Bluff It!

Homepage
Join Room
Room
Host Leaderboard
Trivia
Trivia Answer

Inspiration

We took inspiration from Jackbox Games, but mostly, inspiration from ourselves. We wondered, "What is something that would challenge all of us?" Something new to every single one of us... it was Bluff-It!

What it does

Bluff-It! is a Jackbox-style party game where up to 8 players join a host's room with a 4 letter code and write fake answers to trivia questions to fool each other. Everyone then votes on which answer they think is real, earning points for spotting the truth and for every friend who falls for their bluff. After 5 rounds, the top bluffers land on the final podium!

How we built it

We built the frontend with React, Vite, TypeScript, and Tailwind CSS, using Zustand for state and Motion for animations. The backend is a Python server using python-socketio and uvicorn that manages the rooms, timers, and scoring in memory. The two talk over Socket.IO WebSockets, with the server acting as the single source of truth and broadcasting game state to every player in real time.

Challenges we ran into

As a team of three, one of our challenges was learning to effectively collaborate on a single repository with Git and GitHub, including our fair share of merge conflicts! Most of us were new to either backend or frontend, so we had to learn how a client and server talk to each other while debugging along the way, like input validation, dropped server connections, and incorrect timer deadlines. We also designed wireframes from scratch and worked to bring original art into Bluff It! so it felt like a real game!

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Honestly just getting the frontend and backend connected and watching everything actually work was super cool! We set up all the signals that switch between screens and game states, and seeing it all come together was a huge moment for us. We also designed our own wireframes from scratch and brought original art into Bluff It! making it feel like a real game. We're all from different areas of CS (Machine Learning, Cybersecurity, and Frontend) and we still made something that was new to all of us.

What we learned

This whole project was a learning experience, from client-server architecture and Socket.IO events to animations and resolving merge conflicts as a team. We learned the most from each other, trading skills across our different areas of computer science. Fueled by LOTS of coffee and big brain moments, we got the real hackathon experience, all to bluff everyone :>

What's next for Bluff It!

Getting it deployed on its own domain so anyone can play. We would also want to add more art, custom avatars, themed trivia, and settings so hosts can choose the number of rounds and timer lengths. We would love to see Bluff It! scale to bigger rooms and a much bigger question bank