Feed the Chaos: Cat vs Girlfriend

Feed your cat and girlfriend the right foods before their happiness hits zero, or face claws and drama. Endless chaos, leaderboards, and pure relationship panic!

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Inspiration

I was trying to enjoy dinner while my cat meowed incessantly for attention and my girlfriend complained about the cat hair on everything. That's when it hit me: every pet owner lives in a constant state of diplomatic crisis, trying to balance the needs of their furry overlord with their human relationships. I realized this universal struggle would make the perfect Reddit game - relatable, stressful, and absolutely chaotic. The concept of forcing players to make impossible choices between keeping a cat and girlfriend happy felt like comedy gold that could resonate with Reddit's gaming communities.

What it does

Players juggle two happiness meters (cat and girlfriend) by making split-second feeding decisions. Feed cat food (🐟 tuna, 🐭 toys) and the girlfriend gets jealous. Feed human food (🍕 pizza, 💎 jewelry) and the cat gets angry. Both meters constantly decay, difficulty escalates, and failure means getting scratched (😾) or slapped (👋). It's endless survival with Reddit leaderboards and score sharing.

How we built it

Built using Bolt.new for rapid prototyping with Devvit integration for Reddit functionality. Used TypeScript with Devvit's framework, Reddit's Redis database for persistent leaderboards, and real-time timers for happiness decay and food spawning. The UI is emoji-heavy and mobile-optimized for Reddit's app environment.

Challenges we ran into

Bolt.new limitations: Backend requests only work in actual subreddits, not Bolt's preview, making testing cumbersome. Had to constantly deploy to my test subreddit to verify Redis storage and timer functionality. Reddit platform constraints: Limited to Devvit's component system and Redis-only storage - couldn't use external databases like Supabase. Required creative workarounds for complex game state management. Timer synchronization: Managing multiple concurrent real-time systems (decay, spawning, penalties) without conflicts while working within Reddit's performance constraints.

What we learned

Bolt.new + Devvit is powerful but requires different testing workflows since backend features only work in live Reddit environments. Reddit's Redis backend is surprisingly capable for game state management. Simple, relatable concepts can create engaging gameplay when executed well.

What's next for Feed the Chaos: Cat vs Girlfriend

Expand with new pets (dogs, birds), seasonal events, community challenges, and achievement systems. The core concept proved itself - now it's about scaling the chaos while maintaining that perfect balance of stress and humor that keeps players coming back for more punishment.

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