🧙 Solo Dev Journey #2: Am I Making ANY Money?

Solo Dev Journey #2 is here because you asked for it. This one is about the single question every developer, my own programmers, and even Andre keep asking: “You spend $4.5K a day and make $4K a day… and you’re happy? That makes no sense.” It makes perfect sense, and I open my Singular account on camera to prove it.

I walk through the CPI vs LTV equation the way a UA person actually uses it: the time element (D7, D30, D90, D365 LTV, never D0), why the payback period is set by where your retention curve dies, and why Robot Breaker sitting at $250K spent and $170K back is not a problem, just a cohort that hasn’t finished paying. Then I switch to One Mage Army, launched September 6–7 on Android only, and show the real numbers: 60–80% day-1 ROAS, 120–200% ROAS days, 103% ROAS for the whole month on $40K, and scaling from $200 to $1K/day in a week to $2.5K/day now. The game is maybe 30% feature-ready. Mark my words.

Plus: the channel mix (AppLovin started terribly and is now one of the best; Unity Ads surprisingly good; Google and Mintegral added), how organics move with paid spend, the cheaters sideloading APKs and faking IAPs from Germany and Vietnam, the license-key fix in Singular, and the dashboard I built with Singular’s MCP and a “UA senior Matej” skill so I can make daily decisions without spending eternity in spreadsheets.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Cold open: $200 to $1K/day in a week, 103% for the month

01:15 – Sponsor: Potensus

02:24 – Why Solo Dev Journey #2 exists

03:45 – “You spend $4.5K and make $4K?” – the CPI vs LTV equation explained

05:20 – Robot Breaker: $250K spent, $170K back, 30-day payback and why that’s fine

06:45 – One Mage Army month 1: 60–80% D1 ROAS, 103% on $40K, scaling 5x

08:30 – Channel mix: AppLovin, Facebook, Unity, Google, Mintegral and organics

10:15 – Cheaters, fake IAPs from Germany/Vietnam, license key + the Singular MCP dashboard

12:00 – The playbook: CPI, channel, LTV curve, geo, creative – what to track and when to scale

📌 KEY TAKEAWAYS

— LTV has a time element; your payback window is where your retention curve flattens

— Spending more than you make today can still be profitable; cohorts pay back over 30+ days

— Every channel, geo and creative has its own LTV curve; tailor UA to each

— Verify purchases in the store console; cheaters will fake IAPs once you get popular

🎙️ HOST

Matej Lancaric – UA consultant, co-founder of Playable Maker,

🙏 SPONSOR

Potensus – premium ad network with direct brand deals (Amazon, Apple, Coca-Cola, Vodafone) and Playable Maker-built interactive formats: https://potensus.com

Got questions about scaling your game? Drop them in the comments – they become Solo Dev Journey #3.

Subscribe for more UA, creatives and mobile game growth: https://www.youtube.com/@twoandahalfgamers

#mobilegames #useracquisition #solodev #gamedev #UA #LTV #CPI #ROAS #indiegame #OneMageArmy #RobotBreaker #Singular #AppLovin #twoandahalfgamers #Potensus #PlayableMaker