How MasterAI Launched an AI-powered Game from Concept to 10K Daily Interactions
Using Shuttle to eliminate backend and database infrastructure complexity for an indie game studio
- Zero to 10,000 daily interactionsScaled from concept to 10,000+ daily interactions without infrastructure overhead
- 100% developer focus on application codeDevelopment team writes Rust code without touching DevOps or database operations
- Sustainable indie economicsFree initial tier plus accessible pricing enabled launch and growth for a small team
MasterAI is a mobile app that uses artificial intelligence to deliver interactive, personalized role-playing game experiences. A "virtual game master" guides each user, generating storylines, settings, and game mechanics in real time, including dice rolls and one-of-a-kind illustrations created for every player.
Drawing on decades of running D&D campaigns - where a human "game master" creates and guides adventures for a group of players over weeks or months - the team understood what makes tabletop RPGs compelling. That experience became the foundation for training an AI that could replicate the dynamic storytelling and adaptive gameplay of a human GM.
The result is an AI that makes it possible to play RPGs without needing to coordinate schedules with a group or find an experienced human game master. The AI tailors every adventure to each player's style, creating immersive, unique experiences where the only limitation is imagination.
The platform currently handles thousands of sessions with over 10,000 daily interactions between users and the AI.
"We were just starting out: the ability to begin for free with a few users and then scale at very accessible costs was decisive."— Marco Loverso, Founder, Game Designer, and Prompt Engineer
The Challenge: Building Ambitious Games with Indie Resources
For an indie team just starting out, the challenge was that they needed robust backend and database infrastructure to store character data, adventures, and player-AI conversations, but they had neither the budget for traditional hosting to handle such a workload nor the DevOps expertise to manage it.
The team's priorities were gameplay and narrative development, not infrastructure management. They needed a solution that would let them focus on what they do best.
As an indie studio with limited funds, they needed to start free and scale affordably as their user base grew. Traditional database hosting options either required significant upfront investment or came with complexity that would slow development.
Choosing Shuttle as Their Foundation
The decision came down to three factors that aligned perfectly with their needs as an indie team:
Zero infrastructure complexity: Shuttle manages backend and database operations automatically, including provisioning, backups, and secure connections. No DevOps expertise required.
Economic accessibility: The free initial tier allowed them to launch without upfront database costs, then scale at accessible prices as they grew.
Developer experience: Shuttle simplified configuration, deployment, and maintenance, letting the team focus entirely on Rust application code.
Shuttle became their go-to platform for backend infrastructure and data persistence, managing the project's backend services and primary database while handling all the infrastructure complexity that would have otherwise required dedicated DevOps resources.
From Concept to 10,000 Daily Interactions
Since adopting Shuttle, MasterAI has scaled from concept to thousands of active sessions without infrastructure becoming a bottleneck.
Instant database setup meant more time on gameplay and narrative, less on infrastructure. The team moved from idea to playable prototype with zero upfront cost.
Economic sustainability
The combination of a free initial tier and accessible pricing made the economics work for an indie team, creating a sustainable path from launch to growth.
"Shuttle now manages the infrastructure automatically, letting developers focus solely on Rust application code."— Marco Loverso, Founder, Game Designer, and Prompt Engineer
Technical Implementation
MasterAI leverages a modern stack built around Shuttle's database infrastructure:
- 01Shuttle for backend infrastructure and database management
- 02Rust the primary programming language for backend services
- 03Flutter for cross-platform mobile apps (Android/iOS)
Shuttle securely stores all character data, adventures, and the ongoing conversations between players and the AI game master. The database scales transparently as the platform grows, handling thousands of concurrent sessions without manual intervention.
Building for the Long Term
MasterAI plans to collaborate with Shuttle for the long term as they continue scaling. Looking ahead, the team would welcome integrated performance and logging dashboards as they grow, though they note that when issues have arisen, support quickly helped identify structural problems that needed fixing.
Their advice for other indie developers and Rust startups is: "Shuttle is a great way to get moving fast without infrastructure blockers, even with a small team and limited funds."
The platform eliminated the infrastructure friction that typically slows indie teams, letting them focus on what matters.
Get Started with Shuttle
MasterAI's success demonstrates how Shuttle enables indie teams to build and scale ambitious applications without infrastructure expertise or significant upfront costs. The combination of Rust's performance and Shuttle's zero-complexity database management let a small team go from concept to 10,000 daily interactions and beyond.