The Gist
One Big Match is a web app for making event rooms less awkward. Think Jackbox Games, but instead of competing, you're connecting with new people. Everyone uses their phone, a host runs the show from a main screen, and the room gets a low-pressure way to start talking.
Where it came from.
The idea started with a TikTok. I saw a huge event using a matchmaking tool and my first thought was, "That's awesome. I want that for my org." We were always looking for better icebreakers.
I'm a huge fan of Jackbox Games. I love how you can get a whole room of people playing in seconds, just using their phones. No downloads, no complicated setup. I wanted to bring that same energy to a social tool. I talked about it with my friends, Abby and JJ, and we were just like, "We should just build that."
So we did. I started coding, JJ jumped right in with me, and Abby took on all the design, which was a lifesaver. She's the reason it actually looks and feels fun to use.
We really geeked out on building it.
We got really into the process. The whole "Jackbox feel" was our north star, so building it as a web app with a real-time lobby was non-negotiable. We went with Next.js and React because we wanted the interface on your phone to feel instant and snappy.
The part we obsessed over was the real-time connection. We spent a lot of time getting the WebSockets right with our Node.js backend because the room needed to feel alive the moment people joined. PostgreSQL and Prisma handled the data underneath.
What shipped.
We coordinated a 10-person team across product, design, engineering, and outreach. The app made it into 4 student-event pilots with 80+ users, which gave us real rooms to learn from instead of only guessing at the experience.
Those pilots taught us what mattered most: fast joining, clear host controls, and making the first interaction feel easy enough that people would actually participate.
What I took from it.
One Big Match made me better at separating "cool product idea" from "thing a room will actually use." We built the engine, got it into student events, and learned how much the live facilitation layer matters.
