Cluck: Escape the Line
GTM Website & CRM Platform
Built the full go-to-market web platform for Cluck, a 3D puzzle-platformer. Evolved the site through three phases — beta signup, waitlist, and production — each designed to capture interest and convert it into a growing audience. The production site includes a fully built admin panel and CRM for managing email campaigns, subscriber segments, and community communications.
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The Problem
Indie games rely on wishlists and social media for pre-launch marketing, but those channels are rented — you don't own the audience. The team needed a direct communication channel with potential players, plus the tooling to manage that audience as it grew from early beta signups through launch.
Research & Discovery
Steam Next Fest demo strategy informed by indie dev community research: wishlists convert at 5-15%, making owned email lists a critical complement to Steam's discovery
Beta signup flow optimized through funnel analysis — reduced form friction after seeing drop-off data in PostHog
Strategy
Phased Rollout
Beta signup → waitlist → production site. Each phase captures real signups and validates messaging.
Owned Audience
Custom CRM and email system gives the team a direct channel to players, independent of Steam or social algorithms.
Admin Tooling
Built-in admin panel for subscriber management, email campaigns, audience segmentation, and delivery tracking.
Data-Driven
PostHog analytics on every page — signup funnels, campaign attribution, and visitor behavior inform each iteration.
Key Decisions
Built a custom CRM instead of using Mailchimp or SendGrid because the team needed tight integration between the website, subscriber data, and campaign management without per-seat SaaS costs
Shipped the site in phases rather than waiting for a polished production version — each phase captured real signups and validated messaging before investing in the next iteration
Chose Next.js + Vercel for fast iteration and instant deployments, letting me ship updates same-day based on signup funnel data
Results & Impact
3
Site Phases Shipped
1
Custom CRM Built
100%
Built Solo
- Shipped three iterations of the site — beta signup, waitlist, and full production — each expanding functionality to match the game's GTM phase
- Built a custom admin panel and CRM from scratch: subscriber management, email campaigns, audience segmentation, and delivery tracking
- Designed the site to drive wishlist and email conversions, giving the team a direct owned channel to players
- Integrated PostHog analytics to track visitor behavior, signup funnels, and campaign attribution