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Curiosive
TR
Boston, Massachusetts · Physical and digital game products

Game Companion App Development for Boston Publishers

Updated

A physical game can continue on a screen through interviews, clues and chaptered scenes. The companion needs to know where a player belongs, what they have completed and what should happen when they return tomorrow. We help Boston game publishers connect those moments in a maintainable web product.

Our Murder in Prague project, recorded in Czechia, pairs a Shopify storefront with a Next.js companion application. Sanity holds game content and Supabase supports accounts and saved progress. Curiosive brings that connected delivery experience into a new scope, using AI-accelerated development with engineering review and a long-term product partnership.

Start a partnershipFrom $2,000 per month
Concept of a detective-game kit paired with a chapter-based phone companion
AI-generated concept artwork for a game companion; not a Murder in Prague product photograph.
25
published case studies
5+
years building for production
12
countries the work runs in
100%
of code read by a senior engineer
1 day
to hear back, from the engineer
Browse industry workflows →

Start with one playable chapter and its return journey

Bring an approved chapter, its media and clues, and the point a returning player should resume. Decide which interactions belong to that chapter and what indicates completion before expanding the story. Review a first playthrough and a return to the same chapter using the intended account. The companion’s content and progress are this page’s focus. If product presentation, kit purchase or a gift recipient’s first access is the unresolved task, use the storefront-to-play scope before estimating chapter features.

Relevant work: Murder in Prague's storefront and companion

The published case covers Shopify theme work and advertorial pages alongside a Next.js and TypeScript game app on a subdomain. The companion presents chaptered video interviews, phone calls and text messages before a final deduction. Sanity manages game content, Supabase handles accounts and saved progress, and one mobile-only step continues on a phone. The project is recorded in Czechia and its storefront serves a European sales journey. We use the delivered web scope as a reference for Boston publishers, with your own access and storefront rules agreed separately.

Make a saved position meaningful to the player

Decide what progress records: a chapter, a scene, a completed interaction or an answer. Agree when that state is saved and whether it is shared by a group or attached to one account. A player should understand what will resume without seeing future content. Review a refresh, a closed browser and a device change where supported. If the team edits an existing chapter, define how returning players encounter the revision. Those rules shape the content model and the interface together.

Keep media and story updates reviewable

Name the people who approve clips, clue text, chapter order and translations. Give editors a preview that makes it possible to review a complete chapter before publishing. The player needs a useful state when a clip cannot load, and the story should not advance accidentally because a request was repeated. If a phone participates in the experience, specify how the session reaches it and what returns to the main device. Begin with a representative playable chapter rather than a collection of disconnected media screens.

Review one playable chapter and a returning session

For a new engagement, bring an approved chapter, its completion and save-point rules and a representative returning-player session. Proposed acceptance examples: the intended player opens the correct chapter; leaving and returning restores the agreed progress; another account cannot change that progress; and a media failure leaves a clear recovery path without skipping the chapter. Include the supported phone handoff if the game needs one. These are proposed checks for your companion, not additional claims about Murder in Prague's historical access implementation or release tests.

A product partner for the next chapter and release

Launch is the point where real play sessions start informing the backlog. We work with your team on content tools, device behavior and reviewed improvements while keeping the storefront and companion aligned. AI accelerates implementation and iteration; engineers remain responsible for state, access boundaries and release quality. Monthly AI-accelerated development starts from $2,000 with scope and capacity agreed in writing. Curiosive LLC works remotely with Boston teams through agreed Eastern-time review windows, with engineering led from Ankara. New games and ongoing maintenance can be planned within the same product relationship.

Delivered work in detail

Murder in Prague: a Shopify storefront and a Next.js game app

A Shopify storefront that sells a physical detective kit, paired with a Next.js companion app where buyers play a chaptered murder mystery with saved progress.

Read the case study →
AI-accelerated development
from$2,000
per month

Senior engineers building your product with AI coding agents: web, mobile, SaaS or browser extension, reviewed before anything ships.

  • Web, mobile, SaaS and browser extensions
  • AI-assisted delivery under senior engineer review
  • Scope and capacity agreed in writing, renews monthly

AI-accelerated development, billed monthly. We confirm scope, capacity and start date in writing before checkout.

Questions

The things people ask before starting.

Can you build a companion for a physical game sold by a Boston publisher?

Yes. Bring the storefront, physical-to-digital handoff, chapter content and progress rules. We can scope one complete purchase-to-play journey before expanding the game or sales channels.

Is the Murder in Prague companion a native mobile game?

The published companion is a Next.js web application with a mobile-only step, paired with a Shopify storefront. It is evidence of web companion delivery, rather than a native game-engine build.

Can editors add chapters without rebuilding every screen?

The content model can be designed around the chapter fields your team owns. Agree which edits are editorial, which affect progress and which require an engineering release, then review the workflow with an approved chapter.

Can you stay involved after the first game launches?

Yes. An ongoing monthly partnership can cover agreed maintenance, content tooling and new releases. Bring the next product priorities so capacity and responsibilities can be defined in writing.

Related pages

Solutions
Services

Website Development with Next.js and Sanity

Technologies

Headless content management with Sanity

Services

Full Stack Development for Web Products and SaaS

How it starts

What happens after you write to us.

  1. 01

    You describe the product

    One paragraph on what you are building, roughly when you need it, and who it is for. No brief, no form with fifteen fields.

  2. 02

    You get a reply within a day

    From the engineer who would do the work, not a sales team. If we are not the right fit we say so, and where possible we point you somewhere better.

  3. 03

    You get a scoped plan

    Scope, price and timeline in writing before anything is committed. You decide with the numbers in front of you.

No long contract to begin, no lock-in to our tooling, and the code is yours from the first commit.

Start a conversation
Contact

Looking for an engineering partner for the long haul?

A short note about the product, the timeline and who it is for is enough to start. You will hear back from the engineer who would do the work, not a sales team.

hello@curiosive.comSee what we have shipped

Ankara / Türkiye · Working across European and US time zones