JobQuest

Job Quest: Corporate Tower Edition 🎮💼

Live Site: https://jobquestgame.netlify.app
Bolt Project: https://bolt.new/~/sb1-qruqqvuq
Demo Video (3 min): https://youtu.be/VfRLuTyp0S8

🧠 Inspiration

As an international student just stepping into the U.S. job market, I was hit hard by the reality of job hunting — the endless applications, ghosted interviews, and cold rejection emails. It felt like a game where the rules kept changing and the odds were stacked against you.

That’s what inspired Job Quest: Corporate Tower Edition.

I wanted to turn that shared frustration into something both funny and therapeutic — a satirical platformer where every obstacle mirrors the real pain of job seekers. Whether it's disappearing platforms that reflect fake job listings or reversed controls symbolizing backward corporate logic, every level is a metaphor.

This game was built so job hunters everywhere can laugh through the pain, and know they’re not alone in this chaotic journey.

🚀 What It Does

Job Quest is a fast-paced, canvas-rendered game built in Bolt.new. You play as a desperate job seeker scaling a 25-floor corporate tower. Each level introduces a unique mechanic — from platforms that vanish to gravity-defying logic.

The game features:

Progressive difficulty across 25 corporate-themed levels
Rejection emails, fake listings, and buzzword traps as obstacles
Save/load system so you can resume your climb
A final boss battle with ultimate bureaucracy

🛠️ How I Built It

Platform: 100% built in Bolt.new
Rendering: HTML5 Canvas API (60 FPS, pixel-perfect)
Frontend: React 18 + TypeScript
Styling: Tailwind CSS
Audio: Procedurally generated using the Web Audio API
Game Engine: Custom-built logic for physics, collisions, state

⚙️ Devpost Challenge Entries

✅ Netlify Deploy Challenge

Deployed using Netlify
Netlify Team Slug: deeapaksarun

✅ Useless Sh!t Challenge (Reddit x Bolt)

This game exists purely to satirize the painful and often absurd job hunt process.
It’s silly, pointless in the best way, and oddly therapeutic — perfect for the “Useless Sh!t” category.

🎮 Features

25 handcrafted levels with platformer mechanics
Satirical corporate-world themes and humor
Smooth performance at 60 FPS
Procedurally generated sound FX for interactions
Game state saving via local storage
Built-in HUD, animations, and character controller

🧪 Challenges Faced

Fitting full game logic, state, and rendering into Bolt’s environment
Creating performant Canvas gameplay in React
Physics and collision debugging in a no-framework setup
Maintaining humor while keeping mechanics fun and responsive

🔮 What’s Next

Mobile touch controls
Custom level editor
Achievement system and unlockables
Global leaderboard
Multiplayer (co-op climb or head-to-head)

🧑‍💻 Author

Deepak Sarun Y
Frontend Engineer | Game Developer | Job Hunter IRL

🌍 Region

United States 🇺🇸

📝 License

MIT License

🔧 Feedback on Bolt.new

Bolt.new made it incredibly fast to prototype and deploy a complex interactive app. The real-time speed and simplicity were game-changers for building this platformer quickly. While Canvas-heavy rendering had some limitations, Bolt handled everything from routing to logic well. With more support for custom debugging and asset management, it has serious potential as a creative dev playground.