What are the most valuable data projects? The ones that impact the community (huge or/and niche), can diagnose obstacles and find a way for improvement. They are passion-driven but can serve a business(creating a new product for a company etc.) or a semi-business purpose (the project can become the sole source of income for a person and, at the same time, life-changing experience). In short – they are beneficial for the user and the creator. The undertaking I will be discussing today, ticks all the boxes when it comes to VDP¹. And still, it has a lot of room to grow!

If you are a Nintendo Switch owner and an avid game buyer like me, there is a chance you’ve stumbled across DekuDeals. The website was launched in 2018 and since then has improved the shopping experience for tens of thousands Nintendo Switch users. The purpose is simple – the user can search for games that are on sale, create their wishlist and collection or get recommendations based on the titles in his/her’s collection. But there underneath the „sales” aspect, DekuDeals is aiming to be something more.

It’s a project that was brought to life to solve certain problems – high game prices, weak game discoverability on Nintendo’s eshop, and lack of time when it came to discount searching (Nintendo’s own eShop works more like a point of sale, rather than a full-blown-marketplace). In my opinion, DekuDeals does what Nintendo’s own digital store supposed to be doing. And what is more suprising, DD is a brainchild of a certain developer and a one-man army based in Seattle, USA.

The man is Michael Fairley. Inspired by PC deals recommendation site, he decided to build one that focused on Nintendo’s newest platform, Switch. As I began using the webpage more, I saw Michael’s creation fix many of the inconveniences I stumbled upon while using Switch. It had a real impact on my wallet („lack of time to search for cheaper games” problem solved). I stopped using Airtable for wishlist creation („need to save time for spreadsheet input + using another tool to do this” problem solved) and additionally DD became my second biggest game discoverability tool, after Youtube („spreadsheet input + game discoverability” problem solved). My wallet and productivity gene loved it:

And this is not the only good thing Michael’s work done for an individual gamer. He is currently rethinking and remodeling the future of the great Deals of the Deku.