I have this ridiculously competitive friend. You know the type - always keeps a score, and never misses a chance to remind you of it. We could be playing chess, table tennis, board games, somehow he always has the numbers ready.
One evening, we’re all hanging out with our families, enjoying a chill game night. We decided to play Inis, one of our favorite board games at that time. Everything’s good - drinks, laughs, trash talks.
He wins. Right after, he’s like - 4-1 in my favor against you - pointing at me, then turns to another player - 3-1 against you. It wasn’t even said loudly, just this little whisper.
It’s funny, those little moments of competition stick with you. And in a friend group like ours, keeping score deserves a system that’s just as fun and engaging.
Now, to be fair, this moment wasn’t a reason I started building a scoreboard app, but it definitely set things in motion.
I’m building shmelo mainly for fun. it has just the right mix of elements to keep me hooked:
For one its simple, so i can afford to be obsessed over completely unnecessary details. At the same time, it’s challenging enough to push me into new territory while learning some of the latest tech.
Another exciting thing - I got to take full ownership of the design. Oh boy, I’d love to reclaim hours spent on oversimplifying things.
Oh, and there’s the data visualization aspect. Numbers turn into something visual and interactive - that’s my happy place.
What is Shmelo
Shmelo is a leaderboard app based on the elo ranking system — the same system they use in chess.
Everyone starts with 1100 points. Your score changes based on game results. Beat a stronger player and you gain more points; lose to them - its not a big deal.
Turns out that Elo ranking system isn’t just for chess - it works well for any competitive game. I’ve observed that Shmelo’s users track their rankings in variety of board games, padel, table tennis, Fifa and other e-sports, card games, or even by combining multiple games into one score-board.
Using Shmelo is simple: create a circle -> add your friends’ names -> track results -> share with others.
If you’re a circle creator, only you can add circle members and track results. If you want others to be able to do the same, it is also possible by inviting them. Otherwise there’s no reason for them to sign up. They can always check the latest ranking by visiting a public link.
It’s free, fun, and ready for you to try.
As I mentioned, I love working on visualizing numbers, so you can expect some additional interesting stats in the future.
Drop me a dm for ideas if any - X, bluesky
Thanks for reading through.
Cheers!