Quantum Labs
Indie studio · second title launch
Launch-day-proof leaderboards in 3 weeks — sorted sets + a worker cache
Stand up cross-platform leaderboards that survive a launch-day spike.
An indie studio launching their second title needed leaderboards that worked across iOS, Android, and Steam, with a small tournaments layer on top. They wanted to focus on the game, not the backend.
Throughput
967/s
p95
75ms
Errors
0.00%
- Industry
- Gaming
- Timeline
- 3 weeks
- Team
- 2
- Service
- Software
- Project tier
- Custom Software / $14,995
The Problem
What was broken.
Studio's previous launch had a leaderboard that fell over for the first 90 minutes after release. They didn't want a repeat. They also wanted weekly tournaments to drive retention, but couldn't justify a backend hire.
Our Approach
How we framed it.
Redis sorted sets for leaderboards, periodic snapshot to Postgres for durability. Cloudflare Workers fronting reads to absorb spikes near zero cost. WebSocket fan-out for live tournament updates. Anti-cheat is server-authoritative score validation against per-game rules.
Capability proof
What this case demonstrates.
This case makes the hidden work visible: strategy, architecture, delivery control, quality evidence, and handoff.
01 / Product judgment
Problem framed before UI
Studio's previous launch had a leaderboard that fell over for the first 90 minutes after release. They didn't want a repeat. They also wanted weekly tournaments to drive retention, but couldn't justify a backend hire.
02 / Technical depth
6 stack decisions
TypeScript (Bun), Postgres, Redis (sorted sets), Cloudflare Workers, WebSocket (live updates), Sentry
03 / Delivery discipline
3 delivery checkpoints
Schema + load model / Read path + workers / Tournaments + handoff
04 / Handoff quality
5 shipped artifacts
Redis-backed leaderboards with Postgres durability / Cloudflare Worker read cache / Tournament matchmaking + WebSocket live updates
Production artifacts
Inspect the work behind the visible result.
Each case exposes the surfaces, systems, evidence, and handoff package that make the shipped product usable after launch.
Experience layer
Buyer or user surface
Redis sorted sets with a 60-second Postgres snapshot for durability. Cloudflare Workers absorb the read spike near zero cost; WebSocket fan-out for live tournaments. Server-authoritative score validation.
Proof 01
Stand up cross-platform leaderboards that survive a launch-day spike.
Proof 02
Modeled scores, players, tournaments. Wrote a load test that mimics a launch-day curve.
Proof 03
Redis-backed leaderboards with Postgres durability
Production signals
Observable
Errors, logs, alerts, or dashboards included.
Risk-aware
Security and compliance boundaries named.
Release-ready
Deployment or store-release path included.
Handoff-ready
Owner can keep operating after delivery.
Before / after · product UI mockup
Industry · Gaming
Before:Leaderboards rebuilt nightly from a slow Postgres view; spikes during launches crashed the API.
After:Redis sorted sets with a 60-second Postgres snapshot for durability. Cloudflare Workers absorb the read spike near zero cost; WebSocket fan-out for live tournaments. Server-authoritative score validation.
How the engagement ran.
- 01Week 1
Schema + load model
Modeled scores, players, tournaments. Wrote a load test that mimics a launch-day curve.
- 02Week 2
Read path + workers
Implemented the worker-cached read path. Hit the load-test target on a single dev box.
- 03Week 3
Tournaments + handoff
Tournament matchmaking, WebSocket fan-out, and a 6-page integration doc for the studio's client team.
- 1
Week 1
Schema + load model
Modeled scores, players, tournaments. Wrote a load test that mimics a launch-day curve.
- 2
Week 2
Read path + workers
Implemented the worker-cached read path. Hit the load-test target on a single dev box.
- 3
Week 3
Tournaments + handoff
Tournament matchmaking, WebSocket fan-out, and a 6-page integration doc for the studio's client team.
Deliverables
What we shipped.
- ✓Redis-backed leaderboards with Postgres durability
- ✓Cloudflare Worker read cache
- ✓Tournament matchmaking + WebSocket live updates
- ✓Server-side score validation
- ✓Integration doc + sample client
Outcomes.
engagement targetsPlan: sorted-set leaderboards with sub-10ms read latency
Plan: cloudflare Workers absorb 95%+ of read traffic
Plan: webSocket live updates for active tournaments
Plan: server-authoritative score validation
Plan: postgres snapshot every 60 seconds for durability
Honest challenges
What we got wrong (or almost wrong).
The pretty version of any case study skips this part. We don't.
- 01
Anti-cheat is a forever job; we shipped a strict baseline and a rules engine the studio can extend without our help.
- 02
WebSocket reconnection on flaky mobile networks needed careful handling; client team contributed a tested reconnect hook back into the docs.
In our own words
A launch-day leaderboard is mostly a load-shape problem. Sorted sets in Redis + a worker-cached read path absorbed the spike at near-zero cost; the studio could focus on the title instead of the backend at exactly the worst possible moment to be doing both.
From the Hayaiti team
Engineering · design · security
Technical blueprint
How the work holds together.
Buyers should see that the visual layer is backed by architecture, quality gates, and operational ownership.
Experience
1Application
2Data
3Operations
4Security
5Stack used
6 technologiesRelated
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