Наталя Хандусенко Hot News 23 September 2026, 12:43

A new social network, MoodiMix, has been launched in Ukraine. Users receive rewards for their activity, and their profile turns into a game character.

The story of the creation of the new social platform MoodiMix began as an ordinary student project of two friends who wanted to spend their summer vacation usefully. Today, it is a full-fledged product with a clear vision, where every user action turns into progress, and their own profile takes on the features of a game character.

The main feature of MoodiMix is the introduction of gamification into the usual process of social interaction. The platform allows users to not just consume content, but to experience constant development thanks to the XP system, level accumulation, and deep page customization.

MoodiMix founder and Fullstack developer Vlad Goncharenko told dev.ua how he created the project, what technologies he used, and how he plans to develop the social network further.

How the idea came about

The idea for MoodiMix arose about two years ago. At the initial stage, various options were considered, including an online store and an encrypted messenger, but the choice fell on the social network due to its versatility and the ability to implement more initiatives.

After a forced break for studies, Vlad returned to development on his own. It was then that the final vision was formed: the user gains experience for his activity, increases his level and customizes his profile. Despite further challenges related to finding time and combining it with his first job, the author decides to completely restart the product and perform all stages of development himself.

How does a social network work?

MoodiMix is a gaming social platform where each user's action is transformed into progress, level, and visual status, and the profile itself gradually becomes their gaming character.

The key idea is to reward the user for actions that go unnoticed in most other social networks. The platform is based on a clear cycle (Core Loop): Action → XP → level → reward → customization → status → new action.

"In a regular social network, you can like, comment, follow someone, create a post, or just log into the app every day. But most often these actions don't give you a sense of real progress. In MoodiMix, I wanted to change that...", explains Vlad.

Rewards can be used to customize your profile and in-app experience. These can include profile frames, name styles, like visual effects, themes, and other elements. This way, your profile goes beyond just a page with a photo and information. It becomes a kind of game character.

In addition, MoodiMix has implemented a Social Pass - a seasonal rewards system similar to the game's Battle Pass. The developer paid special attention to the so-called lurkers (users who mainly view content, rather than create it), providing the opportunity for everyone to progress, regardless of their author activity.

At what stage is the project?

The final version of MoodiMix was developed over six months and is currently in beta testing.

“The test version has been under review for about ten days, and now I am busy finding and fixing the last problems, final testing, and preparing for publication,” the developer notes. “The next important stage is Google Play moderation. If everything goes well, MoodiMix should be available to users in the near future… In general, I am open to different ways to talk about MoodiMix and attract the first audience.”

In parallel, work continues on promoting the platform and searching for the first users, whose feedback will help determine the further vector of development.

How MoodiMix was created

Although the project began as a team initiative, Vlad Goncharenko assembled the final version of MoodiMix entirely on his own, covering the areas of product concept, UX/UI, frontend/mobile, backend, database work, and architecture.

The technological base of the platform includes:

Frontend / Mobile: React Native, NativeWind, TypeScript;
Backend: Node.js, Express.js;
Database: PostgreSQL.

Artificial intelligence tools played an important role in the development, acting as a technical partner. Vlad actively used Claude, Antigravity, and Codex for architecture analysis, code writing, design, and documentation. Special rules, contexts, and instructions were created for this purpose, which allowed the AI to navigate the system and significantly accelerated the process.

Given that the entire amount of work was done by our own efforts, the financial costs were minimal: about $10 for hosting and registering a Google Play Developer account ($25).

The issue of monetization has been deliberately pushed to the background at the first stage. The priority is to test the concept, analyze the behavior of the first audience, and test the working mechanics. The implementation of monetization models is planned only after the product is scaled, and in a way that does not disrupt the basic user experience.

About plans and the future

Creating MoodiMix was a significant transformational experience for the developer, changing his career vision from a hired specialist to a product creator. Now Vlad strives to develop not only as a developer, but also as an IT entrepreneur.

“A few years ago, I just wanted to work as an ordinary developer in a good IT team. I didn’t even think seriously about my own product or entrepreneurship,” Vlad Goncharenko concludes. “And MoodiMix has changed my vision in many ways. When you go through the whole journey yourself — from the first idea to the moment when your application actually works and can be seen by other people — you start to look at development in a completely different way. For me, launching on Google Play is not the final point. On the contrary, it is the moment from which the most interesting part begins — checking how much this idea is needed by real people, and further development of the product.”