2Truths-1Lie

Video-powered 2 Truths & 1 Lie! Challenge friends, unlock hints, and see who’s the best deceiver. Intense gameplay, real rewards, and premium perks—all in one party app.

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From Hackathon Prototype to Monetized Social Game

Inspiration

Initially created for the Kiro Hackathon as a technical demo, 2Truths-1Lie evolved into a full-featured, monetized Android app for the RevenueCat Shipaton. The goal: turn a fun video game into a sustainable business while preserving a delightful, user-first experience.

How We Built It

We began by fixing the core game loop—implementing persistent scoring and challenge completion—to ensure users had a compelling reason to keep playing. The recent sprint focused on delivering a seamless Android experience and a monetization model designed for the HAMM Award.

  • Subscriptions unlock unlimited challenge creation and a "Pro" badge for premium users.
  • Tokens can be spent for "Wizard of Oz" 50/50 hints, adding a strategic layer to gameplay.
  • High-Impact Polish like Dark Mode, haptic feedback, and smooth animations were added to compete for the Design Award.
  • AI Partnership: Our development was supercharged by a multi-layered AI team. We used Google Gemini and Perplexity as "AI Project Managers" to strategize and craft expert prompts for our "AI Developers"—Google Jules and VSC Copilot. This workflow was critical for accelerating our sprint and is core to our Best Vibes Award entry.

Challenges Faced

Our journey was a trial by fire. We battled two major, multi-day roadblocks that nearly derailed the project:

  1. Database Migration Madness: A switch to PostgreSQL on our cloud provider failed unexpectedly due to private networking issues, forcing us to create and migrate to an entirely new database service mid-sprint.
  2. The Elusive Video Timing Bug: A persistent bug where video segments played incorrectly survived multiple fix attempts. We finally discovered the root cause was a data mismatch between the video's actual duration (from FFmpeg) and the metadata being saved to the database.

What We Learned

Our biggest lesson was strategic: a compelling game loop with real stakes and progression must come before monetization. We pivoted our entire weekend plan to fix the core game first, because perks have no value in a game that isn't fun to play. Overcoming the major technical challenges also reinforced the power of our AI partnership, which was essential for debugging complex, unfamiliar systems under a tight deadline.

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Updates

posted an update —

Final Development Update: We Are LIVE on the Google Play Store!

With the deadline just over 24 hours away, I'm thrilled to announce that the feature-complete version of "2 Truths & 1 Lie" has been officially released to the public on the Google Play Store!

Today was entirely dedicated to the final sprint of user experience polish. The goal was to transform the app from "feature-complete" to "delightful to use," a key part of our strategy for the RevenueCat Design Award.

Here's a summary of the final changes:

Monetization Flow Polish

To create a seamless and valuable premium experience for the HAMM Award, we implemented several key refinements:

  • The monetization gate for non-premium users now intelligently blocks them before they enter the challenge creation flow, providing a much better user experience.
  • The in-app messages and Store page for existing subscribers have been updated to clearly acknowledge their "Pro" status and better showcase their perks.

UI & Experience Polish

  • We successfully diagnosed and fixed the stuttering result animations. The "Correct!" and "Fooled You!" screens are now fluid and responsive.
  • The UI on the recording screen has been cleaned up to be more intuitive for first-time users.

With the app now stable, polished, and live, the only remaining task is to produce the final demo video and assemble our submission. This has been an incredible journey, and I can't wait to share the final product.

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posted an update —

The Final Push: Feature Complete and Ready for Polish

This past weekend was the most challenging and rewarding of the entire hackathon. After implementing our core game loop, we were hit with a series of critical, show-stopping bugs, including a frustrating issue where user scores were not persisting between sessions. I'm thrilled to report that after a marathon debugging sprint, we have successfully resolved these issues.

Major Bugs Squashed

  • Point Persistence Fixed: We located and fixed the bug in our logout flow that was incorrectly resetting user scores, ensuring that player progression is now stable and reliable.
  • Permissions Flow Hardened: We've implemented a robust permission check for the camera and microphone, which now gracefully handles cases where a user denies access, preventing crashes and improving the user experience.

Feature Complete!

With these fixes, the final piece of our core functionality—token spending for in-game hints—is now fully implemented and tested. The app is officially feature-complete and the end-to-end monetization loop is working as designed. This is a huge milestone and a critical step for our HAMM (Help Apps Make Money) Award submission.

The Roadmap to the Finish Line

With the core application stable, our focus for the final 48 hours is clear:

  1. Final UI Polish: A dedicated sprint to smooth out animations, clean up any remaining UI inconsistencies, and implement the monthly token stipend for subscribers.
  2. Video Production: Recording and editing the final 3-minute demo video.
  3. Submission: Assembling all materials and shipping the final product.

The foundation is solid. Now, it's all about making it shine for the judges.

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posted an update —

Progress Update: Huge Strides on the Core Game Loop

This has been a pivotal 24 hours for "2 Truths & 1 Lie." Based on our strategy to make the game compelling before finalizing the monetization perks, we've focused entirely on the core game loop. We've made massive progress and are now in the final stages of debugging.

Feature Complete: Challenge Completion

To add real stakes to each guess, users can no longer replay challenges they've already solved. A new guess_history table on the backend now tracks every guess, and the main challenge feed is now dynamic, filtering out any challenges the user has already answered correctly. This makes each guess feel final and meaningful.

Feature Complete: High-Impact Polish (Haptic Feedback)

To elevate the user experience for the Design Award, we've successfully integrated a subtle haptic feedback system. Key interactions now provide tactile confirmation, making the app feel more responsive and premium.

Work In Progress: Making Points Matter

The backend work for a persistent scoring system is complete. The users table now has a score column, and the API correctly increments this score after a correct guess. However, we're currently debugging a persistence issue where the score appears to reset intermittently (possibly on server redeploys). We're actively working to resolve this final piece of the core loop.

With these systems nearly complete, we're in a great position to wire up the final monetization perks tomorrow and push toward the finish line.

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posted an update —

Major Progress Update: The Core Game Loop is Now Complete!

This has been a pivotal 24 hours for "2 Truths & 1 Lie." After implementing the initial purchase flows, I realized that for our monetization model to be truly compelling, the core game itself needed more depth and a sense of progression. This led to a focused sprint where we successfully implemented three major systems that bring the game to life.

1. Minimum Viable Progression (Points Now Matter!)

The "points" awarded for a correct guess are no longer just a temporary animation. We've implemented a scoring system on the backend. A user's total score is now tracked in their profile and displayed prominently on the home screen. This gives players a real sense of achievement and a metric to improve over time.

2. Challenge Completion (No More Replays)

Previously, users could replay the same challenges indefinitely. We've now implemented a guess tracking system. Once a user correctly solves a challenge, it is filtered from their feed. This makes each guess feel final and meaningful, and encourages players to explore new content.

3. High-Impact Polish (Haptic Feedback)

To elevate the user experience and compete for the Design Award, we've added a subtle haptic feedback system. Key interactions—like getting an answer right, starting a new game, or pressing a major button—now provide tactile confirmation, making the app feel more responsive and premium.

With these systems in place, the value of our "Pro" subscription and our consumable "Hints" is now much clearer. Next up: a final bug bash and preparing the submission video!

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posted an update —

Final Sprint & A Strategic Pivot

Today marks the start of our final sprint for the RevenueCat Shipaton! With the September 30th deadline now less than a week away, we've made the strategic decision to focus all our energy on delivering a feature-complete and highly polished Android submission.

After overcoming some significant backend and video playback challenges, our foundation is now stable and ready for the final push.

Our Top Priorities for the Final 6 Days:

  1. Functional Monetization: Our highest priority is implementing real, tangible value for our in-app purchases. This includes unlocking "Pro" perks for subscribers and enabling the spending of "Tokens" on in-game hints.

  2. High-Impact UI/UX Polish: We're dedicating significant time to sharpening the user experience. Our goal is to implement a dark mode, add haptic feedback, and refine animations to create a delightful and professional-feeling application.

  3. Stability and QA: A comprehensive bug bash is scheduled to ensure the core flows (onboarding, purchase, and gameplay) are crash-free and stable for our submission.

  4. A Compelling Narrative: We will be creating a brand-new demo video and detailed written descriptions to showcase the app's strengths and the journey of its development over the course of the hackathon.

We're excited for this final push and will continue to share our progress and lessons learned. Onward to the finish line!

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posted an update —

Just shipped a major update! To enable seamless data persistence for premium features, I migrated my entire backend from SQLite to PostgreSQL on Railway. This upgrade supports robust integration with the RevenueCat SDK, which now handles in-app purchases and premium token management directly in the app.

This process involved:

  • Refactoring all database logic for PostgreSQL compatibility
  • Addressing session, token storage, and deployment nuances with Railway
  • Implementing and thoroughly testing the RevenueCat SDK to ensure smooth purchases and reliable token tracking

With these core systems in place, next steps include optimizing the user experience and rolling out more token-based features. Grateful for the learning curve and excited to see what’s next—stay tuned for more updates!

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posted an update —

Leveraging AI to Accelerate Purchase Logic Implementation

As part of our hackathon journey, we’ve utilized powerful AI tools to scaffold and streamline our purchase logic implementation. Google Jules has been invaluable in generating clean React Native code for purchase handling, while Gemini and Perplexity AI helped us plan project steps and manage manual tasks efficiently. This AI-assisted development approach not only accelerated our workflow but also created a compelling story for the Best Vibes Award. Excited to share more as we continue shipping!

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posted an update —

Day 3 Update: Integrating RevenueCat for Seamless In-App Purchases

We’ve successfully set up our RevenueCat account and integrated the SDK into the live build of 2Truths-1Lie! This major milestone allows us to manage in-app purchases and subscriptions across platforms efficiently. Our next step is to rigorously test and polish the purchasing process and UI to ensure a smooth and engaging user experience. Stay tuned for updates as we refine the store flow and unlock premium features!

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posted an update —

Day 2 Update: Establishing the "Before" Picture for the Build & Grow Award

Hello again! As part of our #BuildInPublic journey, and specifically to establish a baseline for the Build & Grow Award, today we are sharing the official starting point for our project.

The hackathon rules state that this award "honours apps that shipped quickly and can prove people love what they built" and asks entrants to "Share the story of your earliest release and the measurable wins that followed".

Our "Earliest Release"

Our starting point is the v1 of our app, 2Truths-1Lie, which is currently live in an open beta on the Google Play Store.

This version represents the foundation built during a previous hackathon. It has the core gameplay loop but does not yet include the monetization or cross-platform support we plan to build during the Shipaton.

The Shipaton Mission

Our goals for the next 12 days are to iterate on this live version by:

  1. Integrating the RevenueCat SDK to build a creative and robust monetization model.
  2. Porting the application to iOS for a full cross-platform launch.
  3. Enhancing community features like user authentication and moderation to prepare for growth.

Next Steps

Work has already begun on the first and most critical task: integrating the RevenueCat SDK into the Android build. We look forward to sharing our progress!

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posted an update —

Subject: Day 1: The #Shipaton Sprint Begins!

Hello judges and fellow developers!

We're excited to officially begin our journey in the RevenueCat Shipaton. Our project, 2Truths-1Lie, is a social video game that was recently developed and deployed to the Google Play Store for the Code with Kiro Hackathon. The app is built on a modern React Native and Python FastAPI stack.

While the core gameplay is complete, our goal for this hackathon is to transform it into a commercially viable and community-ready application.

Our primary objectives for the Shipaton are:

Monetization (HAMM Award): Implement a creative and robust in-app purchase model using the RevenueCat SDK.

iOS Launch: Port the application to iOS and release it on the Apple App Store.

Community Features: Enhance our user authentication and content moderation systems to ensure a safe and polished user experience.

We'll be documenting our progress daily on Twitter and posting weekly summaries here. We're looking forward to the challenge!

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