Nobody Asked for a Nail Sorting Simulator. So I Made One Anyway.

Why Even Build This? #

No one was clamoring for a nail sorting simulator, but here I am, delivering what precisely zero people wanted. This idea came from a throwaway comment on r/sideproject — someone joked about how no one should make a game like that. Naturally, I thought, “Challenge accepted.” Let’s call it a mildly chaotic social experiment. Or just me avoiding my actual paid work. Let me clarify: this is not a polished game for Steam. It’s a browser-based mess where you’re literally sorting virtual nails into bins for size, shape, and maybe a random “rustiness” metric. It’s oddly meditative. And stupid. Both can be true.

The Build Process: Overkill? Probably. #

I decided to go for a vanilla HTML/JS build, keeping it light and portable. There is no React, no Ruby on Rails backend, none of the usual heavy machinery. Why? Because overengineering is a real disease in the indie dev world (and yes, I’ve been guilty of it). I wanted this to load instantly, even on a 2008 ThinkPad running Firefox. The tech stack:

• HTML/CSS/JS: Because it’s unironically fine for small projects.
• Vite for bundling: A bit of overkill, but faster builds helped when I iterated on the UI.
• GSAP: For animations. Sorting nails is boring unless it looks buttery smooth. The whole thing sits at about 17.2 KB gzipped. For context, this is smaller than the average Wordle clone, which feels like an appropriate flex.

What Works #

1. The “Game” Loop #

Surprisingly, sorting nails is kind of satisfying if you get the animations and sound feedback right. I leaned into the “ASMR-adjacent” vibe, adding subtle clicks when the nails land in bins. Think of it as the lovechild of Bejeweled and a hardware store.

2. It’s Weirdly Sticky #

No, it hasn’t gone viral (thank god). But roughly 1 in 5 people I send it to waste at least 10 minutes playing, which is far beyond my expectations. A commenter on r/sideproject played for 18 minutes straight and said, “Why the hell am I still doing this?” Success, I guess?

3. Minimal Setup Time #

One of my personal gripes with modern side projects: deployment nightmares. The perfectionist in me has fought with Kubernetes more times than I care to admit. This time, I kept it simple. The whole thing runs on Netlify’s free tier, and my total deployment time was maybe 15 minutes, including DNS tweaks. This isn’t a game-changer, but it’s a stress-saver.

What Sucks #

1. There’s No Endgame #

Sorting nails into bins has exactly the amount of longevity you’d expect — maybe 20 minutes before you’re done forever. I could add progression mechanics or achievements, but honestly? Fixing this would 100% turn the “dumb fun” into “yet another gamified productivity app.”

2. Monotonous Artwork #

I designed four nail types. That’s all. Small nails, big nails, bent nails, rusty nails. Any attempt at improving the aesthetics feels like polishing a turd (or a nail). There’s a reason Stardew Valley hired a full-time artist.

3. It’s Over-Categorized #

You have bins for size, bins for shape, bins for “perceived quality.” A couple of users found this all a bit much — valid complaint. One guy on the thread said, “Bro, you could get rid of half these categories and I’d still overthink it.” Fair. If I ever do “Nail Sim 2.0,” I’d simplify.

Why Bother? #

Honestly, part of this was just flexing the “can I ship something meaningless?” muscle. And that, I think, is valuable. Too many people (myself included) bury themselves in ideas they never finish because they aim too high. Sometimes shipping anything, even a dumb gimmick, is the right move. Plus, there’s real joy in watching other devs ask why this exists. Some asked if I did this ironically. My answer: kinda, but the catharsis is real.

Final Thoughts: Should You Build Something Stupid? #

Yes. Absolutely. Not everything needs to be a SaaS tool with potential TAM metrics (God, I am so sick of the term TAM). Nail sorting simulator won’t pay my bills, but it reminded me why I started side projects in the first place: for fun, not for scalability. If you’re stuck on Some Big Important Idea™, try making something ridiculous next. Worst case, you’ll waste a weekend. Best case? You’ll ship a thing and laugh at all the confused people who try it. And if you want to sort virtual nails for a few minutes, you know where to find me.