KLMN Studio is run by Nick out of Atlanta. It's nights-and-weekends work, not a startup. Every project gets built with a specific person in mind, and co-designed with someone who brings a perspective I can't.
Three products in development right now: Plushie Scout, Sayward, and Hardway Nights. All built close to home.
Plushie Scout is a community-pinned map of stores that carry Jellycats, Squishmallows, Sonny Angels, Build-A-Bears, Ty Beanies, and Slumberkins. Drop a pin when you spot one. Snap a photo. Leave a scout note. See where other people have been.
It's a family project. My kids are the co-designers. They light up at plushie displays and made me realize there's no good way to know which stores carry which. They've shaped everything from the rank names to which brands ship in v1.
The app uses scouting language. Users are scouts, stores are discoveries, achievements are patches, the profile is a field journal. Earnable, not addictive. No streaks, no daily nags. Viewing the map is always free.
Sayward is a private journaling and conversation-preparation tool for one person or a couple. Co-designed inside my own marriage, with Mel. Each person can keep private entries during the week and choose what, if anything, to bring into a shared conversation.
A Felt Moment starts as a private journal entry in your own words. When you explicitly ask, AI can help clarify or phrase what you already wrote; it does not decide what the moment means. You review and approve the final wording before any sharing.
Private entries and drafting chats stay private. Optional paired reflection uses only the limited information both people choose to contribute. Sayward does not diagnose, assess a relationship or mental health, infer what a partner thinks, or analyze people in the background. No connection scores, streaks, or ads.
Hardway Nights is a story-driven casino game about learning to read the room. Check into the Lucky Duck for one long night, meet Gus at Blackjack and Mags along the Craps rail, and learn the games through conversations, choices, and the people gathered around the tables.
The casino is a character of its own: dealers remember you, regulars trade stories, the floor changes as the hours get later, and every table carries its own mood. Real rules, honest posted odds, and authentic procedure ground a living, authored night where confidence grows scene by scene.
The studio is built around three constraints. Each project starts close to home. Plushie Scout and Sayward are made with family whose perspective the product depends on. Hardway Nights grew from wanting an intimidating first casino visit to feel legible before any real money or confidence is on the line.
The work is sized to a creative life, not a market. I'm not raising money. I'm not chasing scale for its own sake. I want to build a small number of products with serious craft, ship them well, and let them find the people they're for.
Earnable, not addictive. No streaks. No engagement loops. No urgency manufactured to manipulate. Patches are earned by doing the thing the app is for, not by opening it every day. If you forget about my app for a month and come back when you actually need it, that's the app working.
For press, partnerships, App Store and developer-program correspondence, or anything else, write to me. I read everything that comes in.