somewhere else?
NicoJuicy 6y ago
How many visitors per month do you have?
- holgersindbaek 6y ago
  I get around 600k pageviews a month. So A LOT of returning visitors.
mraza007 6y ago
That’s phenomenal with that kind of money you can easily travel and live in countries like Bali Thailand and etc . Even afford good lifestyle there
huydotnet 6y ago
I'm curious, what ads service you're running? As far as I know, Google Adsense doesn't allow web apps.
8589934591 6y ago
Wonderful site. Thank you. I have a question. So how do you deal with sites which deliver the same content as you? Like, say you come across another site which also delivers playing card games like yours, would you go after it legally or something? Or have you faced issues where you have been told you are plagiarizing the game from another place? Pardon my ignorance. I am unfamiliar when it comes to this kind of knowledge.

JPLeRouzic 6y ago

It's a beautiful game, but I wonder what part of the game is monetized? Thanks!

holgersindbaek 6y ago
Thanks a lot :-). Hit me up at contact@online-solitaire.com if you have any suggestions or feedback for the site. After 5 games or so, ads will start to appear. Just normal sidebar ads. I've made it so people won't be blasted with ads the very first time they enter the site, so they'll get the "optimal" experience to start with.

alexmingoia 6y ago

How is it earning money? I don't see any ads or premium versions for sale.

holgersindbaek 6y ago
Sorry for the confusion. They appear after about 5 games. It's just normal sidebar ads.

mettamage 6y ago

Any tips on becoming a developer turned designer? I'd be interested in that.

holgersindbaek 6y ago
That's a tough one. One suggestion would be "don't". Most companies want either one or the other. I'm not a brilliant developer or a brilliant designer, which makes it hard for me to find my role in bigger companies. On the other hand I can make things like https://online-solitaire.com/ https://online-solitaire.com/ and https://habitualapp.io/ https://habitualapp.io/ as a one-man operation.
- giantg2 6y ago
  Me too. I wish I had a solid role.
- mraza007 6y ago
  Honestly i love that Since as a one man operation you are owning the entire process compared to working for a company where things are done by other people too both have its pros and cons
holgersindbaek 6y ago
Just realized that my first answer might not be the most helpful :-P. If you're still interested in becoming better at design, it's all about learning-by-doing. Much like development. I spend a lot of time on https://dribbble.com/ https://dribbble.com/ when I initially started designing and that's often where I go to find inspiration these days as well. Besides that, I'd suggest to doing as many design-related projects as possible. They don't have to be big. They just need to force you to go through the process of going from thought to an actual design. A lot of people practice design by re-designing already existing apps. The tool of the trade nowadays, when it comes to websites and apps at least, is https://www.sketch.com/ https://www.sketch.com/, which I can highly recommend. Hope that helped a bit more.
- mettamage 6y ago
  Ah, this helps quite a bit. I sometimes take a stab at UI/icon/character design with Sketch. What helped me a lot was https://bezier.method.ac/ https://bezier.method.ac/ and redrawing characters from Headspace. I've also used Figma here and there. So your tips are quite helpful since I've never tried to start from a blank canvas. Also, dribble.com is a really cool tip. Thanks! :D

archenemy 6y ago

cool! I opened it just to check it out and ended playing my first solitaire game in (probably) a decade.

holgersindbaek 6y ago
Haha... I hope you enjoyed it. Hit me up at contact@online-solitaire.com if you have any suggestions or feedback for the site :-).

thirtythree 6y ago

I looked at the site and there doesn't seem to be ads. How much does it cost to host?

holgersindbaek 6y ago
Sorry for the confusion. Forgot to mention they only appear after a while. After you've played 5 games (if I remember correctly) they'll start to appear. I think I spend about $60 a month hosting it. My biggest expense right now is Moz which is $100/month.

saluki 6y ago

nice work, well done, fun to play, is your revenue all just from your sidebar ads?

holgersindbaek 6y ago
Yup... if you have any ideas for other potential revenue streams, let me know :-).
- 6510 6y ago
  Sell custom decks of cards.
  - holgersindbaek 6y ago
    Interesting idea :-). Have you seen something similar done somewhere else?

NicoJuicy 6y ago

How many visitors per month do you have?

holgersindbaek 6y ago
I get around 600k pageviews a month. So A LOT of returning visitors.

mraza007 6y ago

That’s phenomenal with that kind of money you can easily travel and live in countries like Bali Thailand and etc . Even afford good lifestyle there

huydotnet 6y ago

I'm curious, what ads service you're running? As far as I know, Google Adsense doesn't allow web apps.

8589934591 6y ago

Wonderful site. Thank you. I have a question. So how do you deal with sites which deliver the same content as you? Like, say you come across another site which also delivers playing card games like yours, would you go after it legally or something? Or have you faced issues where you have been told you are plagiarizing the game from another place? Pardon my ignorance. I am unfamiliar when it comes to this kind of knowledge.