Bingo Goals

Dashboard view
3x3 Bingo Board Creation (Mobile View)
Bingo Board - Exploring Hong Kong

Inspiration

The idea sparked at the end of 2024 when I saw someone share their yearly goals on a bingo board. As someone who often struggles to see goals through, I was really intrigued by it - just like many others out there. The genius of it is that it's not about completing all 25 squares, but about the fun of trying to get a bingo. You just need 5 in a row of 25 - the catch is that it's randomized but that's what makes it fun. I quickly built a personal version for myself (2025bingo.yilverdeja.com), and after a friend suggested I make it for others, Bingo Goals was born!

What It Does

Bingo Goals helps you stop just listing goals and start completing them in a fun, visual way. You can create 3x3 boards for short-term projects or 5x5 boards for your bigger yearly ambitions. As you make progress, you check off squares and build momentum. The goal is to get a "Bingo!", making the journey of self-improvement feel satisfying and rewarding every step of the way.

How We Built It

The app is built with a Next.js frontend and styled with Tailwind CSS. The entire backend—from user authentication to the database—is powered by Supabase. For the UI, I leveraged bolt.new in a unique way. Since it had some compatibility issues with the latest Next.js version, I set up a separate demo page where Bolt could iterate on the UI. I then transferred those polished components into the main application, which allowed me to focus purely on the logic.

Challenges We Ran Into

The main challenge was that UI development workflow. Getting bolt.new to play nicely with my Next.js setup required a creative workaround. By using a separate demo page as a "UI sandbox," I could get the best of both worlds: rapid visual development from Bolt and a robust, modern framework in Next.js. It forced me to be disciplined about separating UI from logic, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Accomplishments That We're Proud Of

Honestly, the biggest accomplishment is that by launching this app, I completed an item on my own 2025 bingo board! It's the perfect meta-win and proves the concept works. By completing this item, I can now make a bingo as I have the wildcard in my favor. However, I'll leave that till the end of the year. Hopefully I can substitute another goal for that wildcard to complete more items :D

What We Learned

This project reinforced a huge lesson: building in smaller, more focused parts is always better - especially when using AI to help with development. The constraint with the UI tooling forced me to work on components in isolation, and this separation of concerns made the entire development process smoother and more manageable. It's a workflow I'll carry into all future projects.

What's Next for Bingo Goals

This is just version one! The immediate next step is to bring back a feature from my original project: the ability to add images to goals, making the boards even more personal and visual. After that, I plan to introduce color themes for customization and features to allow users to share their journey on social media if they choose.