Bug Hunt – Project Story

Inspiration

As developers, we often learn best by doing — especially when it comes to debugging.
Junior devs regularly struggle with understanding what causes bugs, and how to reason through real-world code.
We wanted to create something simple, interactive, and educational — a space to safely break and fix code, without pressure.
That’s how Bug Hunt was born.

What it does

Bug Hunt is a local-first, offline web game where players are presented with short code snippets that contain intentional bugs.
Each level challenges the user to spot the mistake and choose the correct fix or explanation from multiple options.
It's like a quiz, but focused on debugging, not memorization. After each question, the app provides feedback and a brief explanation.

How we built it

We used Next.js and Tailwind CSS to create a lightweight, responsive app with a dark-mode-first aesthetic.
All game data — including 20+ bug challenges — is stored locally in a static array. Each question contains:

• a code snippet
  
• a prompt
  
• multiple answer choices
  
• an explanation
  

The app features a smooth step-by-step flow, showing progress and immediate feedback.

No backend. No AI. No dependencies.
All built in a single prompt using Bolt.new, for the One Shot Competition.

Challenges we ran into

The biggest challenge was fitting the entire game structure — logic, UI, question data, and interactivity — into a single prompt.
Designing a layout that could display code, options, feedback, and progress without feeling crowded was also tricky.
Finally, making the game work seamlessly offline and without persistent state required careful use of React state.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We created a fully functional, polished educational game in one shot — with no backend, no libraries, and no compromise on experience.
The app is fast, clear, and actually fun to use.
We're especially proud of the level content: the bugs are realistic and help teach real debugging skills.

What we learned

We learned that simplicity and clarity can go a long way.
A well-scoped idea, thoughtful content, and clean design can result in something surprisingly effective — even in the constraints of a single prompt.
We also gained a deeper appreciation for how much value local-first, educational tools can deliver.

What's next for Bug Hunt

We’d love to:

• expand the challenge set
  
• add difficulty levels
  
• introduce a freeform “fix-the-code” mode with a code editor
  

The game could grow into a larger platform for interactive dev learning — but for now, it’s a clean, fast entry point into the world of debugging.

Built With

• next.js
• tailwind
• typescript