BRB2K

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  Minesweeper!

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  90s trivia!

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  Nostalgic desktop

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  Chats with 90s vibes

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  The 90s called... they want you back!

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  App icon (1024 x 1024)

Inspiration

I was up late with my kids one night, getting nostalgic for the days when you had to wait. There is beauty in waiting: for friends to come online, or for mom to get off the phone so you could log on to the internet. So I built a simple, 90s-inspired chat app that's built for modern smartphones and lets you re-live those days of waiting.

What it does

BRB2K lets you claim your screen name, log in, and time-warp back to the 90s. There's a default set of characters you can chat with, and you can even create your own, shaping their personalities and building a buddy list that feels like you're back in school.

How we built it

I built this using OpenAI Codex, but relied heavily on Figma, custom pixel art and feedback from friends. I refused to "prompt and ship" and instead wanted to use AI to help me bring my vision to life.

Challenges I ran into

One of the biggest challenges I faced was getting the personalities to be just right. There was a lot of testing that went in to making sure the default buddy list felt authentic, but not cheesy.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Getting the characters right was the hardest challenge, but it was also my proudest achievement. The default buddy list makes me feel nostalgic for the 90s, but doesn't come across as cheesy or flat.

What we learned

Building is easy. It's the integrations, refinement and marketing that's the hard part. Thankfully, RevenueCat makes the purchases side of things easy!

What's next for BRB2K

Eventually, I'd like to roll out peer-to-peer chat, but for now we're sticking wit AI buddies to keep things simple.

Built With

• codex
• figma
• flutter
• openai