Higher / Lower: Reddit Edition

An immersive Reddit-themed guessing game built on Devvit. Pick which subreddit or post has higher numbers and climb the leaderboards across multiple modes.

Comment

Higher / Lower: Reddit Edition

Inspiration

We’ve all played the classic Higher or Lower game with search data, but Reddit is a goldmine of community-driven content.
Every day, millions of posts compete for upvotes, with some becoming viral while others fade away.

The idea was: What if you could turn Reddit’s posts into a fun guessing game?
Guess which post had more upvotes, in Versus mode, or test your subreddit knowledge in classic/mystery modes.

What it does

  • Let's players guess which Reddit subreddit has more members or which post received more upvotes.
  • Multiple game modes:
    • Classic – Traditional higher/lower style.
    • Mystery – Subreddit member counts are hidden until revealed.
    • Timed Classic/Mystery – Same as above, but with a countdown clock.
    • Versus – Two posts shown side-by-side, guess which one won.
  • Uses posts from 100 SFW, image-heavy subreddits to ensure clean, engaging, and visual gameplay.
  • Prioritizes active subreddits with decent upvote activity for fun competition.

How we built it

  • Architecture: Split into client (Vite + React + Tailwind for the game UI), server (Express APIs running in Devvit’s serverless runtime), and shared (TypeScript types).
  • Frontend: React hooks power the game logic (useMysteryGame, useClassicGame, timed variants, countdowns, leaderboards), while UI uses cards/icons for a clean landing page and minimal distraction during play.
  • Backend: REST endpoints serve leaderboards, subreddit info, and post data. Redis sorted sets store scores globally, keyed per mode. Devvit’s reddit.getCurrentUsername() links scores to Reddit accounts.
  • Data sourcing: Curated a pool of 100 active, SFW, image-heavy subreddits and the top 2000 subreddits by member count for classic/mystery modes. Posts and subreddits are pre-fetched into offline JSON for deterministic play, which will be periodically updated.
  • Game modes: Implemented five distinct playstyles (Classic, Mystery, Timed Classic, Timed Mystery, Versus) using shared hooks/state machines.
  • Tooling & Dev: TypeScript for safety, local development via Devvit CLI, offline fetch scripts to batch popular subreddits and top image posts with OAuth.

Challenges we ran into

  • Finding the right subreddits for versus mode: Needed them to be SFW, mostly images (not gifs), popular enough to have competitive upvote counts, but not repetitive.
  • Clean and User Friendly UI: We did not want the user to feel the game is complex or cluttered.
  • Content consistency: Ensuring no NSFW slips in, and posts always load with good quality images.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • Built a fun game out of real-time Reddit data.
  • Designed various modes, which add an exciting, abstract, competitive twist.
  • Created a smooth, user-friendly experience.

What we learned

  • Reddit is an amazing but chaotic content source; careful curation matters.
  • UI layout can make or break first impressions; a minimal, clean design always wins.

What's next for Higher / Lower: Reddit Edition

  • Daily Challenges – fixed curated sets of posts for everyone to play.
  • Leaderboard – global and friends-only leaderboards.
  • Custom Pools – let users choose categories (e.g., Animals vs. Art, Nature vs. Memes).
  • Community Mode – allow players to submit subreddit suggestions for future rounds.

Built with ❤️ for Redditors who love competition, memes, and guessing games.

Built With

Share this project:

Updates