Coin Flick - Reddit Game

Inspiration

The idea started with wanting to build a game around simple ball-launching and golf-like mechanics focused on aim and control. After discussing it with friends, they mentioned the Zeni Hajiki minigame from Ghost of Yotei, which immediately clicked with the direction we were exploring. The project evolved from there, taking inspiration from that concept as well as classic marble and pétanque-style games, all centered on precision, angles, and smart positioning.

What it does

The game is a precision-based arcade experience where players flick a coin to hit exactly one other coin per move. Hitting none, hitting more than one, or knocking any coin off the table results in a loss. Obstacles can be used to create angles and bank shots to solve each setup as efficiently as possible.

It features daily levels, challenges, and per-post leaderboards that encourage players to compare strategies and improve their performance. By completing challenges, players earn gold that can be used to open chests and expand their coin collection.

How we built it

The game was built in GameMaker and integrated into a React frontend. It runs directly inside Reddit using Devvit WebViews.

Devvit handles daily post creation, user identity, and server-side logic. We use Redis to store scores, leaderboards, user balances, and each player’s coin collection. Spawn configurations are generated from a deterministic seed so every player gets the same daily challenge.

On the frontend, we use real-time updates so everything stays synchronized across posts and devices as well.

Challenges we ran into

Getting the game’s physics to feel just right was a major challenge. Flicking, collisions, and coin interactions all needed careful tuning. Controls had to be designed differently for mobile and desktop to feel natural on each platform. We relied heavily on playtesting with friends, iterating repeatedly based on their feedback to refine aim, movement, and overall responsiveness.

We also spent considerable time creating different splash screens before settling on the one we felt would truly capture users' attention and make them stop scrolling.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're proud of the significant improvements we've made since our first submission. Building on our initial learning experience, we implemented better development practices in GameMaker, including improved project settings and more organized workflows.

For this project, we used real-time updates, a feature we hadn't utilized in our previous work. Additionally, we developed an engaging coin collection and chest-opening system that gives players tangible goals to work toward, adding a rewarding layer of progression and replayability to the game.

This project represents our growth and our commitment to applying lessons learned to create more polished experiences.

What we learned

Through this project, we discovered that GameMaker works seamlessly with web platforms, making it a valuable new tool in our development arsenal. The experience also reinforced the importance of iteration in the development process. Each project builds on the lessons of the last, leading to better decision-making and more refined user experiences.

This hackathon pushed us to explore new features and expand our technical skills, and we're excited to continue challenging ourselves even further in future projects.

What's next for Coin Flick

We're really excited about the future of this project! Moving forward, we plan to add several features that will deepen player engagement.

Our roadmap includes implementing streak tracking and an XP system to reward consistent play. We also want to expand the coin collection with many more varieties, and introduce a rarity system that categorizes coins, chests, obstacle skins, and table cosmetics by their tier, making rare items feel truly special to unlock.

On the gameplay side, we can add variant modes, such as a rebound-only mode where you must bounce off obstacles to score, along with more daily challenges categorized by difficulty. We also want to create a highlighted post featuring random levels that players can enjoy endlessly, separate from the daily rewarded challenges. We're also committed to refining and improving our codebase as the project evolves.

Beyond these planned features, we can explore ideas like seasonal rewards to keep the experience fresh and seasonal leaderboards so players can compete with the community. There's so much potential to build on what we've created, and we're eager to keep developing Coin Flick into an even more compelling experience.

Built With

• devvit
• express.js
• gamemaker
• react
• redis
• tailwind
• typescript
• vite