TL;DR
Tried to build a daily AI estimation game for Reddit's Developer Funds 2026 program. Abandoned after persistent platform issues.
The Journey
The Goal
Reddit's Developer Funds 2026 program pays developers for building Devvit apps that hit engagement thresholds—up to $167k per app based on daily active users.
The plan: build a game that could go viral in large subreddits and earn passive income from engagement payouts.
What We Built
“Yeet-Weet”—a daily AI estimation game. C-3P1 generates questions like “How many hot dogs are consumed at MLB stadiums annually?” Users guess, see instant results with histograms.
Got as far as: React 19 UI prototypes, Redis data model, C-3P1 prompt engineering, and Devvit CLI setup.
Why It Died
A cryptic ValidationError blocked post creation across 3 sessions. Devvit's error messages showed memory addresses instead of field names.
Combined with low interest in the end result, decided to cut losses after ~2.5 hours. Platform friction predicted ongoing maintenance pain.
Lesson learned: Kill projects early when platform friction is high and interest is low. 3 sessions of the same blocker is enough signal.