Draw me to the moon

Draw page
Character info page
minigame
minigame
On the moon
The end

Inspiration

Every childhood doodle feels alive in the moment you draw it. We wanted to bring back that feeling—and let a character made from a few messy lines become the hero of a real adventure.

What it does

Draw Me to the Moon turns your drawing into a living character with a name, personality, and reason for reaching the moon. You guide them through drawing-powered challenges, including launching a wobbly spaceship, painting a path through orbit, performing a space duet, and drawing one final upgrade for landing.

How we built it

We built the game with HTML Canvas, JavaScript, and a Node.js server deployed on Vercel. Gemini studies the player’s drawing and creates a character and personalized journey. The artwork is then transformed into a playable pixel-art sprite used throughout the game.

Challenges we ran into

The hardest part was making AI feel like part of the game instead of a loading screen. We reduced unnecessary AI reasoning, generated the journey in the background, added fast fallbacks, and made sure players could keep moving even when the model was slow.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud that the drawing is not just uploaded and forgotten. It wakes up, talks to you, becomes playable, and carries the story all the way to the moon. Every imperfect doodle becomes someone worth cheering for.

What we learned

We learned that AI is most exciting when it gives meaning to something the player created. We also learned that responsiveness matters as much as intelligence: a smaller, faster AI moment can feel more magical than a complicated one.

What's next for Draw Me to the Moon

Next, we want drawings to influence even more of the gameplay—the ship, obstacles, abilities, music, and moon destination. Our goal is to make every player feel like their imagination did not stay on the page. It took off.