Keys of War

Very early game state, demonstrates the typing mechanic
Late game state
Game assets in Figma

Inspiration

Inspired by games such as TypeRacer, we wanted to further explore the mechanic of typing as an input method for video games. We believed that typing games didn't need to limit themselves to simply being measuring sticks for typing speed and accuracy. We wanted to craft an enjoyable game that wove real-time strategy with typing mechanics to create a keyboard-only experience that challenges the mind in more ways than one!

What it does

Keys of War is a (maximum 4 player) real-time idle strategy game that uses typing as its primary input method. Players are situated in each of the 4 corners of a top-down map, and have lanes connecting each of their bases. Basic units are slowly released from each base into all 3 of its lanes. Each lane contains towers initially controlled by the AI, which spawn units to barrage the nearest player.

Players are continuously presented with a set of words to type, each of which triggers unique actions within the game. Word completions can grant the player anything from a burst of specialized units to permanent increases in resource generation and capacity. As a player’s units overpower the AI, they will capture towers and gain an increased zone of influence. Eventually, players can break through the walls of neutral towers to face off against their opponents’ armies, and win by capturing all opponents’ bases.

How we built it

We built Keys of War in Unity's game engine, using Photon for networking and Figma to create our assets and segments of the user interface. The resulting game was then built using WebGL and served on Amazon's S3 and CloudFront.

Challenges we ran into

The immediate issue we faced was designing a game that would be fun to play, without relying on typing as a gimmick to be interesting. We cycled through many design iterations and potential features before deciding on what we have now. Additionally, networking the game to be played concurrently in real-time proved to be quite the challenge with so many small objects moving around on-screen at any given time.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We created a functioning type-input system with semi-randomized word regeneration
Deploying the game on the web over an SSL-secured custom domain bought from domain.com (https://www.keysofwar.com)
Constructing multiple types of units, each with their own special behaviours and skills
Building a nice-looking game and interface under significant time constraints.

What we learned

How to better design game assets for scale and versatile reuse
How to host a static website on S3 and CloudFront
How to generate ACM certificates from the AWS console using DNS validation
How to use Unity's built-in WebGL support to deploy a game to the web

What's next for Hack the North 2021 Project

Implementing special abilities that are triggered with more difficult words
Introducing larger abilities (such as making the words more difficult for everyone besides the player who summoned the special ability) that are acquired through mini-timed events during the gameplay
An analysis screen at the end of the game showing the leaderboard, as well as other data such as average typing speed and accuracy percentages.