Karma Caster

A daily swipe challenge built for Reddit: quick runs, global rankings, shareable scores, and streak-based flair.

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Inspiration

The inspiration came from kids toys like "bop it" or "Simon". We wanted a game that feels native to Reddit: fast to learn, replayable in short sessions, and naturally social. The idea was to turn simple swipe gestures into a “spell casting” challenge with a Daily competition loop, leaderboards, and streak rewards that encourage people to come back (and share runs). It should create a viral feeling to come back and tackle the challenge again.

What it does

Karma Caster is a quick reaction swipe game:

  • You watch preview cues (arrows) that hint what’s coming next.
  • When the orb appears, you swipe the expected move in one smooth motion.
  • Your score rewards speed + accuracy, and consistent performance builds combos.

Game modes

  • Daily Challenge: Everyone plays the same challenge for the day. Compete for the best score and keep your streak going. We have created 14 different daily challenges so that each Day will have a different challenge.
  • Endless: A survival run where the game continues until you miss. Chase your personal best and the global leaderboard.

Ranking & streaks

  • Scores are tracked on leaderboards (Daily and Endless).
  • Completing the Daily Challenge maintains your streak.
  • Long streak milestones are designed to unlock special community flair rewards.

How we built it

We built Karma Caster as a Reddit Devvit game with an interactive post experience:

  • A mobile-first UI inspired by arcade score screens which also works on Desktop
  • Gesture input + pattern validation for multiple arrow “shapes”
  • Score calculation combining correctness and performance
  • Leaderboard data flow integrated with the game loop
  • A simple share flow foundation for posting results back to the comments/community

Challenges we ran into

  • Mobile rendering quirks (iOS/Safari): large styled text and effects can cause artifacts, so we iterated on typography and visuals to keep it stable.
  • Gesture recognition tuning: balancing strictness (skill-based) with forgiveness (fun) took several rounds of testing.
  • Devvit post lifecycle: making the experience reliable across refreshes, playtest mode, and “real” posts required careful handling of state and UI updates.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • A complete playable loop with Daily + Endless
  • A polished, mobile-first UI and responsive layout across device sizes
  • Working leaderboards and the foundation for streak rewards
  • A clear “one more run” feel that fits Reddit’s short-session vibe

What we learned

  • Small UX details (timing, feedback, readability) matter more than extra features in reaction games.
  • On mobile, “pretty” effects must be balanced with rendering performance and reliability.
  • Designing for Reddit means treating the post as the product: quick entry, instant clarity, and easy sharing.

What's next for Karma Caster

  • Replace the MVP How-To with a step-by-step interactive tutorial
  • suggest your own shape feature for people that reach a new highscore and then community can vote on suggested shapes
  • Expand the shape library and add difficulty scaling
  • Finish the share flow (auto-generated run summary + optional message)
  • Add more progression: seasonal events, daily modifiers, and more flair tiers
  • tweak gesture recognition based on user feedback
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